Last week, I shared some gleaned nuggets of knowledge from the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s day long symposium. This week, I want to share some photos of the garden and plants. Dr. Andy Pulte of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville joined me on a stroll through the gardens. My last visit to the botanical garden was 9 years ago as I was wrapping up graduate school, but this visit was my first one in the winter. It was fun to see the garden at a different time of the year and see what had changed.
We first wondered around the Kendeda Canopy Walk. For a Saturday in January we noticed many people out and about enjoying the gardens. I also love these canopy walks for the shift in perspective they give people of being above the plants.
We admired the textural and color contrast between mondo and monkey grass that created the appearance of a river through this bed near the entrance.
Camellia yuhsienensis (Yuhsienensis fragrant camellia) was in flower and seemed to survive the Christmas eve cold snap they had of 8°F well. The white flowers of this species are sweet and have a light fragrance.
It has been years since I have seen Sycopsis sinensis (Chinese fighazel). At first glance I thought it to be Parrotia since both feature these red staminate flowers, but what little evergreen foliage held on was the giveaway. It is a nice small statured tree for landscapes.
Acer palmatum ‘Bihou’ (Japanese maple) is one of my favorite Japanese maples for the wonderful yellow bark. Even once specimens mature a bit, they still retain that coloration. Selective pruning can be done to get more of the reds and oranges in the new growth.
Edgeworthia chrysantha (paper bush) were in full bloom and perfumed the entire landscape around them. It really is remarkable how far the fragrance travels in the air.
Lonicera × purpusii (hybrid winter honeysuckle) is a fragrant winter flowering shrub. It is a hybrid between Lonicera fragrantissima (winter honeysuckle) and Lonicera standishii (Standish honeysuckle).
A new plant to me was Lindera reflexa (mountain spicebush). Even if the plant didn’t do much during the growing season I would grow it solely for the verdant bark.
A close up of the Sassafras-like buds of Lindera reflexa
We wandered through the Edible Garden where a number of vegetables still looked good for midwinter. I love their faux fruit on the espaliered trees behind, too.
They also had these nifty signs in the Edible Garden for teaching people about plants. Here, the use of sorrel is encouraged.
Throughout the garden were origami sculptures as part of an exhibit. This piece was titled Scents of Gratitude and is a bouquet of a variety of origami flowers.
In the conservatories they were getting their orchid exhibit set up. I love to see the behind the scenes approach to how these displays come to be. Each orchid tray has flagging tape to prevent the orchid spikes from falling or breaking.
One of the neatest orchids we saw was Dendrobium spectabile (grand dendrobium). It has these fascinating curled and twisted petals.
The carnivorous plant bog was designed to be like a bog in nature where water can seep through the bed and not become stagnant. You’ll notice there’s a slight slope from left to right.
I loved these imbricate buds on Rhododendron colemanii (Red Hills azalea).
Another shot of the buds of Rhododendron colemanii to illustrate their diversity. They look like painted Easter eggs.
Welwitschia mirabilis (welwitschia) is one of the most fascinating plants on the planet. It’s has cones like conifers, it only has two leaves that can grow over 10 feet, and it is suspected plants can live for over 1,000 years.
The semi-double flowers of Prunus mume ‘Rosebud’ (flowering apricot) were just starting to pop into flower.
Ilex verticillata ‘Winter Gold’ (winterberry) berries were still showing off even as they begin their decline.
Magnolia stellata ‘Star Dust’ (also banner image) in the glow of another star. (A note on this variety. I can’t seem to find out anything about it, which makes me wonder is it new or a synonym for another cultivar? It is not ‘Pink Stardust’.)