Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Belated Birthday Bounty for ViburnumValley, 1 by ViburnumValley

ViburnumValley wrote:
Wow! Thank you all so much.

And how much better could it be than to be in the Mid-Atlantic Gardening group's very own backyard!

Friday (my birthday) we first toured the Rutgers Gardens, where American Holly pretty much rules the day. I also enjoyed revisiting a place that formed fond memories in 1987 (when purchasing two dozen 12' Ilex opaca 'Jersey Princess' from Dr. Elwin Orton's research plots) and again in 1995 (when on a UK Hort Club tour as a retread landscape architecture student). Incredible history dating back to 1916, and in flux up to today. Biggest Abies firma I've ever seen.

We then trekked up the highway to a private residence in Mendham NJ, where there were many interesting plants including a huge Halesia tetraptera and tiny Acorus gramineus 'Minimus Aureus'. And I see there are no PlantFiles images of that one...

Final stop (and longest of the day) was up in Nutley, NJ. Here, a couple has acquired a number of adjacent properties in an older neighborhood, and turned them into one complex eco-garden system. The proprietors and designer have collaborated to create quite an interesting array of vignettes, vistas, voyages, and views. Throw in a few Viburnum et - voilà!

Then, despite traffic consisting of roughly the entire population of KY, we had a fabulous unobstructed view of the NY skyline - albeit over MetLife Stadium and all the other NJ shoreline infrastructure. A pretty easy cruise back to New Brunswick, all things considered.

**Ilex opaca 'Freeman'

**Abies firma Wow™

**Acorus gramineus 'Minimus Aureus'

**Carpinus betulus cubed hedges with variegated Cornus controversa overhead

**Skylinus macromalus '1 World Trade Center'