Everyone seems to agree that this is the best year yet for the tree peonies in Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Pocantico Hills.

Mark Vergari, one of our best photographers, and I paid them a visit yesterday morning for an article for the paper and a TV segment on RNN cable. I took photos, too, but I haven’t even bothered to download them because his are so good. (All of these are by Mark at the park yesterday.)

It had rained early that morning and many of the blooms were still studded with raindrops.

This magnificent collection of more than 350 tree peonies comes into full flower every May and the blooms last for just 10 days or so on each plant.

Go quickly if you want to see these spectacularly show plants before they begin to fade and drop their papery petals. You’ll see blooms nearly as big as your head in impossible-to-describe shades of crimson, mauve, pale yellow, fire-engine red, purple, pink and just plain white. Many are deliciously fragrant.

“Look at how gorgeous they are — this year has just been unbelievable,” says Alix Schnee, manager of the 1,233-acre park.

The peonies, which are clustered around the low buildings near the entrance to the park, were a gift to the American people from the small Japanese town of Yatsuko-Cho as a gesture of healing and peace after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Another group of several hundred 5-year-old plants was to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Unfortunately, all of the plants arrived by boat in Long Beach, Calif., in the fall of 2002 in the middle of a longshoreman’s strike. By the time the container with 1,050 tree peonies (worth $160,000) arrived in New York, not a single plant in the sawdust packing had survived the baking California sun. Everyone involved was heartbroken.

Undeterred, growers in Yatsuko-Cho put together a second shipment of 3-year-old peonies for Pocantico Hills and Brooklyn and this time sent them by air to New York. They arrived in early December that same year, with just barely enough time to get them into the ground before it froze for the winter.

To match the generous gift of the Japanese, the Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve raised $96,000 to build an appropriate garden and stone courtyard for the peonies.

Now the 3- to 4-foot-tall plants have the great good fortune to be cared for by a hard-working team of more than 40 volunteers, led by Keith Austin, the former mayor of Briarcliff Manor.

“You couldn’t have better guardians for your flowers than Keith and his crew of volunteers,” Schnee says. “State parks and sites don’t have a lot of resources and we’re absolutely dependent on volunteer support — and love.”

Austin, now retired, first fell in love with the tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) while working for IBM Corp. in Japan, where it’s considered the king of all flowers.

“In that part of Japan everybody cultivates them,” he says. Yatsuko-Cho in particular is renowned for its rare tree peonies.

That’s Alix on the left, with Keith:

Once established after two to three years, tree peonies are not particularly fussy, Austin says.

“Their care is virtually no different than herbaceous peonies, which we all have in our gardens.”

Tree peonies are more like a woody shrub than the herbaceous ones (Paeonia lactiflora), which die back to the ground in winter. The leaves of tree peonies are thinner, softer and less lustrous.

“The most important thing with peonies is good sanitation,” Austin says. “That and good drainage — these things don’t like a lot of water.”

Every leaf is raked away from the garden in fall to keep out overwintering diseases and funguses and the plants are deadheaded nearly every day while in bloom.

Many of the tree peonies are still covered with buds.

The growers from Yatsuko-Cho have kept a close watch on the peonies.

“They sent people over for three years running to make sure we were caring for them correctly,” Schnee says. “I had all sorts of experts telling us what to do, but we followed exactly what the Japanese told us to do — we figured they knew what they were doing. What an extraordinary gift, what an extraordinary gift.”

What a gift, indeed. Come see for yourself in the next few days.

If you go
The Rockefeller State Park
Preserve is open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The entrance is on Route 117 about
1 mile east of
Route 9. There is a $6 parking fee.

Information:
Call 914-631-1470 or visit nysparks.state.ny.
us/parks/info.asp?parkID=60 or www.friendsrock.org

Looks like the rain will end today — still time this weekend for lots of garden chores. Here’s our weekly Do It Now column from Susan Henry.
Perennials
Plant chrysanthemum cuttings, Japanese anemones and asters for fall bloom.

Flowers
Plant zinnias, cosmos, cleome and nasturtiums. Dahlia tubers, salvia, verbena, geraniums and impatiens can also be planted in beds or containers. Keep picking seed heads from ripening bulbs to ensure better bloom next year. Plant gladiolus corms. Set up trellises for summer flowering vines.

Vegetables and fruits
It is full speed ahead on planting bush beans, pole beans, corn, cucumbers, melons and squash. Continue sowing lettuce, carrots, beets and broccoli directly in the garden. Established rows of carrots, beets parsnips and onions should be thinned so that three fingers fit between individual plants. Keep weeding between the rows and among seedlings.

Continue hardening off seedlings. Transplant on a mild, cloudy day. Place a barrier collar of newspaper or cardboard around tomato and eggplant seedlings to guard against cutworms. If the weather is very cool or very hot, cover new seedlings with a flower pot for a day or so. Seed basil and dill. Remove flowers from newly established strawberry plants and mulch with pine needles or straw.

Trees and shrubs
Control growth of conifers by cutting “candles” of new growth in half. Azaleas are in flower now, but when the petals fade they can be cut back quite hard to reshape them. Continue watering all newly planted material.

Lawns
From now to the end of May is the best time to fertilize the lawn.

Houseplants
Begin acclimatizing houseplants to outdoors. Avoid full sun or windy sites. They may need watering every day. Feed every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer at one-half strength. Some plants such as African violets are better off left indoors.

General
Be alert for late frosts. Cover threatened tender vegetables with row covers or individual plants with flower pots.

Susan Henry

Here’s are weekly garden calendar. Note the three good plant sales on Saturday. And on Sunday, Copamong Pond is a wonderful 12-acre woodland garden around a 12-acre pond. I’ve seen it twice.

May 17
Somers: Ninth District of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State Standard Flower Show. Theme: “Welcome Aboard the Hogwarts Express. Free. 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Route 35. 646-853-4402.

White Plains: Make Your Own Compost. Buy a compost bin and get free advice on gardening. $20, $40. 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saxon Woods Pool, 1800 Mamaroneck Ave. 914-813-5420.

Somers: Friends of Lasdon Annual Plant Sale. 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Route 35. 914-864-7268.

Southeast: Master Gardener Plant Sale. Master gardeners will answer questions and conduct soil PH tests. Free. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tilly Foster Farm and Conservation, 100 Route 312. 845-278-6738.

Upper Nyack: Garden Club of Nyack Annual Plant Sale. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Katzenstein Residence, 507 N. Broadway. 845-358-0534.

May 18
Armonk: Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program. Self-guided tour of private woodland garden. $5 per garden. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Cobamong Pond, 15 Middle Patent Road. 888-842-2442.

Somers: Ninth District of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State Standard Flower Show. Theme: “Welcome Aboard the Hogwarts Express. Free. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Lasdon Park and Arboretum, Route 35. 646-853-4402.

May 21
Pawling: Quaker Hill Native Plant Center Tour. A tour of the plant center in Pawling. Lunch at McKeever’s Restaurant. Sponsor: Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College. Registration. $100. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Native Landscapes and Garden Center, 991 Route 22. 914-606-7870.

May 24
Chappaqua: Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program. Self-guided tour of this private garden featuring extensive collections of rhododendrons, azaleas, tree peonies, and clouds of reseeding forget-me-knots. $5. 2-6 p.m. Rocky Hills, 95 Old Roaring Brook Road. 888-842-2442.

May 31
West Haverstraw: Adapted Gardening. Free. 1 p.m. Helen Hayes Hospital, Route 9W. 845-786-4873.
June 8
Yorktown Heights: Edible Weeds and Wildflowers in Your Backyard. Instructor: Margaret von der Meden, backyard farmer and farm-based educator. Dress appropriately for garden work. Registration. $10. 3-4 p.m. Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, 1275 Hanover St. 914-980-6375.

June 10
White Plains: Greater Westchester Orchid Society Meeting. $25 membership. 7 p.m. Ethical Culture Society of Westchester, 7 Saxon Woods Road. 973-420-4966.

From our weekly Ask the Master Gardeners column:

Q: I knew I should have but didn’t prune in March or early April. Now it’s May. What should I do?

A: First, relax and give up the guilt. Gardening should bring you pleasure. Nature is strong and forgiving, especially of neglect.

Imitate nature’s pruning, accomplished through the action of wind, snow and ice, by cutting out dead or diseased branches of trees and shrubs. Otherwise, wait until July when the new leaves are strong enough to provide healing nutrients for large tree limbs that you remove.

Prune any shrubs that have already flowered this spring such as forsythia, flowering quince (Chaenomeles) and witch hazel (Hamamelis). Pull off dead flowers of rhododendron to promote strong flowering next year.

Cut back the remains of last year’s perennials such as lily turf (Lirope), globe thistle (Echinops), day lilies(Hemerocallis sp.) or coneflower (Echinacea). This task will take a little longer than if you’d done it earlier because you’ll need to watch that you aren’t cutting down new growth.

Cut your butterfly bush (Buddleia) down to 18 inches but leave the lavender (Lavandula) and other woody perennials until they have flowered. Next year, give your lavender a shorter hair cut in March.

It’s not too late to prune roses but definitely not so much as you would have done earlier in spring. Be gentle and restrained as the tender new growth may not yet be strong enough to provide the needed nutrients and healing after radical surgery.

Above all, do no rejuvenation (drastic) pruning this time of year. And leave your spring bulbs until their leaves are yellow and withered.

Linda A. Chisholm, South Nyack , master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County

Yvonne Lynn emailed to let me know about her garden club’s upcoming show:

“The Morsemere Garden Club presents “Let’s Celebrate,” a standard flower show, on Monday, June 2, 2008 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm at the Philipse Manor Hall, 29 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, NY. Open to the public and free of charge.”

And from Christina Dunn:

“SPRING STANDARD FLOWER SHOW

“The Garden Club of New Rochelle will hold its monthly
meeting and “Spring Standard Flower Show” on Wednesday
June 11th, 2008 at the Elks Lodge, 19 the Blvd, New
Rochelle.

“There will be a business meeting at 1 pm followed by
the show at 2-3.30 pm. Refreshments will be served.
Open to the public. Donation accepted.

“For information call 632-5411.”

For some reason I got an invite to a deer-resistant gardening talk and demo at Cambria Nursery in Calif. in November.

No thanks, a bit far. But I thought I’d share the press release because the speaker, Shana McCormick, has some great tips for home gardeners.

There’s a plant list at the end here, but be warned that it may have more West Coast-friendly plants than you’re used to seeing on these lists. I also see a couple of things here that get eaten in my yard.

Here’s a link to the Mohonk Mountain House list of deer-resistant plants. And a link to a Cornell University site with plant lists and tons of good info.

I’ve added a few of my own photos here, too.

Now, from California:

“Expert in Deer-Resistant Gardening Shares Plant-Saving Tips

Without Losing Heart for Nature

“Pacific Grove, CA—As director of grounds for Cambria Pines Lodge’s five acres of themed gardens in Cambria on California’s Central Coast, Shana McCormick thought she had seen it all when it came to plants and pests. That all changed when her employer, Moonstone Hotel Properties, asked her to revitalize the landscaping at the Deer Haven Inn in Pacific Grove, two hours north near Monterey, California.

“It’s ‘deer land’ up there,” McCormick says. “Pacific Grove is an area that is heavily populated by deer, and I’ve never seen anything like it. In Cambria we get two or three at a time, but in Pacific Grove you see herds, maybe 25 at a time. It’s intimidating and they aren’t remotely bothered by us.”

“Deeply committed to horticulture and gardening, McCormick has a soft spot for animals, too. “I am passionate about habitat gardening and feel that it’s advantageous to take care of other species, particularly during times of drought,” says McCormick, who can be found shaking loose fruit off her trees at home so that the raccoons have something to eat.

“With the Deer Haven Inn’s close proximity to deer-friendly Asilomar State Park and the Del Monte Forest, it was vital to implement a strategy that could accommodate wildlife as well as the inn’s grounds. Enter McCormick and what was to be her biggest deer challenge yet.

“Our goal was to create deer-proof curb appeal,” McCormick says, explaining that she gutted the old landscaping, extended the border garden and planted densely in order to create a beautiful look that could withstand some nibbling by deer.

“A deer-resistant garden doesn’t have to be boring or ugly,” McCormick says, adding that this is a chance to be creative with plants like ornamental grasses, society garlic, ornamental thyme, lambs ear and wallflowers.

(Lamb’s ear from Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers):

“You find a genus of plants that deer stay away from, like daisies. And then from that huge family of plants you have a wide selection of foliage, blossoms and colors from which to choose.” She warns that in the fall desperately thirsty deer will nibble on plants that they normally don’t like, thus the need for lots of plants no matter what the genus.

“Months after tackling the grounds at Deer Haven Inn, McCormick visited to see how her work had fared. “The inn’s deer-resistant landscaping is doing surprisingly well,” she says. “We seem to have found an approach allowing both realms of nature to co-exist.”

Deer-Resistant Gardening Class:
McCormick will offer a demonstration and talk on deer-resistant gardening on Nov. 29, 2008 at Cambria Nursery & Florist in Cambria, California. For information, please call 805-927-4747 or visit www.gardenersevents.com.

“Shana McCormick’s Tips for A Deer-Resistant Landscape that Cares for Wildlife, Too:

-Buy plants in a larger size so that they mature quickly. Plants with more foliage can better tolerate nipping by deer during the dry months. Lavatera bicolor planted during the rainy season will almost double in size by the time the drought season hits.

-Plant densely and in abundance so that there is enough to share with the deer. For example, if you plant a grouping of three to five penstemon during the rainy season, they’ll be hardy enough by fall to withstand grazing by thirsty deer.

-Avoid planting in the fall when deer are attracted to plants that they usually don’t like.

-Choose plants that the deer seem to avoid in your climate by observing what is thriving.

-Before landscaping, watch to see if deer use your property as a grazing path. If they do, block the path with temporary netting to disrupt their established routine.

-Test a plant’s “deer appeal” before buying large quantities. Leave them within reach of deer for two weeks.

-Avoid using plants known to attract deer. Roses and fruit trees will bring deer to a house that has never had problems previously. If deer live within five miles of your property, they will find what you’ve planted for them!

-Use drought-resistant plants and water them just enough to keep them healthy. Over watering attracts deer to plants they normally avoid. For example, it’s common to see a coffeeberry bush thriving in the wild, but the same plant, if over watered in a residential setting, will be devoured.

-Make your yard uncomfortable for deer by using outdoor lights and sprinklers with motion-detector switches; put a radio in a waterproof box and play on low through the night; let your dog roam through the yard and leave some poop piles as warnings to the deer; chase the deer when you see them.

-Place pungent plants as a protective wall around plants that are attractive to deer. For example, surround a five gallon blue hibiscus with three to five peppermint-scented geraniums. The deer will not walk through the fragrant geranium foliage.

-Use sprays on all new plantings, particularly during the dry months. Cambria Nursery & Florist recommends “Liquid Fence.” Bloodmeal is also effective when sprinkled on foliage and flowers.

-Build a fence. In Cambria, a six-foot fence is usually sufficient.

Deer-Resistant Plants:

SHRUBS and TREES

Aesculus californica (California buckeye)

Buddleja (butterfly bush):

Callistemon (bottlebrush)

Buxus (boxwood)
Chamaecyparis (false cypress)

Calycanthus occidentalis (spice bush)
Cupressus (cypress)

Carpenteria californica (bush anemone)
Eucalyptus Ceanothus
Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree)

Choisya ternate (Mexican orange)
magnolia Cistus (rockrose)
Maytenus boaria (mayten)

Coleonema (breath of heaven)
Melaleuca Correa (Australian fuchsia)
Olea europaea (olive)

Osteospermum (African or freeway daisy)
Palms Pelargonium (Geranium)
Picea (spruce)

Penstemon

Pinus (pine)

Perovskia (Russian sage)
Podocarpus Plectranthus
Quercus

Rudbeckia hirta (gloriosa daisy)
Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood)

Salvias
Santolina

ANNUALS

Stachys byzantina (lambs ear)
Begonia

Tanacetum vulgare (tansy):

Cleome (spider flower):

Tulbaghia violacia (society garlic)
Digitalis (foxglove)

Thymus (thyme)
Echium vulgare

Verbena bonariensis:

Gomphrena (globe amaranth)

Verbena
Myosotis (forget-me-not)

Zantedeschia (calla lily)
Salvia sclarea (clary sage)

Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower):

VINES

Hedera (ivy)

Solanum jasminoides (potato vine)
Jasminum (jasmine)

Thunbergia gregorii (orange clock vine)
Solanum jasminoides (potato vine)
Thunbergia gregorii (orange clock vine)

Blue Rock School of West Nyack is hosting a tour of seven fully renovated homes near the Hudson in Upper Nyack on Saturday.

Along with gardening stuff, I also write home and real estate articles for the paper. Here’s a link to a piece in today’s paper on this house tour. At least two of the homes have great gardens, too.

I inherited a few ever-expanding patches of day lilies. Like much of our old chicken farm, they were so covered with weeds, brush and collapsed fencing that I could hardly find them.

After many years of weeding and clearing, these swaths of day lilies have come along quite nicely. Here’s a look from last July.

But as any Hudson Valley gardener knows, a patch of day lilies looks just like a salad bar to deer. It seems they wait till just the night before the lilies come into flower to attack the buds.

In recent years I’ve put very simple fencing around the lilies in spring, before they grow too tall. It’s just clothes line rope around a few stakes.

Even though it’s just a foot or two tall, it spooks the deer and keeps them out of the lilies — at least for a while.

It’s a trick I learned from Brad Roeller of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook. Here’s a link to their Web site, with lots of good info on Strategies for Protecting Your Landscape From Deer Browsing.

Brad gives fairly frequent talks in the area on how to keep deer out of your garden and he’s got lots of tricks like this. Any sort of barrier can work to keep deer out because they don’t have good depth of field vision.

I also spray the lilies every two to three weeks with my own brand of deer repellent mixed in occasionally with commercial brands like Liquid Fence. You want to keep changing what you use so they don’t get used to any particular scent or taste.

While fencing the patch by the old outhouse …

… I remembered seeing the vague remains of a stone path from the back door to the outhouse when we first moved in.

We’re redoing our front bluestone walkway and on the hunt for good stones we can use.

Sure enough, we found a treasure trove of flat bluestone buried under the lilies. It’s amazing what you can do with a simple crowbar and spade.

And the tough old lilies? Completely unfazed by the digging.

George Morrison, a master gardener from Briarcliff Manor, emailed about a field trip he just made to Mount Cuba Center in Delaware.

He sent along lots of photos, too. They sure make me want to make a spring visit!

Here’s a link to the Web site, for more info.

Take it away George:

“I’d like to share some photos I took at Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware, last
Sunday, May 4th, at what must have been the height of the spring bloom period. I’m pretty sure you are quite familiar with this hauntingly beautiful place.

“The Copelands, as you may know, he a scion of the DuPont family, and she the devoted gardener, have created a magnificent horticultural experience, with her special area of interest being the preservation of native plants of the eastern piedmont of North America.

“She can be forgiven her inclination to show off some exotics a la Philadelphia Flower Show. To wit: the delphiniums blooming amongst the tulips. It’s the natives that really are the main event.

“I really think this extraordinary place needs to be better known, now that it is open by reservation to the general public, and not just to large groups. At $5 a person it’s a steal. Reservations can be made on line.

“One note: Eating facilities are not located nearby. The closest my wife and I found was about five miles away.”

Since the 1950s, Brooklyn Botanic Garden has been crossing magnolia varieties to produce new and unusual cultivars. Henriette Suhr has several of them in her Chappaqua garden.

One of the most unusual has gorgeous yellow blooms with a flush of plum at its base.

It’s named in honor of Judy Zuk, the longtime president of the Botanic Garden who died last year of breast cancer. It’s said to smell like Fruit Loops.

Known botanically as Magnolia x brooklynensis ‘Judy Zuk,’ this deciduous tree is hardy in USDA Zones 6 and above, and maybe Zone 5 if planted in a protected spot that will keep it from blooming too early in spring.

The candelabralike branching habit of this medium-sized magnolia tree displays the yellow flowers and shiny green foliage to full advantage.

‘Judy Zuk’ likes full sun and moist, well-drained soil. At 10 years, it should be about 28 feet tall and 8 feet wide, according to rarefindnursery.com.

When Zuk retired in 2005, the garden’s stunning Magnolia Plaza was named in her honor and this beautiful yellow magnolia was christened ‘Judy Zuk.’ Magnolias were her favorite plant in the Botanic Garden.

Other named cultivars in the signature series developed in Brooklyn include ‘Elizabeth,’ a vigorous tree with clear yellow flowers, and ‘Hattie Carthan,’ Marillyn,’ ‘Lois,’ Evamaria’ and ‘Yellow Bird.’

‘Judy Zuk’ plants are still hard to find. Ask your local nursery if they can order it for you, or you might try mail-order sources such as Rare Find Nursery, Fairweather Gardens or McCracken’s Nursery.