The Franklin Tree

Franklinia alatamaha

Discovered in 1765 by John and William Bartram growing near the Altamaha River in southeast Georgia, this understory tree was named for John’s good friend Benjamin Franklin. The Bartram’s saved it from total extinction. It is extinct in the wild. Bartram’s Gardens in Philadelphia has several specimens (pictured here) of this rare tree.

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Grown for its late summer, fragrant camellia-like flowers and brilliant red-orange fall color, Franklinia requires even moisture, slightly acid, well-drained soil rich in organic matter, and full sun to part shade.

I have heard from other gardeners that Franklinia is difficult to get started. The Franklin tree has a reputation as a fussy tree. Some say the northern winter’s freeze/thaw cycle adds to the difficulty.

Here, in its third year, a Franklin tree is planted in the Miller’s House Garden by the Bethlehem Garden Club in Historic Bethlehem’s Industrial Quarter.

It grew to about 4’ last year but died back for the second time. This year it is starting out again. All 6” of it is nestled in its wire cage under a blanket of pine needles. It would be wonderful to have this specimen tree in a public garden for all to enjoy. Time will tell.

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More information from Virginia Cooperative Extension .

Graver Arboretum

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I visited Graver Arboretum for Arbor Day tree dedication. It is a gorgeous natural resource on 63 acres north of Bath, PA.

Dr. Lee and Virginia Graver donated the arboretum to Muhlenberg College in 1994. Today it is used as a field station for biology and environmental studies classes and research. It is open to the public seven days a week during daylight hours. Tours can be arranged.

Collections of conifers, wetland plants, wild flowers and rhododendrons thrive along the paths. Here are a few of the plants and sights at Graver.

Skunk cabbage in a damp, wooded area.

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Jack in the pulpit.

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Trillium sessile, a toadshade.

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One of many ponds and vernal pools.

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Foot bridge on the road less traveled by.


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According to Graver’s Facebook page, the rhododendrons are coming into bloom. Graver Arboretum is a meticulously maintained local natural resource. I plan to walk its paths again.

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Blumenplatz

It’s time to clean out Musikfest’s Blumenplatz. (see June 30, 2007 post) In the next week or two, we will be removing all the plants and taking them to the Bethlehem Compost Center.

It’s been a year with the usual ups and downs. Most plants thrived. Some areas looked anemic and had to be enhanced with plants from the Butterfly (plant holding) Garden in the Colonial Industrial Quarter. The chairman kept everything on track and tirelessly tended the garden. Many of the lights during the festival gave him fits. The dry summer never gave a break to watering. A lot of help at planting time came in the form of Art’s Quest interns. Dan Schatz Greenhouse again provided massive amounts of annuals. Deadheading. trimming and weeding continued all summer. The design was beautiful as usual.

It’s time to put the garden to bed. We’ll meet again next April to plan the garden in the city center. We hope it will be even better than this year. The best garden is always next year’s, isn’t it?

Spring

Spring really started in earnest this weekend. Mild temperatures allowed me to continue garden clean up. There are still leaves and other winter debris in all corners. I'm trying to work one section at a time - and not go into a total frenzy. I finished about 1/4 of the garden cleanup and about 1/2 of the mulching so far. I haven't even begun to divide or move plants.

Volunteers are ready to rock & roll in the community gardens. Blumenplatz is Bethlehem's Musikfest garden located behind the public library. (The Star of Bethlehem represented in dusty miller is pictured here after initial planting in 2005.) Work on the garden began this week with fence scraping and primer paint. The new color will be hunter green.

Bethlehm's sister city is Tondabayashi, Japan. Bethlehem Garden Club is responsible for maintenance of the "Garden of Serenity" (located next to the library). Mr. and Mrs. Fenninger and Yoshinaga Sakon, one of Japan's outstanding landscape architects, created a tea house and garden in 1971. Spring maintenance begins this week.

Bethlehem Garden Club is also responsible for The Miller's House Garden located in the Industrial Quarter of Historic Bethlehem. This Colonial to Victorian age garden includes old time roses and kitchen garden herbs and vegetables as well as other period flowering plants and shrubs.

Happy Spring! Get out the liniment.