Result of dropping immature giant puffball mushrooms off the Interurban Bridge.

The mushrooms were fresh and new, with firm white flesh that is at its best for flavor and edibility.  It’s not until the puffball has turned brown, discolored and inedible, when the outer flesh has started to break apart, that they are primed and ready to be sent sailing through the air.  I wish people would wait until the mushrooms are ready, when they aren’t as visually appealing, so other people can enjoy seeing them in the garden and perhaps have the opportunity to share something unfamiliar and intriguing with their kiddos.  Please consider this before acting on perfunctory impulse.

Fresh, immature giant puffballs in Ophiopogon.

Group of mushrooms from a single mycelium at woodland edge.

Let’s explore a bit further into the fungi behind the fun, and gain a better understanding of just how incredible these giant puffballs are.  Fungi are in their own kingdom classification; they are not plants, as was once thought, because they cannot generate their own food.  By absorption via a complex branching colony of fungal cells called a mycelium, nutrients are acquired through a process which aids in the decomposition of organic matter found in the soil.  Interestingly, fungi are the only organisms that are able to naturally process lignin, the tough, woody tissue that gives shrubs and trees their strength and provides structural support.  Nothing else is able to so efficiently release nutrients back into the soil for the support of its ecosystem, and most of the process is hidden from sight.  Mycelia secrete enzymes that break down organic matter and allow fungal cells to absorb nutrients through its cell walls, which explains why mycelium is usually hidden from sight in wood or soil – that’s where the supply is found.  The best part is that fungi are not the only ones to benefit.  In fact, a symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants exists with 90% of all plants found on land, where both organisms benefit from living in close proximity to each other.  Mycelia improve soil structure so trees and other plant roots in the surrounding area are better able to access available water and minerals.  Plants photosynthesize light energy into carbohydrates, which are transported to the root zone where fungi can “feed” on the higher concentration of sugars.  All of this is happening with the structural part of fungi, the mycelium, but how do giant puffball mushrooms fit into the picture?

Mature giant puffball, ready for spore expulsion.

Giant puffball mushrooms, or Calvatia (syn. Langermannia) gigantea, are the fruiting structure of the fungus.  An easy analogy is to think of the mushroom as the “apple” portion of an apple tree, while the mycelium plays the role of the actual tree.  Mushrooms are designed for one thing: making babies.  In the case of giant puffballs, they can produce trillions of spores – up to 2500 per inch – because of their enormous size.  All the spores are produced internally, which may seem less efficient, but from the perspective of the actual scattering of spores, it’s quite effective.  When the spores have matured, the surface of the mushroom breaks down and tears open, where wind, water or physical contact can aid the spores’ escape.  Perhaps the natural desire to kick giant puffballs is really part of the mushroom’s plan to take over the world…I guess we’ll keep playing along!

Here’s an internal look at spore arrangement in giant puffballs with Director of Horticulture, Chad Franer:

Well, my last blog talked about the upcoming Garden Writers Association (GWA) annual symposium to be held here in Indianapolis. I’m sure you are all dying to know if I won the Gold in 2011. As a matter of fact, no, I did not. GWA did not award the Gold in my category this year. Both my competition and I had to settle for Silver. As my friend Scarlet once said, “As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again”. Now, what does that statement have to do with this blog? Frankly my dear, not a damn thing. It’s just what came into my head and I have to get those things out of my head right away sometimes. Anyways, I’m quite proud of my Silver Award in Electronic Media Writing.

From all the comments I heard, the symposium was quite a success. From the networking, to the breakfast catered by Nourish, to the gardens visited, to the lectures attended, most seemed very pleased. As is so often the case, they were surprised and delighted at the qualities of our city. The folks at Plants Nouveau (Angela Treadwell Palmer and Jim Martin) were so giddy over being here they got hitched – multiple times I think.

We had not one but two camera crews to film here. One was with Oklahoma Gardening. I saw host Kim Toscano shooting with Chad Franer, Director of Horticulture, about the green roof on the Sutphin Mall.

The other crew was Growing a Greener World (a series on Public Television and online) with Joe Lamp’l. They did a piece with Chad on the Rain Garden. Speaking of the Rain Garden, here’s what one GWA attendee said about ours: “Now THIS is a rain garden!  THIS is what it’s supposed to look like!” Jim and Chad did a fantastic design job on that garden.

We visited gardens four of the five days of the symposium. This was three days split 50/50 gardens and lectures, then a full day post-symposium tour. All in all, we visited one urban vegetable garden, four public gardens, two retail gardens, and ten private gardens. It is a lot to pack into four days. Here are a few details and images.

We started our visit to the Wishard Slow Food Garden in White River State Park with yoga.

The Children’s Garden at Garfield Park was a hit with attendees.

It also won the first Jim Wilson Mentoring Award from the GWA. That included a much needed $1,000.

Here’s the overview of the award from GWA: The Jim Wilson Mentoring Award will be presented to the individual or organization in the area of the Annual Symposium that has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for gardening, encouraging others who may not otherwise come outside to experience, learn, and have success in garden.

White River Gardens and the Zoo were big hits as well. White River Gardens grows these Victoria waterlilies from seed every year! Can you imagine?

I forgot to take any pictures while we were at the IMA. I was terribly busy, along with the rest of the Horticulture staff, being a good host.

Avon Gardens was a perfect spot for lunch and shopping.

And then you could drop a few more dollars at Soules Gardens.

But I must tell you, it is the private gardens that gets people’s hearts astirrin’ and minds awhirrin’ with story ideas. The private gardens are why people go on the tours. And I think we really impressed them.

So my first ever experience helping to plan a national symposium is over. I want to thank all involved but especially Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp who had the dream and gumption to make it happen. And likewise a special thanks to all my co-workers in Horticulture. I know you have had to come in on many week-ends this year for programs and this was another one. You worked extra hard to make things look so beautiful and I do so appreciate it. And yes, I know there have been times you thought there was a live hand grenade sitting at the table with you.

But bless you all, you didn’t even say a thing to me. Not even when my head went flying across the garden and hit that brick wall.

And it’s a good thing. I’m in close touch with my inner femme fatale.

The same can be said of taking time to enjoy the labors of your gardening. Rarely is it not lovely to stroll through your garden in the morning, the earlier the better some days, I admit. Come afternoon it is much lovelier to stroll through your shaded garden – if you have one. And again, come evening the temperature usually moderates so it can be nice to do the daily inspection or sit out in the garden and just relax.

But you need some plants out there or why bother? Something that does well in the shade. Something that shows well in the evening light. Something not too demanding as it is July and hot and humid and you are a little weary of garden chores. How about a shrub? How about a white flowering shrub? How about a tough shrub? How about a native white-flowering tough shrub for shade that also does well in the sun? How about Hydrangea arborescens, smooth hydrangea?

This plant can be seen back home in southern Indiana growing on the cut bank of the gravel road, clinging to the soil, and live no matter what the weather has been. You gotta be tough to grow along a gravel road. Trust me. That’s the ‘hood I grew up in.

Hydrangea arborescens can grow from three to five feet tall and wide, on average. Unlike the more sought after Hydrangea macrophylla (big blue and pink blooms), this hydrangea blooms on new wood so you can cut it back every year if you want and it still blooms (this also reduces the size somewhat). It will even bloom after one of our vicious winters. And yes, I know many new forms of H. macrophylla claim to bloom wondrously every year, but I have yet to see one truly pull that off. I want them to, yet the performance just doesn’t seem to match the promotional literature in my experience. But I will keep trialing them.

If you are going to grow H. arborescens in the sun, which is fine, make sure your soil is good and be prepared to give it some extra water. Also don’t be surprised if it wilts in the heat of the midday sun. It’ll perk right back up in the evening.

The straight species has a lacecap type of flower.

All those tiny flowers are fertile – they can make seed. The bigger flowers are sterile – they are just for show. Cultivars have been selected that have all sterile flowers.

These are much showier. I won’t say prettier because that may or may not be true. Personally, it depends on my mood of the moment.

You can choose a plant based on the leaves, as well as flowers. H. arborescens subspecies radiata has silvery undersides.

Even light breezes can move the leaves and reveal this hidden beauty.

The cultivar “Samantha” is selected from this form and has large heads of sterile flowers. This is not our finest plant.

We have had some Phytophthora problems with our “Samantha” plants, but I don’t know if that is a culture issue because of where we planted them or a sign of a plant susceptible to this disease. Or did the plants have the disease when we received them? No other H. arborescens plants have had a problem here so I’m not worrying about it just yet.

Another cultivar is “Hayes Starburst.” I am loving the bloom on this selection. The flowers are double and the sepals (not really petals) are just a little more pointed.

I have a clump of five young plants in one of the beds on the Sutphin Mall. They look good so far in this challenging spot.

For those who want a pink hydrangea, there are pink forms of H. arborescens available. The first to hit the market is from Proven Winners.^® Invincibelle^® Spirit (“NCHA 1″) was developed in a breeding program that used a wild pink form crossed with the old standard “Annabelle” that has giant, white ball-shaped flowers. The pink color is very strong when the bloom begins.

It does fade, as you can see from this photo, but that is to be expected. I bet a little afternoon shade would help hold the color too.

One dollar from each plant sold goes to breast cancer research.

Watch for more pinks to appear soon.

Here is a shot of my new and improved Annabelle, a cultivar called Incrediball^® (“Abetwo”).

It has stronger stems, plus more and larger flowers than Annabelle. I have seen the blooms side by side and they are larger. My plant needs another year to prove it doesn’t flop. You can find more about it and Invincibelle^® Spirit in this Proven Winners^® press release from 2010.

Another very nice cultivar is White Dome (“Dardom”). The name comes from the dome shaped flowers.

It is considered a more vigorous growing selection. Our plants in the Southwest Border Garden have done very well.

The blooms of H. arborescens make good cut flowers and dried flowers as well. I especially like the large ball-types picked when green and dried. They hold that nice green shade for a long, long time.

So there you have it – a tough, easy to grow, long-blooming, reliable-blooming, good foliaged shrub for shade or sun. So smooth…….. hydrangea.

© Stanley D. Abell, 2011

Later that day he uploaded this image, along with a few others from his time at the IMA, to his personal Facebook page. IMA staff gives a tip of the hat to this photograph and its posting online as a prime example of fair use of an image taken on the grounds and shared through social media – well done sir, well done!

In comparison to this casual moment captured and shared by Stanley D. Abell, Sara Morris details her experience as a professional photographer coming to shoot on the IMA grounds:

It was last fall, and I pulled into the Indianapolis Museum of Art on a beautiful evening.  It was a Sunday, and cars were lined up and down the long drive back into the gardens.  The Elder Greenhouse parking lot was full, and cars were circled up and around the Lilly House driveway.  I had made this drive a million times and never found it like this.  After waiting out a spot in the greenhouse lot, I finally parked and caught my breath.

Looking around, I was in amazement.  There wasn’t a wedding.  I couldn’t see any of the regular picnic goers and such.  I was just surrounded by photographers and families, children, happily engaged couples, and even a handful of dogs.   It was a photo shoot frenzy!  Being a professional in the city for over 4 years now, I have had my fair share of shoots at the IMA.  It’s an amazing and beautiful space with such a variety of backdrops.  I once thought I’d take a year off from shooting there, but it’s a heavily requested location by my clients, and I just couldn’t do it.  So, now, each time I shoot at the IMA I challenge myself to find something new.

When I heard about the new Photography Policy at the IMA, I was in full support.  That day – when I pulled in and was overwhelmed with the sea of photographers – was not much fun.  The IMA had become a photographer’s amusement park.  There were lines of people waiting to shoot in the Museum’s most coveted spots…under the arches, the low branch on the big tree, the iron bridge, the list goes on.  That day was frustrating, but it was the week that followed that hurt the most.  Early in the week following that Sunday, I had another shoot at the IMA.  This time I found my front row spot in the greenhouse lot with ease.  It was a new day, but yet the grounds seemed different.  The grass had turned brown in many spots, and there were visible paths where the ground had been trampled during the weekend, as well as parked on.  It was obvious how much traffic there had been, and the grounds were definitely in need of a break.

My hope is that the Photography Policy will help to give the IMA grounds the much needed rest it requires from time to time.  The Museum is still open to allowing photography, they are just adopting a policy that is very standard in most communities throughout the country.  There has to be some control, or it can turn into total chaos and ultimately hurt the museum most.  I was happy to hear of the new policy and applied right away.  I am thrilled to give back to a place that has brought so many of my clients lasting memories with their families and loved ones.

The IMA wants every visitor to enjoy the grounds and take advantage of the creativity that blossoms out of the natural beauty of the gardens and artworks. We simply ask that you be respectful of the grounds and help us to preserve them for the many future visitors. In the meantime, please share your favorite shots on the IMA grounds through your social media outlet of choice and don’t forget to tag the IMA!

Otherwise, I might only think about the current weather….

Have I grown tired of temperatures 20 degrees below normal? Oh, hell yes. It seems so ridiculous to have so many nights in the single digits and it is only mid-December. I guess it is weather like this that makes those of us living in more northern climates so appreciative when Spring returns. You are just so relieved to not have that Ole’ Blue Northern pummel you anymore. At the same time, the snow makes a very pretty landscape. Here’s the view from my office window.

I captured a few images yesterday with my phone while we were shoveling out from another snowfall. Later in the day, after we got all the luminaria built, laid out, and lit, I ran out with the camera to capture a few other areas. Unfortunately the batteries died before I got far. If you have not been here for one of our two luminaria events every December, please put it on your calendar for 2011. 800-1000 luminaria bring a whole new look to the gardens, especially on snowy nights.

The gardens are beautiful in winter but we don’t clean all the walks. Please use common sense when traveling snowy or icy paths. And remember, a stop at the Greenhouse will give you a chance to warm up on really cold days.

In the meantime, enjoy (or tolerate) the cold as best you can. It’ll be spring before you know it.

Some may have noticed a bit of a commotion going on over by Garden Terrace the last couple weeks. That’s because the IMA has received a very generous contribution allowing us to begin work on the complete rehabilitation of the Four Seasons Garden.

This is a project we have discussed doing for many years. It is the last large chunk of the Oldfields landscape awaiting restoration.  With its completion in the spring of 2011 we will have one of the most intact Country Place Era estates anywhere in the country. The first picture shows one of the four statues in the garden representing the four seasons that gives the garden its name. That and the fact it is heavy on the evergreens I suppose.

You will be amazed at how quickly this is all taking place. Most of the work is being done in-house by our own Horticulture and Grounds crews along with Horticulture volunteers.

The overgrown and misshapen yews are history. Drain lines are being installed, to be followed by a new irrigation system. The drain lines were added because many of the old yews died from excessive soil moisture. Despite a good deal of digging when removing the old plants there was no evidence as to why this wet condition existed.

The troublesome circular pool, which never drained well, was reduced to rubble.

An outside contractor is creating a new, deeper pool.

This new one will be recirculating, and will have a skimmer box to trap debris. It’ll also have four small jets along its edge as the original once had, to provide some refreshing sounds and keep the water cleaner.

The marble bench at the garden’s west end is also being refurbished and we plan to put back a small sundial which once graced the south entrance (does anyone have a photograph of the original sundial?).

Anne Bruce Haldeman of Louisville designed this garden for the Lillys back in 1939, when their Recreation Building (now Garden Terrace) was being built.  It was refurbished by the Indianapolis Garden Club as a group project back in the 1960’s. Forty years later the garden was badly overgrown once again.  While we will utilize much of Halderman’s original design, we’ll make some modifications to make it more useable and attractive for our many garden patrons.  All changes will be carefully documented, just as we did in the Rapp Family Ravine Garden some 11 years ago.

As of today many of the new yews have already been planted.

Plumbing and electrical work will continue for another month or more.  The boxwoods should arrive next week so replanting of the shrubs will be nearly complete this fall. Some deciduous shrubs and herbaceous plants will go in come spring. It should look glorious for our celebration of Oldfields’ centennial in 2012.

I mentioned last time I thought fall color would go fast. But as often happens nature is messing with me again. Our plants here have held on to their beauty pretty good. You can still come and revel in the glory of autumn. I mean it. Get yourself over here.

As I go about the gardens, I see the honey bees still hard at work gathering nectar and pollen from the late summer and fall flowers.

Soon asters will begin blooming and their flowers will work as hundreds of heliports with bees constantly landing, refueling, reloading, and lifting off all day long. The bees’ lives are lives of extreme order and hard work. Especially hard work. They really do work themselves to death. No time for retirement and its activities – meeting friends for coffee, speed walking in the mall, or wondering why the kids don’t come around more often (or being grateful they don’t). It’s just work til your wings fall off. Then you die. Not unlike those of us in public gardening.

But the bees with a beekeeper watching over them do get a bit of a health plan to keep them active longer. Part of that plan is monitoring the hive for mites. The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is an external mite that weakens the bees by feeding on their “blood” (hemolymph). In the process they also make wounds that can lead to infections. Also, viruses spread by the Varroa mite can cause deformed wings and other problems. Heavy infestations may lead to colony collapse disorder and indeed are often responsible for loss of the hive during the period from late fall to spring, a time the bees can be physically weak.

The female mite actually lays her eggs in the brood cells of the hive. The mites hatch as the bees develop in the cell and leave with the bees. There are several chemical treatments available but here at the IMA Chad is trying a much less toxic method – powdered sugar.

The powdered sugar loosens the mites’ grip on the bees. The other thing is the bees do not want to be covered in powdered sugar. As they clean themselves they knock even more mites off. This one-two punch removes a good many mites. Repeat treatments are usually necessary

A white board is under the hive at all times. Mites that fall off the bees then fall through the screen at the bottom of the hive and land on the board. The dark mites show up nicely against the white. When you start noticing an infection you treat. The weird thing is the mites don’t make their way from the board back to the bees.

So what is involved in the powdered sugar treatment? It’s pretty simple. You dust the bees with powdered sugar. Like donuts or a really good chocolate cake that doesn’t need frosting.

The hive is opened.

The bees are dusted with the powdered sugar. Note Gwyn is present any time danger is imminent. Gwyn sprinkles the powdered sugar over the box then Chad brushes any remaining down into the box and on to the bees.

Here’s a nice shot of a “sugared” bee.

Did you notice that black thing with hardware cloth in the hive? Check the picture of the sugared hive. It’s an interior feeder for the bees. We give them sugar water in a jar attached to the outside of the hive already as a supplement to their regular diet of nectar and pollen: 50-50 granulated sugar and water. This new method of feeding them puts the sugar water right inside the hive.

Thanks to Patty for the images in this blog. For a more about our bees check this blast from the past.
And we gotta have some music of course…….

Snowdrops behind Deer-Zink are blooming.

Some of the Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’ in the beds around the Sutphin Fountain are very close to blooming.

Witchhazels are blooming all over the place.

Perennials are pushing new growth.

And I saw winter aconite that will be in bloom tomorrow. Hellebores should be showing color too.

So much happening. More later.

IRT Facade

I recently got the chance to go see Crowns at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. It was great- the actors had good voices, the hats were compelling and fun and funny, the set was interesting and transitioned well for the actors from scene to scene. Most importantly, the audience loved it and really got into the story. To my surprise, there were a lot of kids there who enjoyed it, too. Way to go, Indy people, for taking your kids to the theatre.

But, I’m not actually interested in making this a theatre review. I have been thinking lately, spurned on by the recent culture rally Indy Culture Matters, about the large amount of cultural offerings we have available to us here in Indy. I have also been thinking about how much this defines the city as a thriving, important global community with an invested, artistic population. Most of our residents care about culture, and support it. But, I think the part that some people forget about is that fact that the institutions and organizations that comprise the local arts scene all actually support Indianapolis residents. Jobs, tourism, revenue- and more than our sports teams bring in, too.

So, get out and see the newest show at IRT, Interpreting William (which is based on the story of the founder of Conner Prairie.) If you aren’t into theatre, try something else.  Some events have shockingly cheap tickets. Indianapolis has countless offerings: Museums, gallery walks, historical houses, gardens, the zoo, the symphony. We have so much going on all the time, and it’s a shame to let all that amazing culture be wasted on JUST the tourists.

Feel free to comment and let me know of all the cool Indianapolis hot spots I left out!

image from trendhunter.com

image from trendhunter.com

More often however designers are only inspired by plants when they are creating fabric for their work. That fact is the focus for the exhibition Fashion in Bloom put together by Niloo Imami-Paydar, IMA’s Curator of Textile and Fashion Arts. The exhibition opens Saturday April 4 and runs through January 30, 2010. The items in this exhibition go all the way back to the 1700’s, but the four I’m blogging about are from the late 1950’s to the 70’s.Mind you, as IMA Horticulturist Geoff Von Burg discovered when he developed a guide connecting flowers on the dresses with their botanical counterparts, the flowers are not always exact replicas of their living inspirations. Sometimes you just have to guess what the designer was thinking.

Is that a geranium? Or a rose? An anemone. No, maybe a cosmos?
Some however, are as obvious as a drag queen in size 14 stilettos. The bright flowers on this dress by James Galanos leave no doubt that it’s a field of hibiscus.

With the near-perfect shape of the petals and the large yellow protruding stamens, it’s practically a botanical print. Remember there are both tropical and hardy hibiscus plants. I’m sure the tropical variety inspired this fabric’s design.

image from phoenixplants.com

The tropical hibiscus comes in about every color but true blue and is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. They make great summer plants here in the Midwest blooming constantly whether in containers or in the ground. They are easy to overwinter indoors and will even bloom if happy. The hardy ones, generally Hibiscus moscheutos and its hybrids, range from white to pink to red with the pinks and reds coming in palest pink to near burgundy. Some are now available with dark burgundy foliage as well. They die back completely each winter but come back up in late spring to bloom by mid-summer. In our gardens we have ‘Ruby Dot’ at the 42nd Street Bridge, ‘Intense Pink’ in the Dick Wood Formal Garden, and ‘Plum Crazy’ in front of the Madeline F. Elder Greenhouse.

The flowers on this dress by Indiana’s own Norman Norell must be zinnias …. or dahlias ….  or mums.

image from howstuffworks.com

I like to think of them as zinnias since they are the quintessential summer flower in the Midwest and this dress just screams summer. And they can be found in all the bright colors shown on the fabric. Zinnias are one of the easiest of summer annuals to grow, full sun and decent drainage and they are happy. You can choose from shorter varieties such as the Zahara series I’m using this year around the Sutphin Fountain or the taller more traditional types I used to use in the cutting garden like the Benary’s Giant Series or the hot ‘Uproar Rose’.
I have to include the psychedelic influenced Bill Blass design in the show because the leaves make me think of coleus.

image from gardenguides.com

And really, why even get up in the morning if you aren’t going to think of coleus? Coleus are fabulous in the ground and in containers plus they can be used in the shade and the sun. There are precious few colors not included in their leaves. All you have to do is shop around for the one that fits best with your other plant colors. That’s color from flowers or foliage. Other flowers I see in this fabric are Gazania and Salpiglossis (painted tongue).

The last dress I want to mention is this 1970’s velvet number by Hanae Mori.

The beautiful pink cherry blossoms made me instantly think of the flowering almond (Prunus triloba var. multiplex) ready to bloom right now in the Southwest Border Garden.

Flowering Almond

Long time gardeners may recognize its similarity to the dwarf flowering almond (Prunus glandulosa), a much smaller spring blooming shrub that has fallen out of favor. The flowering almond is one of the earliest spring blooming shrubs, well before its leaves unfurl. It gets rather large, 12 to 15 feet, but can be pruned to maintain a slightly smaller stature. It is another of the woody plants that are great for forcing into bloom in late winter. You just cut a few branches, put ‘em in a vase, and in a few days you have gorgeous double pink flowers brightening the gray winter days. Like most Prunus species it prefers lots of sun.

I suggest you take some time to see Fashion in Bloom then take a stroll through our gardens to see how many similar flowers you find there. Or take a walk in the gardens first then see the show. Just do both and make yourself happy for awhile ( and Niloo, and me, and all the other horticulturists).

By the way, the redbuds (Cercis canadensis, C. reniformis, and C. chinenesis) are in very heavy bud just ready to burst into full bloom. Get your butt over here in the next couple weeks and check them all out.