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Historic London Town & Gardens
Visit a "lost" colonial town and garden sanctuary on the South River
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Compatible Companions: Companions of Flora
Magnolia Gardens are sensorial rewards. Touch, smell, feel, sight and sound can get anyone engaged. But while you can’t access your...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Mar 25, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Spring Sanctuary
Camellia 'Firefall' Tree canopies, ground covers, vistas, shrubs, planters, are all filing up with color and splendor at London Town, as...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Mar 20, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Petals of Awe!
Petals make spring delightful and full of awe! One glance at any peaking flower bud, slowly revealing the petals, is a sure way to know...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Mar 13, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Happy Blues!
Crocus Finding a blue or purple flower in nature is a treasure for most botanist. For it is claimed that there is no true blue color in...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Mar 6, 20201 min read


Botanist's Lens: Buds of hope!
Tree Peony leaf buds Buds in botanical terms are embryonic tissues that are made up of new and actively growing cells. Simply put, buds...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Feb 28, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Heirloom Spring Garden Treasures at London Town
Scilla bifolia 'rosea' - entire plant Scilla bifolia 'Rosea' is one of the earliest perennial bulbs that fills up the ornamental garden...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Feb 21, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Multiples of Three, Irradiant Iridales
Crocus sps. Habit of a plant, number of plant parts, texture, preferred ecosystems and many other specifics are shared characteristics...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Feb 7, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: A Glimpse at the 'Fair Maid of February' and 'Sacred Lily'
Flowers of Galanthus sps. 'Snowdrops', 'Fair Maid of February' As early as February, there are subtle signs of spring in a much dormant...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Jan 31, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Breaking the norm, and the best of the lot!
Leaves, petals, stems, bark, buds, roots are all what one expects to see when you mention any plant form. But what if there weren't any...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Jan 24, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens
'And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul" ~ John Muir Conservation and preservation are crucial for all landscapes....
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Jan 17, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Got Goats on My Mind
Gardens and goats? Well, that doesn’t go quite together, but invasive plants are always on demand on the menu for goats! In the Pacific...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Jan 10, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Happy New Year
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn" - Ralph Waldo Emerson New year, new beginnings, maybe small beginnings. Every...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Jan 9, 20202 min read


Botanist's Lens: Saving the Endangered and Extirpated
Franklinia alatamaha 'Franklin tree' Saving and learning about extant, endangered and threatened species should be a resolution for every...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Dec 27, 20192 min read


Botanist's Lens: Kinship in mind around the holidays?
Guess what? Kinship exists in humans, animals, as well as in plants! Kin recognition in plants is a recent study and even though the...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Dec 20, 20192 min read


Botanist's Lens: Winter Blues!
Today, instead of the usual winter blues that one can get as the grey clouds cover and the colder crisper air crawls in, we will be...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Dec 13, 20192 min read


Botanist's Lens: Emerald, Ruby, Gold... All in One Gem of a Genus!
Ilex is a genus belonging to the Aquifoliaceae family with over 450 species. From being used for decorating a wreath or being used as a...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Dec 6, 20192 min read


Botanist's Lens: Pumpkin Overload Yet?
How about little more of Pumpkin, but just as food for thought: 'Pepon', 'Pompon', 'Pumpion' and then finally how did it get to...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Dec 1, 20192 min read


Botanist's Lens: Exotic Liana invading ecosystems with Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi to its aid.
Lianas (woody creeping plants) can easily add an artistic touch to any landscape, unless one of them is an aggressive invasive. Most...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Nov 22, 20192 min read


Botanist Lens: Cross 1, Cross 2, Cross 3!
Camellia sasanqua 'Hana Jiman' (picture courtesy: Dinny White) Crossing plants is certainly a fine craft and more so when it comes to...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Nov 16, 20193 min read


Botanist Lens: Rings of Life
Oak stump cross section. Towering the tallest canopy layers in the woodland gardens at London Town, you will mostly find the grand Willow...
Meenal Harankhedkar, Director of Horticulture
Nov 1, 20193 min read
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