HOME & GARDEN
Issue Date: da/il/ysentinel
The Daily Sentinel • Saturday, January 4, 2014
HOME & GARDEN
HOMEGROWN
WEST LIFE
This lily was named the Queen Emma lily, in honor of Queen Emma, the wife of King Kamehameha IV. She lived on the estate where the garden was built and planted some of the varieties that still thrive there today.
The Surinam cherry grows wild in the gardens and is high in vitamin C. Robert Allerton had the mermaid fountain, middle, designed to ebb and flow with the rate of a human heartbeat, which gives it a meditative quality.
great gardens Hawaiian islands transformed over time by a queen
I
n the valley between the Pacific Ocean and the Lawa’i Valley cliffs, on Kauai’s south shore, lies a garden treasure. This magical place is an ethereal jungle, carefully designed to be what one man’s dreams were made of. While most of the U.S. mainland gardens sleep under a blanket of frozen winter, the National Tropical Botanical Gardens’ headquarters in Hawaii remain lush and alive. Visitors to these gardens experience an incredible landscape used over the years in the film industry, to entertain the jet set and to showcase the island’s beauty. The National Tropical Botanical Garden includes the Allerton Garden and the McBryde Garden, which were transformed over time by a queen, a wealthy magnate and an artist with an eye for architecture and beauty. Hawaii’s Queen Emma began shaping the garden in the late 1800s, and the lily that bears her name still thrives here among the hedges of bougainvillea she introduced. A sugarcane magnate, Alexander McBryde, acquired the property from her estate and later on, Illinois businessman Robert Allerton purchased the 80-acre property for a mere $50,000 in 1937. He spent the next 25 years transforming the jungle and cane fields into a magnificent garden with a series of “rooms” with themes, European-inspired sculpture and water features. The garden, one of only three National Tropical Botanical Gardens in the United States, was created by an act of Congress in 1964, but receives no federal funding. The livelihood of the garden depends on funding from visitors, grants and donations. The grounds are a recording of history and an edible landscape. Visitors are invited to pick and sample the Surinam cherry — a bright, glossy reddishorange lantern bursting with juiciness and an aftertaste of juniper — brought here from South America to thrive on the island. A carefully planted but now-feral orchard in the middle of the garden still bears citrus, the tree boughs literally bowed to the ground with the burden of their bounty. The garden employs six full-time gardeners, not enough to keep the grounds perfectly manicured. Being a gardener at the Allerton Gardens isn’t like other places — there’s no deadheading, no scrubbing lichen off statues, no pruning or sculpting of hedges. This place is au natural and Allerton designed it that way. Century-old monkeypod trees shelter fields of sharp-pointed motherin-law tongue plants. Sweet-smelling Angel’s Trumpet flowers dangle, luring visitors with their poisonous peach blossoms. And the garden features rare native plants such as the white hibiscus and thick stands of torch-like
Photos by ERIN MCINTYRE/Special to the Sentinel
These Australian Moreton Bay fig trees are more than 70 years old, and were featured by Steven Spielberg in “Jurassic Park.” Visitors flock to the gardens to take photos where the dinosaur eggs were found in the movie. awapuhi, Hawaiian ginger, as well as a non-native, impressive bamboo forest. The gardens are also full of wildlife — shrimp lurking in the slow-flowing creeks and wedge-tailed shearwater, with its eerie, almost mocking cry like an abandoned baby. And the sound of babbling water is heard almost everywhere — it’s clear Allerton found water soothing and meditative. He even had a mermaid fountain designed to ebb and flow to the rate of a heartbeat, which has an extremely calming effect. Perhaps the most popular reason for coming to these gardens is its Hollywood appeal. Many of the tour guides have been extras in movies filmed in and around the gardens, such as
“Outbreak” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Gilligan, the Skipper, Maryann and the Professor filmed the pilot for “Gilligan’s Island” here. Despite all the famous actors and actresses who have come here over the years, the biggest stars of the garden are, without argument, the monstrous, prehistoriclooking Moreton Bay fig trees, featured in “Jurassic Park.” People come from all over the world to take photos next to these massive trees, with their protruding roots that cradled raptor eggs in the movie. Allerton imported these Ficus macrophylla from Australia, transporting the seedlings in beer cans on a flight more than 70 years ago, long before
9A
international agricultural inspections were required. No matter your reason for visiting the National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Kauai, it’s an unforgettable experience full of wonder and beauty. Just don’t forget your camera, some bug repellent and good walking shoes. They’ll make Allerton’s dream world that much better. For information on visiting the gardens, go to ntbg.org. ■
Erin McIntyre is an advanced master gardener, writer and Grand Valley native. Please email her at westlifegj@ gmail.com with story ideas or feedback.
Sometimes it’s OK to trim back juniper in the winter Happy new year! The thing I’d like to know is if there is a time of year or season that is best for trimming or cutting back mature juniper evergreens? I have some mature (20-plus years) mint julep shrubs and Spartan uprights. Also, is there a worst time to do it? I have some branches, some big, long ones on the Spartans that have bent over from the weight of the snow that we had in November and December. — Ana Happy new year to you, too! Generally, you can prune a juniper any time of the year with one exception. I don’t like pruning them in the winter while it’s freezing hard at night. The thinking is that when you prune DENNIS HILL them this time of year, you’re exposing growth that’s been deeper “inside” the plant. This interior growth hasn’t been exposed to the rigors of winter weather. It has been shaded and insulated (you would be surprised how much) by the growth on the outside of the plant. The sudden change for this tissue can sometimes result in burning and scorching of the foliage and occasionally even some stem die-back. What you’re dealing with has happened all over the valley and, in this case, I’d throw my usual recommendation out the window. I think it’s advisable to do some cutting back as soon as possible. The longer those branches are left bent over, the more likely they will stay that way come spring. In fact, I’d guess they’re already at that point since it’s been a good month since those heavy snows. What this means is that your job is to prune those plants to begin to restore their shape. On branches that have been bent over, you want to cut them back until either the reduced weight allows the branch to more or less spring back to its original position or you want to cut them back to where the branch you leave fits within the rough shape you want to restore of the plant. This is a bit of a setback to the plant. It’s not really harmful, but it does mean your plants will be smaller and less developed than they were before these snows. They’re going to be more open and maybe even a little misshapen (at least in the short term) than what you had before. Not the end of the world; junipers tend to grow back pretty quickly and I’d guess in a year or two or three you might never know something like this happened. You may have to do some additional pruning on the plants depending on how they grow in response to what’s happening now and the final look you’re looking for in the plants. Also, you don’t absolutely have to do this corrective pruning right now. Since they’re probably already set in their new shape, waiting until March probably wouldn’t make that much difference to the plant plus it would be a lot more pleasant for you to be out there pruning on the plant. ■
Dennis Hill is the nursery manager at Bookcliff Gardens, bookcliffgardens.com. Send questions to Bookcliff Gardens, 755 26 Road, Grand Junction 81506; email info@bookcliffgardens. com.
WATER TIP New year, new water rates: Now is the time to really look at your monthly water consumption. Any consumption/conservation savings you can realize will help offset the increased water rates recently adopted across the Grand Valley. Water conservation is in everyone’s best interest. Let’s all do our part.
■
The Drought Response Information Project (DRIP) is the drought and water conservation collaborative education effort by the valley’s domestic water utilities and CSU Extension. “Every Drop Matters” especially during drought conditions.
The Daily Sentinel • Saturday, January 4, 2014
HOME & GARDEN
HOMEGROWN
WEST LIFE
This lily was named the Queen Emma lily, in honor of Queen Emma, the wife of King Kamehameha IV. She lived on the estate where the garden was built and planted some of the varieties that still thrive there today.
The Surinam cherry grows wild in the gardens and is high in vitamin C. Robert Allerton had the mermaid fountain, middle, designed to ebb and flow with the rate of a human heartbeat, which gives it a meditative quality.
great gardens Hawaiian islands transformed over time by a queen
I
n the valley between the Pacific Ocean and the Lawa’i Valley cliffs, on Kauai’s south shore, lies a garden treasure. This magical place is an ethereal jungle, carefully designed to be what one man’s dreams were made of. While most of the U.S. mainland gardens sleep under a blanket of frozen winter, the National Tropical Botanical Gardens’ headquarters in Hawaii remain lush and alive. Visitors to these gardens experience an incredible landscape used over the years in the film industry, to entertain the jet set and to showcase the island’s beauty. The National Tropical Botanical Garden includes the Allerton Garden and the McBryde Garden, which were transformed over time by a queen, a wealthy magnate and an artist with an eye for architecture and beauty. Hawaii’s Queen Emma began shaping the garden in the late 1800s, and the lily that bears her name still thrives here among the hedges of bougainvillea she introduced. A sugarcane magnate, Alexander McBryde, acquired the property from her estate and later on, Illinois businessman Robert Allerton purchased the 80-acre property for a mere $50,000 in 1937. He spent the next 25 years transforming the jungle and cane fields into a magnificent garden with a series of “rooms” with themes, European-inspired sculpture and water features. The garden, one of only three National Tropical Botanical Gardens in the United States, was created by an act of Congress in 1964, but receives no federal funding. The livelihood of the garden depends on funding from visitors, grants and donations. The grounds are a recording of history and an edible landscape. Visitors are invited to pick and sample the Surinam cherry — a bright, glossy reddishorange lantern bursting with juiciness and an aftertaste of juniper — brought here from South America to thrive on the island. A carefully planted but now-feral orchard in the middle of the garden still bears citrus, the tree boughs literally bowed to the ground with the burden of their bounty. The garden employs six full-time gardeners, not enough to keep the grounds perfectly manicured. Being a gardener at the Allerton Gardens isn’t like other places — there’s no deadheading, no scrubbing lichen off statues, no pruning or sculpting of hedges. This place is au natural and Allerton designed it that way. Century-old monkeypod trees shelter fields of sharp-pointed motherin-law tongue plants. Sweet-smelling Angel’s Trumpet flowers dangle, luring visitors with their poisonous peach blossoms. And the garden features rare native plants such as the white hibiscus and thick stands of torch-like
Photos by ERIN MCINTYRE/Special to the Sentinel
These Australian Moreton Bay fig trees are more than 70 years old, and were featured by Steven Spielberg in “Jurassic Park.” Visitors flock to the gardens to take photos where the dinosaur eggs were found in the movie. awapuhi, Hawaiian ginger, as well as a non-native, impressive bamboo forest. The gardens are also full of wildlife — shrimp lurking in the slow-flowing creeks and wedge-tailed shearwater, with its eerie, almost mocking cry like an abandoned baby. And the sound of babbling water is heard almost everywhere — it’s clear Allerton found water soothing and meditative. He even had a mermaid fountain designed to ebb and flow to the rate of a heartbeat, which has an extremely calming effect. Perhaps the most popular reason for coming to these gardens is its Hollywood appeal. Many of the tour guides have been extras in movies filmed in and around the gardens, such as
“Outbreak” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Gilligan, the Skipper, Maryann and the Professor filmed the pilot for “Gilligan’s Island” here. Despite all the famous actors and actresses who have come here over the years, the biggest stars of the garden are, without argument, the monstrous, prehistoriclooking Moreton Bay fig trees, featured in “Jurassic Park.” People come from all over the world to take photos next to these massive trees, with their protruding roots that cradled raptor eggs in the movie. Allerton imported these Ficus macrophylla from Australia, transporting the seedlings in beer cans on a flight more than 70 years ago, long before
9A
international agricultural inspections were required. No matter your reason for visiting the National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Kauai, it’s an unforgettable experience full of wonder and beauty. Just don’t forget your camera, some bug repellent and good walking shoes. They’ll make Allerton’s dream world that much better. For information on visiting the gardens, go to ntbg.org. ■
Erin McIntyre is an advanced master gardener, writer and Grand Valley native. Please email her at westlifegj@ gmail.com with story ideas or feedback.
Sometimes it’s OK to trim back juniper in the winter Happy new year! The thing I’d like to know is if there is a time of year or season that is best for trimming or cutting back mature juniper evergreens? I have some mature (20-plus years) mint julep shrubs and Spartan uprights. Also, is there a worst time to do it? I have some branches, some big, long ones on the Spartans that have bent over from the weight of the snow that we had in November and December. — Ana Happy new year to you, too! Generally, you can prune a juniper any time of the year with one exception. I don’t like pruning them in the winter while it’s freezing hard at night. The thinking is that when you prune DENNIS HILL them this time of year, you’re exposing growth that’s been deeper “inside” the plant. This interior growth hasn’t been exposed to the rigors of winter weather. It has been shaded and insulated (you would be surprised how much) by the growth on the outside of the plant. The sudden change for this tissue can sometimes result in burning and scorching of the foliage and occasionally even some stem die-back. What you’re dealing with has happened all over the valley and, in this case, I’d throw my usual recommendation out the window. I think it’s advisable to do some cutting back as soon as possible. The longer those branches are left bent over, the more likely they will stay that way come spring. In fact, I’d guess they’re already at that point since it’s been a good month since those heavy snows. What this means is that your job is to prune those plants to begin to restore their shape. On branches that have been bent over, you want to cut them back until either the reduced weight allows the branch to more or less spring back to its original position or you want to cut them back to where the branch you leave fits within the rough shape you want to restore of the plant. This is a bit of a setback to the plant. It’s not really harmful, but it does mean your plants will be smaller and less developed than they were before these snows. They’re going to be more open and maybe even a little misshapen (at least in the short term) than what you had before. Not the end of the world; junipers tend to grow back pretty quickly and I’d guess in a year or two or three you might never know something like this happened. You may have to do some additional pruning on the plants depending on how they grow in response to what’s happening now and the final look you’re looking for in the plants. Also, you don’t absolutely have to do this corrective pruning right now. Since they’re probably already set in their new shape, waiting until March probably wouldn’t make that much difference to the plant plus it would be a lot more pleasant for you to be out there pruning on the plant. ■
Dennis Hill is the nursery manager at Bookcliff Gardens, bookcliffgardens.com. Send questions to Bookcliff Gardens, 755 26 Road, Grand Junction 81506; email info@bookcliffgardens. com.
WATER TIP New year, new water rates: Now is the time to really look at your monthly water consumption. Any consumption/conservation savings you can realize will help offset the increased water rates recently adopted across the Grand Valley. Water conservation is in everyone’s best interest. Let’s all do our part.
■
The Drought Response Information Project (DRIP) is the drought and water conservation collaborative education effort by the valley’s domestic water utilities and CSU Extension. “Every Drop Matters” especially during drought conditions.
