Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Back in the peaceful reaches of the Benenson Ornamental Conifers, there’s a question to be asked. Is there stock to be put in rarity, and does pairing that quality with beauty somehow amplify the “value” of what we’re looking at? I’m not about to try and delineate the boundaries of taste and worth; we work to preserve the future of plants, and that’s all there is to it. But there’s one species in mind that’s worth looking into.

Catalpa fargesii manages that unique combination of scarcity and beauty. A Chinese native found in regions such as Guangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan, even in its homeland it’s considered extremely rare in the wild, only “discovered” by Western dendrologists early in the 20th century. In the Western world, where few specimens have propagated in Europe or North America, it’s rarer still. Here in the U.S., for example, there are only two recorded Chinese catalpa trees of this kind. The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard has one, accessioned in 1914; The New York Botanical Garden is home to the other. In this case, “exclusive” is not a word to be tossed around lightly.
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education.

Last week we took a look at some of the more unusual conifers that grace the entrance of the Benenson Ornamental Conifer Collection at The New York Botanical Garden. This week, I am going to go for some homeowner appeal and discuss miniature and dwarf conifers.

The American Conifer Society classifies conifers by growth rate: miniature conifers grow less than one inch per year, dwarf conifers grow 1-6 inches per year, intermediate conifers grow 6-12 inches per year and large conifers grow more than a foot per year.

Miniature and dwarf conifers are basically trees disguised as shrubs – they can snuggle up to your perennials in an unobtrusive way and are wonderful additions to your container gardens. You often see the botanical epithet ‘nana’ attached to cultivar names – it means dwarf.

In the perennial garden, dwarf conifers provide winter interest. They give a nice permanent structure to the plantings. Many of the conifers have a graceful, architectural structure that flows effortlessly and mingles gregariously in amongst the drifts of perennials.
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education.

The Benenson Ornamental Conifer Collection has over 400 specimens in a 15 acre area. While a few of the conifers such as the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), dawn-redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) and larches (Larix sp.) are deciduous most of them are evergreen making this part of the garden an ideal visiting spot during the winter months.

Conifers bear their seeds in cones. Most of them have needle or scale-like leaves. This feature gives their leaves a low-surface area that helps them conserve water and allow them to thrive in difficult situations.

While our Ross Conifer Collection features species, the Benenson Ornamental Conifer collection offers examples of cultivated varieties. Some ornamental conifers are ubiquitous in the nursery trade and others are rare finds that are generally worth searching out. They often have interesting forms, textures and foliage. They offer the homeowner much needed winter interest, add to the architecture of your garden and are great additions to any landscape.

Let’s start with the entrance of this garden and look at a few of its residents. At the entrance off to the side are two young cedars. One is a cedar of Lebanon named ‘Beacon Hill’ (Cedrus libani ‘Beacon Hill’). This is a dwarf specimen that has bright green foliage and a lovely sprawling habit that gracefully contorts itself like a ballerina.

Adjacent is a Himalayan cedar named Cedrus deodara ‘Shalimar’. This cedar has blue-green needles and light and airy branches that stretch outward in a raised horizontal fashion, drooping slightly at the tip. The shape of the branches looks like angel’s wings taking off in flight.

Two Sargent’s weeping hemlock (Tsuga canadensis ‘Pendula’) line the face of the rock wall. This graceful hemlock has no dominant leader like the Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and the branches grow horizontally in an arching manner. It was originally discovered growing as a seedling near Beacon, New York. The Benenson has several fine specimens gracing the entrance of the garden.

One of my favorite additions to the collection can be found right near the rustic stone seating area at the entrance to the garden. It is the variegated Himalayan pine (Pinus wallichiana ‘Zebrina’). The variegated Himalayan pine has incredibly long 7 inch needles that are covered with alternating stripes in green and gold. The needles look more like a porcupine’s quill then a conifer’s needle.

These are just a few highlights that decorate the entrance to the collection. Enter the garden and you will find a vast collection of interesting ornamental conifers – some ideal for homeowners with small spaces – others specimens best left to the expansive grounds of a botanical garden.