FROM THE CURATOR
By Clair Martin
The 5 th of October marked another landmark for The Huntington with the Members' opening of the Rose Hills Conservatory for Botanical Science. The opening of the Conservatory also marked the closing of the final phase of the Botanical Initiative, which included the gardens, maintenance complex, and nursery, Botanical offices and library, Educational facilities, and Children’s Garden. The Members' opening was a festive event with nearly 4,000 members and their guests attending the evening event. Along with touring the new the Conservatory there was food and a lively band performing well into the evening. To help view the exhibits in the Conservatory and light the gardens, helium balloons were brought in and placed along Library Road and in the Brown Garden floating above the visitors like full moons tethered right above our heads. Even though the line to tour the Conservatory snaked around the garden and down Library Road everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves throughout the evening event.
If you haven’t taken the time to visit the new Conservatory you should make sure to schedule time for that on your next visit to The Huntington. Take a moment to check out the Conservatory before a visit by going to the Conservatory pages on The Huntington website at: http://www.huntingtonbotanical.org/Conservatory/about.htm.
Children and adults will find the new interactive science exhibits fascinating and informative on how plants affect every part of our lives. Then of course there are the plantings. Never seen a cinnamon tree or vanilla orchid growing in the wild? If you wonder what raffia furniture is made from or where chocolate comes from, or how a venus flytrap works, then this is a unique opportunity to expand your knowledge of the plant world. And you don’t even have to have a green thumb!
Jim Folsom and Kitty Connolly and their staffs have created something unique in the museum world, a science center for plants. Truly there is nothing like it anywhere in the world and it is right here in your backyard at The Huntington.
Even though the weather these past few months has had its ups and downs we managed a respectable bloom for the Fall Rose Festival again this year. Held in conjunction with the Fall Plant Sale on the weekend of October 29 and 30, our theme this year was Fragrance. Judy Polinsky and Myriam Hu assembled a collection of home made rose waters they had produced from some of the more fragrant roses in collection. Using cut flowers to illustrate each rosewater, visitors had an opportunity to sniff their way through the garden. Emina Darakjy again this year provided a potpourri demonstration of dried rose petals and helped visitors to make their own mini sachets to take home. And our corps of docents developed, as one visitor named it, a ‘Sniffery’ using the table display of fragrant roses and invited visitors to use their noses to tour the rose collection. Who ever said ‘Modern roses have lost their scent’ needs to have an olfactory examination!
Docents put on their aprons and demonstrated deadheading on both days and answered questions ranging from ‘Where are the most fragrant roses?’ to ‘Where can I buy this rose?’ Our new display with the small vases of cut flowers continues to attract visitors over to the table and initiate many conversations about the garden and roses in general.
Docents will continue to staff the garden right up to New Year's when we will begin our yearly pruning. We can use help with the pruning starting on Wednesday, January 4. Since New Year’s Day falls on Sunday, the Rose Parade will be held on Monday. We can expect a large number of visitors all that week, but because we need to get the pruning finished in a timely manner, we will have to start during that busy week.
It’s hard to believe but the holidays are upon us. With all the demands on time and family it is a busy time of the year. The two weeks between Christmas and New Year's are traditionally some of our busiest of the year. The Huntington will be on extended hours through the holiday period, so any extra help our volunteers could give us to help provide our out-of-town visitors with a unique experience in our Rose Garden would be very much appreciated.
Clair Martin, Ruth B. and E.L. Shannon Curator of the Rose and Perennial Gardens
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