January 2009 brought one of the largest projects the HFF has taken on with the building of a Victorian fern stumpery. For those not familiar with the finer gardening of the Victorian era, a stumpery is a collection of logs and tree roots placed in a garden setting creating multiple micro habitats for ferns and other woodland treasures. The HFF stumpery is the largest stumpery in the world and probably the largest built since Victorian times. Over 130 logs and stumps were placed in a sheltered generous half acre woodland with an over story of massive mature Douglas fir. The stumps were in place by the end of January and work is now beginning to clean and artistically develop the stumps. We hope planting will begin in late February or early March. If you are interested in helping with the continuing development of this one of a kind stumpery contact us at . Come see the newest and most amazing garden since 1901.
New Hoop House!
During a snow storm this past winter, three of the hoop houses came down here at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, one of them being the HFF fern hoop. We had been planning on putting up a new hoop for some time. Mother nature stepped in and decided to expedite things. When our hoop came down we needed to move all of our ferns to the edge of the property, alongside an existing hoop and the fence. Needless to say, between the voles, rabbits and shotweed we are excited to get them back safely into the new hoop! We now have twice the growing space and plan on installing a zoned irrigation system that will allow us to better cater to the requirements of the ferns. We are extremely grateful to John van den Meerendonk, HFF member and owner of Botanica, for all of the time and energy that he and his crew donated to make this project possible!
The Tropical House is going up!
It doesn't look like much at this moment in time, but the new Rutherford Conservatory at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden is on its way to become the home of one of the world’s premier displays of tropical and sub-tropical rhododendrons. The 5000 square foot conservatory is located near the public entrance and Gift shop. The permanent collection and propagation area is in the Vireya Greenhouse completed in October 2006.
Participating in the ground breaking and digging the first shovel of dirt was Fran Rutherford whom generously contributed to the Tropical House and the Vireya Greenhouse. By his side was Steve Hootman, Director of the RSFBG, and Paul Thompson, Board member and “The Boss” of the Thursday Crew. Also present was Chip Muller, Dennis Bottmiller, and Rick Peterson. The land was cleared, the rocks safely positioned, and then the framework went up. The glassroof is now being installed!
