It is the Small Things

Perhaps it is because I am a plant nerd and field identification is one of my great loves that I zero in small details so much. Of course it could be wired into my DNA as I'm from a long line of people that never failed to notice or forgot anything from the tiniest details to decade old feuds. (Thankfully, I am not cursed with hanging onto grudges forever.) And so to me, "God is in the details" - it is the small stuff that means the most and always catches my eye.

On a walk through Sonnenberg you can't help but to see the big things - the Italian Garden, the Mansion, the fountains, the ponds, the Tea House, and more. They are the iconic things, the historic treasures that thousands of people come to see every year. But in my walks, those are just backdrops. I see the tiny and ever changing minutia of the gardens and Nature in general. A bit of bark on moss. A green katydid on a daylily. Dew on a leaf and the patterned spread of lichen on a rock. Each with their own amazing beauty and incredible stories to wonder at.

I urge you on your next visit to stop for a moment and look. Really look. Become fully present in that one moment of seeing. You will be amazed by what you see when you drop - or elevate - to that level of seeing. Your visits will never be the same again.

Spring 2017

Self-planted violas sprinkled with evergreen pollen

Tulip tree's young leaves reaching out

Aloe in the Greenhouse

Paper Birch bark on pine needles

Weeping beech leaves opening
and looking like tiny fans

Copper Beech with blooms hanging
like earrings

Morel mushrooms in a quiet corner

The brick walkway dusted in
pollen from the Pinetum

One final thought....

Enjoying the view? If so, bring along some young people and share looking at the tiny stuff with them. The group of you will have a whole safari of exploration and fun. And young kids are really great at this kind of seeing and will undoubtedly point out things you never saw. I'll guarantee you that priceless memories will be made by all.

A Sea of Flowers

Each growing season sees a veritable sea of colorful foliage and blooming plants added to our gardens. More than 10,000 are planted each spring in the Italian Garden alone -- and that is only one of the garden areas we maintain. Many of the plants we add each season are tender annuals and perennials. These are plants that cannot survive our bitter and snowy winters and so we overwinter some in our greenhouses but others we buy or grow each season to be planted when the chance of frost is past.

More than 10,000 colorful annuals are planted each spring to
create the floral carpet patterns in the Italian Garden

We also plant and maintain a wide range of hardy perennial plants throughout our park. These are plants that can survive the cold winters to sprout up anew as winter looses its grip and warm days return. These include a wide range of different looks, habits, and blooming times. Some favorite perennials include roses, peonies, coneflowers, hibiscus, balloon flowers, water lilies, tulips, daffodils, lenten rose, bloodroot, and more. 

While these plants do not need special winter care to survive, they do require care throughout the growing season to keep them lush and beautiful. They will also occasionally need to be replaced as the lifespan of green plants vary widely from peonies that can span over generations (they can live to be a 100 years or more) to items like clary sage that is a biennial and dies after blooming in its second year.

The Old Fashioned Garden features a wide variety of blooming
perennial plants from late spring through fall.

Our Rose Garden provides not only another sea of blooms but it perfumes the air once the roses start to bloom in mid to late June. This garden features 2500 white, red, and pink roses -- Mrs. Thompson's favorite colors. Botanically speaking, all roses are perennial shrubs as they have a main woody trunk even though most don't refer to them this way. (Only specific types of roses are generally referred to as "shrub roses.") Like all such woody plants, careful pruning is needed for best shape, health, and blooms plus other care throughout the season is required to maintain the best health and showy display. 

Over 2500 rose plants are featured in our Rose Garden

Besides the flowers in our nine historic gardens, color and floral delights are all throughout the site in small corner gardens, containers, and in our arboretum. A changing tapestry of color and shapes greets every Sonnenberg guest every day.

Spring bulbs add bright color 

While we operate in cooperation with New York State, we are not funded by the State. All gardening needs at Sonnenberg -- and there are many -- are funded through the efforts of our nonprofit organization. Your donation will help to keep the flowers blooming and growing at Sonnenberg for years to come. To make your gift, click the donate button below.

"Happiness will grow if you plant the seeds of love in the garden of hope 

with compassion and care."

- Debasish Mridha

But tho' an old man, I am but a young gardener

It tells you that our third United States President understood well what it was to be a gardener and a lover of plants. It means that you will spend your life in the joy of learning new things.

Powerful Plants Abound

One of the first things you learn as an herbalist is to respect the power plants have. Another herbalist and I have often joked that the poisonous plants were the first ones we learned. All joking aside, it is true. These plants can kill or injure the foolish and careless so it is more than right to learn caution and respect from the very start. But what you also realize in those first few lessons is that the green world around you, no matter where you are on the planet outside of perhaps Antarctica, is filled with many, many useful plants. So many needs - from healing to food to fibers to dyes and more - all answered by plants.

While the arboretum and gardens of Sonnenberg certainly focus on the ornamental aspects of the plant kingdom, the useful and hence the herbal nature of the place is no less present. An herb, as defined by the Herb Society of America, is a plant useful in so many ways and not just for seasoning meals in the kitchen. In my strolls through the gardens, greenhouses, and even the wild places of  Sonnenberg, I see many beautiful plants but I also see many that can be found in traditional pharmacopoeias or useful for the needs of everyday life.

During your next visit, you are sure to see many such herbs but here a few of the ones you might see:

Aboretum:  The linden tree (Tilia sp., pictured right) is in our arboretum. As with many trees, the wood from this tree is prized and has been used for carving, turning, and musical instruments. But the copious and fragrant flowers provide a wonderful pollen source for bees. As such, linden flower honey is very popular where these trees are grown.

The flowers also are used medicinally for a variety of different needs from lowering blood pressure to improving digestion. In Britain, the linden is call a "lime tree" even though it has no relation to the citrus of the same name. (This is a perfect reason why herbalists do prefer botanical names!) If you see "lime" included in an herbal tea blend, it may be linden flowers instead of the citrus bearing the same name.

Of note, our native Tilia tree, the American basswood (Tilia americana) was a fiber source for Native Americans. The inner bark or bast was used to make rope and mats - the tree's name derives from this usage.

Old Fashioned Garden: This garden, featuring flowering and blooming plants hosts a variety of beautiful herbs including: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Bee Balm (Monarda sp.), Pleurisy Root (Asclepias tuberosa), Monkshood (Aconitum sp.), Peony (Paeonia spp.), Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), Rose (Rosa spp.) plus a number of others that are in Western, Asian, and even Native American material medica. The uses of such plants are as varied as the content of this garden itself!

Lawns & Wild Places: I must admit to a special love of herbs in these spaces - especially the lawn "weeds." Weeds they may be in the eyes of some, but desirable and beneficial to others. Walk through an untreated lawn at Sonnenberg or elsewhere and you may see Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea), Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Violets (Viola spp.), Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris, pictured right), Plantain (Plantago Major), and others. So useful were these plants that our European ancestors brought most of those I have just listed to the New World with them. Plantain, for example, was called "White Man's Foot" by Native peoples for it seemed to follow the "white man" westward across North America.

Photo Tip: Patience is a Virtue

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and bumble bee (Photo: K. Burkard)

Having taken thousands of photos of natural subject matter, botanical photos are my favorite. Other than movement caused by wind, plants are some of the best behaved subjects you could ever take a photo of. They can wait patiently for hours in the same pose and they never deny you when you wish to take their portrait. They are more than happy to accommodate.

But the fauna that visits that flora? They are a jittery bunch. They flit from bloom to bloom with reckless abandon rarely pausing long enough for a good view let alone a well-composed photograph. So how do you get shots like this one?

First watch the flowers and you will see the rhythm of the pollinators. It is much like a dance from flower to flower. You'll see that they visit each flower in turn and that no flower is unvisited for long. Then pick your floral subject. Pick a beautiful, perfect bloom. Now see the photo you want in your mind. Set your focus, get the sun and shadow to fall as you need, and whatever else you need to do to get that envisioned shot. Now the hard part, quietly wait. Your shot will come if you have the patience for it.

Dahlias in the Gardens

Due in part to a very generous donation from the Dahlia Society of Rochester, we have planted some of our front display gardens (the beds between Admissions and the Finger Lakes Wine Center) with beautiful dahlia plants. If you are unfamiliar with them, dahlias are tender, perennials that feature a long-lasting floral display of daisy or chrysanthemum-like flowers. They come in a wide variety of colors and forms.

We encourage you to visit and check out our dahlias. There are a variety of colors and styles but all are very photogenic as the images below can attest! In order to plan your visit, please see our website for hours and directions.