Existing comment:
A Living Museum:
Like the Smithsonian, the National Arboretum preserves collections. The thousands of azaleas on this hillside document the work of one of the Department of Agriculture's early plant exploration scientists, BY Morrison. His appointment in 1937 as Acting Director of the National Arboretum provided the opportunity to use the property's sloping woodland habitat to test the azalea hybrids he'd been developing at the Plant Introduction Station in Glenn Dale, Maryland. His pioneering work resulted in 454 different Glenn Dale azaleas -- as they came to be called -- all selected for their showy blossoms, hardiness, and range of bloom times. |