The Morrison Garden is the jewel of the Azalea Collection, containing a large portion of our Glenn Dale Azaleas. These were hybridized by Benjamin Y. Morrison, the first director of the National Arboretum, at the Plant Introduction Station in Glenn Dale, Maryland, starting in 1937. His goal was to produce large-flowered azaleas with a wide range of bloom times, filling a gap in the market that was present at the time. The breeding program produced 454 named plants, and many more that remained unnamed and were planted on Mount Hamilton at the Arboretum.
The flowers can be shades of pink, purple, red, or white, and may be striped, spotted or sanded on a white base. Make sure to visit the Morrison Garden and Glenn Dale Hillside to appreciate the beauty of these historical Arboretum introductions en masse.
Kamala Codrington-White, an ORISE fellow at the National Arboretum, shares plants of note at the Arboretum in this recurring segment. Find these plants on your next trip to the Arboretum. Photo by U.S. National Arboretum.
|