Sunday, April 13

Lessons from the masters

Midwest Gardening Symposium combines laughter and learning

Hellebores 'Mellow Yellow.'

To further the art of gardening, the 2008 Winter Midwest Gardening Symposium held in March at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., assembled a cadre of outstanding horticultural consultants, garden designers and well-known plant experts from Chicago and the Midwest. These speakers, who have distinguished themselves in various garden-related topics, were brought together expressly to promote the appreciation and practice of fine gardening techniques in our region.

Co-sponsored by Fine Gardening magazine, the annual symposium is an interesting one-stop venue that allows gardeners—novice as well as professional—the delight of rubbing elbows with knowledgeable garden enthusiasts while exploring the facets of the number one hobby in America.

Symposium highlights
For me, a bona-fide plant nut, the highlights of the symposium included Morton Arboretum curator of Living Collections Kunso Kim’s presentation on witch hazels, garden writer and Munchkin Nursery owner Gene Bush’s discourse on hellebores, and listening to plantsman and Asiatica Nursery owner Barry Yinger speak on “A New Vision.”

Witch hazels (Hamamelis ssp.) are without a doubt one of the most valuable groups of winter-flowering shrubs. At the time of the year when most other shrubs are dormant or semi-dormant, witch hazels explode with interesting spider-like yellow, red or orange flowers, which are often scented and seldom damaged by frost or severe cold. But picking the perfect package can be difficult. And Kim’s presentation of the increasing range of new witch hazel cultivars just heightened the indecision! Do you choose Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida,’ which has very large flowers and a great scent, but somewhat dismal autumn color or H. x intermedia ‘Diane,’ which has deep-red flowers and is richly tinted in autumn but, alas, almost scentless?

Hellebores were a hot topic at the Midwest Gardening Symposium and Gene Bush, owner of Munchkin Nursery in Depauw Ind., piqued attendees' interest with the lowdown on new hybrids.

Whether you are a newbie or an experienced gardener, chances are good that you’ve encountered the 2005 Perennial Plant of the Year, the hellebore, at one time or another in your gardening career. Gene Bush’s presentation highlighted the various distinctive charms of the species, but it was the hybrids that generated overtly visceral reactions in most people. It was easy to understand why even a casual interest in these plants can turn to unabashed addiction in a very short time!

In the past, Barry Yinger would describe his Pennsylvania retail nursery, Asiatica, as “a micro nursery specializing in exclusive and rarely-offered plants, mostly from Asia.” Today, he adds South Africa to that statement. Yinger tantalized and bedeviled symposium attendees with many of his recent introductions in the great wide world of tropical plants. There is not enough space in this column to detail the fascinating new selections currently offered or soon to be available from Asiatica, but suffice it to say that many of the plants, such as the elephant ear, Alocasia macrorhiza ‘Storm Warning,’ A.m. ‘Solid Gold’ and Colocasia ‘Coffee Cup,’ were awesome to say the least. (You can check out the Web site, www.asiaticanursery.com, for more truly covetous selections.)

Garden trends and inspiration
The symposium was also the perfect opportunity to have some fun while learning loads from the likes of Anna Ball, president of Ball Horticultural Company, who offered a glimpse of the future changes in the gardening world. Her main advice to gardeners was that “gardening should be a lifelong process—an interesting and satisfying journey—not a destination.” In plant trends, Ms. Ball noted that lime continues to rock the gardening world with the likes of Solenostemon (coleus) ‘Electric Lime’ and Iresine ‘Blazin’ Lime,’ especially when such plants are partnered with hot pink, orange or blue.

Lime-colored foliage plants like this 'Sun Power' hosta continue to be popular in gardens, especially partnered with hot pink, orange or blue.

Fine Gardening magazine’s assistant editor, Daryl Beyers, presented a visual trek through 10 diverse gardens—amazing spaces that inspire and delight visitors in their owner’s ability to seamlessly merge nature with outdoor space. Todd Jacobson, manager of Horticulture Collections at the Morton Arboretum, gave an interesting, but somewhat ambitious presentation, on innovative planting combinations in containers, perennial beds, seasonal displays, aquatic, railroad and rooftop gardens, to name but a few.

In her introduction, Jan Little, arboretum assistant director of education, noted that “with more of the big box stores selling more and more plants, there tends to be a greater number of mass-produced plants, giving today’s gardeners fewer plant choices than were available when local nurseries sold a greater percentage of the plants.” Fewer plant choices can be challenging to gardeners in that they hinder creativity while at the same time increasing the risk of pests and disease, she explained further.

For sheer educational entertainment and fun, the new twist on the two-day panel discussions, “Designer’s Dialogue,” gave attendees the unique ability to personalize their landscape questions with three renowned and highly inventive landscape designers — Christy Webber of Christy Webber Landscapes, Craig Bergmann of Craig Bergmann Landscapes and Vallari Talapatra of EcoScapes, a last-minute replacement for the snow-bound Jim Hagstrom of Savanna Designs in Minneapolis.

Issues addressed by the three designers included exploring garden designs that reflect the site’s local climate, are sensitive to its conditions, take into account family, personality, age, and habits and the interests or passions of the client. The use of native plants in the landscape as well as the integration of traditional styles in a contemporary garden setting were also discussed.

Next year, if the calendar still says March but your hands are itching to get dirty, plan to head to Morton Arboretum for your own fascinating horticultural “fix.”

Author of “In Search of Great Plants: The Insider’s Guide to the Best Plants in the Midwest,” Betty Earl is a Master Gardener, photographer and lecturer. She writes for numerous regional gardening magazines, is a garden scout for both Better Homes & Gardens and Midwest Living magazines and also serves as a regional representative for the Garden Conservancy. She lives and gardens in Naperville.