Bulletin Board
Plant of the Month
Germander
Teucrium chamaedrys
var. menthifolia
This is a plant that I was not familiar with until I went on a local garden tour and saw it used. As with quite a few plants, I wonder why it is not more popular. It has several great features, perhaps the best being that it flowers now in late summer when there isn’t much going on. It is often mentioned as a pollinator magnet; and certainly is in the Arboretum.
Germander is a compact, broadleaf evergreen. It is often classified as an herb, probably because it is in the Mint Family, and the foliage has a pleasant smell that is useful in wreaths and potpourri. It grows in a low, mound about a foot tall and somewhat wider than tall.
It is very tolerant of pruning, or shearing, and is often used in formal herb gardens as a edging hedge. The plants in the arboretum are only a year and a half old; so, their winter hardiness might still be questionable (many broad leaf evergreens suffer in our climate when we have cold temperatures and no snow). But, so far it seems to be a great choice for lots of sites, with the added bonus of feeding pollinators and having great smelling foliage.
Monthly Projects
Classes have resumed, which mostly affects the Arboretum by reducing the maintenance crew. This year the crew is shrinking from 3 full time people during the summer to one full time person and one working most of two days a week.
We have been working on two new projects, The Dr. Richard Naskali Asian Section naming project, and a collection in memory of Ray Hoff—of native wildflowers and ferns for shade.
The Dr. Richard Naskali project is going in next to the kiosk at the top of the Arboretum. It includes a carved granite Asian Lantern which was in Richard’s back yard for years, an engraved rock and sign recognizing his role in the creation of the Arboretum and a steel Asian moon gate framing the entrance into the Asian section. As part of the project, we removed the old keystone block wall and concrete pavers around the kiosk and replaced them with fractured granite boulders and flat step stones to match the Vettrus project across the road.
The Ray Hoff collection will be planted among the White Pines (Ray worked with White Pines during his career with U.S. Forest Service). His project includes a new pathway connecting down to the gravel road and two ‘sitting logs’ along the path. Hopefully we will be able to get irrigation installed and a limited number of plants in yet this fall.
Upcoming Events
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Be sure to check back next month