The Buzz

  As you wander the botanic garden and admire spring beauty, you may also wonder why the Hosta Trail is filled with sunken pots. The reasons are twofold. When the Mid-South Hosta Society created these nationally acclaimed beds, members realized their favorite plants must be protected from hungry voles and thirsty tree roots. Hostas love rich, moist, loose soil, but few thrive in competition with these subterranean foes. In the spring of 1999, MSHS members planted the first of seven... Read More

It is best to cut your flowers and foliage the day before you anticipate using them. Have a deep, clean container filled with about 6” of warm water and use a sharp pair of shears or knife to make a clean cut on each stem. Remove all foliage that will be below the water line and put each stem in water immediately to prevent the end from sealing over.  When finished, put your container of material indoors in a cool room, out of a draft.   Your cut materials will be conditioned... Read More

Nick’s Corner is just that, a corner of the garden which I maintain in The Japanese Garden of Tranquility that includes Seijaku-en, The Nature Photography Garden and The Asian Garden. The Corner serves a refuge for me and provides me with a place to think about gardening. Spring is finally here!!  This last winter was long, cold and wreaked havoc on our tender plants, especially in the newly planted Asian Garden. There are two specimens of Gardenia, Gardenia  jasminoides... Read More

Spring is finally in full force, and the results of our hard winter are now in evidence. The mophead Hydrangeas seem to have been particularly affected by the extended cold temperatures. Now is the time to prune them back to the easy to spot viable buds by simply pruning them back to just above a set of new leaves.   We may see a reduction in flower buds this spring due to the deep freeze, however. This year will serve as an excellent indicator of which varieties truly have... Read More

Eight Rhodes College biology students completing undergraduate research and Biology Professor, Dr. Michael Collins, recently used the Memphis Botanic Garden as a bird-banding field research site.  Over the course of a few days, in the sunrise hours of the morning, the group set up multiple 10’ nets to collect birds in different areas of the Garden.  Banding the birds helps researchers in other areas to see where certain birds have been and better understand migration patterns. ... Read More