Ron and Norma Brown have created one of the most impressive private garden's
I have had the privilege to experience. When I visited their home the first
time, I was touring gardens in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during
the spring meeting
of the Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Rododendron Society.
The time was mid May, and although the Brown's landscape was
beautiful, I could sense that the "real show" was much earlier in the season.
Over many years, the Browns have transformed a rocky slope that was once a
"dumping ground"
for their original community, into a spectacular horticultural treasure.
They have many choice rhododendrons, azaleas, and companion plants, but
their main display
features mass plantings of woodland wildflowers, especially Trillium
grandiflorum and Virginia Bluebells, and hundreds of mature tree peonies.
As I walked through their five
acre garden, I was amazed at the magnitude of what had just finished
blooming, masses of rare woodland wildflowers and tree peonies. I have
a few cherished trillium in my yard, and noted that I had paid nearly
$100 each for the two tree peonies I had just planted, one of which was
mislabled. I was astounded to learn that that most of the Brown's
plants had been propagated from their own seeds. They had started
with a small number of original plants, and over the years
had collected seeds from the garden and raised their own seedlings
to expand the landscape.
Trillium and tree peony seed often takes two
years to germinate, and then five or more years just to see the first
blooms. These plantings were huge and looked as though they had been there
for centuries!
When I expressed my disappointment that our tour had missed the trillium
display, the Browns
kindly invited me to come back the following year when the early things were
in bloom.
Here are just a few of the glorious sights I witnessed that April afternoon.
This is a home of master gardeners, and ones who have generously shared
their expertise and rare seeds with many, including major
public horticultural centers such as James Madison University
in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as well as Green Spring Gardens Park and the
John C. White and Margaret K. White Horticultural Center, both in Fairfax
County, Virginia. Perhaps in another twenty to thirty years, there will
be public gardens that can offer exquisite floral displays as the one
created in their own backyard by Ron and Norma Brown.
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