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Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2006 Annual Report
Horticulture
Between July 2005 and June 2006 infrastructure was improved, gardens were enhanced, and scores of exciting new plants were added to BBG collections. In October, the Garden celebrated the naming of the Judith D. Zuk Magnolia Plaza—a key BBG collection since its first planting in 1932—in honor of our former president. In addition, we presented the newly named Magnolia 'Judy Zuk', a hybrid cultivar distinguished by a golden yellow flower with a flush of plum at its base and the latest in a signature series of magnolias developed by BBG. The first cross of Magnolia 'Judy Zuk' was developed in 1978, and the first bloom was observed in 1987.
Early this year, BBG completed construction of the new Eastern Parkway entrance, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects LLP, with the installation of a lively cherry-leaf-motif stainless steel gate and semicircular ticketing facilities nestled under planted berms. The new entrance and public plaza unite architecture and horticulture and provide an elegant addition to the surrounding neighborhood.
Two of BBG's renowned "firsts"—the first Japanese garden in a botanic garden outside Japan, top, and the first fragrance garden designed for the sightimpaired, bottom, which this year celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Garden staff capped off the Eastern Parkway project with a large planting program both inside and outside the gate. On the plaza, passersby can enjoy new trees and exuberant borders that instantly identify the Garden and offer an invitation to prospective visitors. Inside, the new plantings provide a colorful, multilayered understory. Trees chosen for this project include groups of flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, two-winged silverbell, Japanese cedar, and BBG magnolias 'Lois' and 'Judy Zuk'.
With the new trees establishing the framework, sweeps of woody and herbaceous plants, including shrubs such as large fothergilla and winterberry holly and perennials such as golden Hakone grass, Ozark bluestar, coralbells, and switchgrass, now provide waves of color, texture, and ornamental interest throughout the year. Most of the new plant selections represent cultivars found nowhere else in the Garden.
A short distance away, improvements to the Osborne Garden continued. Colorful plantings of annual and tropical plants on Fawcett Terrace were extended, and the Garden's staff carpenter contributed a series of six handcrafted ipe-wood benches. In the shady area just southeast of the terrace, a number of rhododendron species grown from seed acquired from the Rhododendron Species Foundation were installed as the first component of the Woodland Shade Garden planned for that space.
Just south of the Osborne fountain, eight declining European hornbeams (Carpinus betulus) were replaced by more than 60 new, low-branched specimens of the same species that will be clipped into a tall hedge more fitting for the Italianate space. The hedge will serve as a crisp green backdrop to the many flowering trees to be installed between it and the Osborne bench in the near future. A new wrought-iron fence and service gates were installed around the adjacent Native Flora Garden.
The Cranford Rose Garden was outfitted with a new irrigation system, and the paths between the beds were stripped, graded, and resodded with 9,000 square feet of new turf. These two projects, in concert with last year's replacement of the arbor and gates and the continued stewardship of BBG's rosarian, staff, and volunteers, resulted in a stunning rebirth of the rose garden in time for this year's spring gala.
In the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, the entire shoreline north and east of the Viewing Pavilion was excavated and new waterproofing material installed to prevent erosion. The turf was removed from Turtle Island and replaced with more visually appealing mondo grass, and three Japanese white pines were planted near the entrance. The edge of the pond south of the pavilion was also restored, using coir logs, boulders, and new plantings. The Japanese torii was stripped and repainted in time for our 25th annual Sakura Matsuri festival. Three new bronze leaves were added to the Japanese Garden's Celebrity Path in June, honoring actor and director Steve Buscemi, former ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago and current New York State commissioner Charles A. Gargano, and the late playwright and author Wendy Wasserstein: three individuals with Brooklyn roots who have made significant contributions to their borough and achieved national and international acclaim.
A unique collection of fragrant rhododendron and azalea varieties was added to the Alice Recknagel Ireys Fragrance Garden. Collections throughout this garden were also expanded—in many cases with plants derived from wild-collected seed obtained from Index Semina programs worldwide.
Two specimens from our Orchid Collection, a Dendrobium deltatum and a Schomburgkia galeottiana, received awards from the American Orchid Society and were given 'Brooklyn Botanic Garden' as their clonal name. In addition, photographs of several BBG orchids appeared in Orchids magazine, with BBG's Odontoglossum 'Willow Pond'—a one-of-a-kind Benjamin Berliner hybrid—gracing the cover of the August 2005 issue. The collection was significantly expanded through generous gifts of desirable orchids, including 700 plants from Carlos Fighetti, 60 plants from Theresa Cwierzyk, and 30 plants from Brian Lym and Scot Medbury.
Outside BBG's grounds, vice president of Horticulture and Facilities Patrick Cullina led a delegation of eight horticulture, education, and science staff to New Orleans in spring 2006 to participate in a four-day effort to restore parts of the New Orleans Botanical Garden, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. BBG staff coordinated the donation and delivery of special plant material, designed elements of a large herbaceous border, restored planting beds, removed dead material, pruned trees and shrubs, and installed hundreds of plants.