Hamamelis mollis 'Iwado'

Even in the middle of a moderately cold winter there are plants flowering here at the Arboretum. This is a cultivar of the Chinese witch-hazel. Most witch-hazels that you encounter in the nursery trade are hybrids of the Japanese and the Chinese species. Dirr observes that the crosses exhibit hybrid vigor and produce stronger larger plants.

It is my observation that the Chinese species has a much stronger tendency to hold its foliage than either the Japanese or the hybrids but this is anecdotal on my part. I do remember though, two winters in the early 90s, spending several days on a ladder clipping off hundreds of brown leaves one at a time from a specimen of Hamamelis mollis that used to live at the entrance to the Asian Collections below the Dove Tree. That allowed visitors to enjoy the flowers without the distraction of brown leaves. We did some serious gardening back then! The curator, Lawrence Lee, who directed that project has long since departed, returning to his home state of California. The plant was also removed at some point during my absence, but I'm back! What can it mean?

Green Scene....Official magazine of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Green Scene came today; it is the magazine of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. We have belonged to PHS for 20-odd years, in the beginning because the cost of membership is roughly equivalent to the cost of two tickets to the Philadelphia Flower Show (the two tickets come with membership!). It's the oldest and largest Flower Show in this country and maybe the largest in the world? I'm not going to do the research, but I seem to remember that. Anyway it's a wonderful show. The theme this year is Bella Italia; I expect lots of lavender, stonework, and grapevines. The show has gotten more and more crowded over the 2+ decades we have been attending it. Our strategy at this point is to arrive in Philadelphia around noon, eat lunch (no cheesesteak for me anymore....the last few years its been Pho), and wander into the show about 2:00. The show is open til 9:30 during the week and traffic seems to thin out as the afternoon progresses. This year the dates are March 1-8 so, with any luck its going to bump up against spring but its still worth the trip.

But that's not what I started out to talk about! It's the magazine. I have subscribed to a lot of gardening magazines over the years and read a good many more. Green Scene is definitely in the top 10. There is an awareness of what is new and hot that I don't find in other publications. They really do know what's going on. There are more great public gardens in the general area of Philadelphia than anywhere else in the US and their staffs are regular contributors to GS. The magazine reminds me of American Horticulturist of the 80's; that was my favorite gardening magazine of all time. Not only that, you don't just get the tickets and the bi-monthly magazine, there's more. Reciprocity in the form of free admission to many many great gardens and arboreta, is itself worth the cost of membership. Hey I'm pimpin' it cause I like it!