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Gifted To Longwood Gardens

Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990 donated by Albert and Rose Behnke

Albert & Rose Behnke’s Gardens

Years ago, when my grandparents, Albert, and Rose Behnke, passed away, the question came up about what to do with some of the beautiful trees growing in their private garden in Burtonsville, Maryland.

A New Home At Longwood Gardens

With the help of a long-time friend and salesman of Behnke’s, Jack Lawery, we found homes at the National Arboretum, Longwood Gardens, and other parks and gardens. Of course, a few ended up at our Beltsville location.

The Donation

While going through the never-ending boxes of photos that my mother and grandmother kept, I came across these photos of this beautiful Variegated Aralia. My stepfather, Joe Festerling, was sure it was donated to Longwood Gardens and by looking at the pictures, it appears it was planted near their front entrance. He told me how it was a grafted plant from Holland and given to my grandfather to grow in Burtonsville. Unfortunately, as years pass, it gets harder and harder for people to recall precisely what happened.

Find It On The Plant Locator

Our friend, Larry Hurley, was so brilliant when I asked him if he knew about this tree. He got right on the computer, and did you know, you can go to the Longwood Gardens Website and type in the name of a plant, and voila! If they have it, it pops up with the locations, who or where they got it from, etc. Unfortunately, it is no longer alive, or at least not in their collection. You can google “Longwood Gardens plant accession list” or acquisition list. Larry shared a plant locator for the National Arboretum with me.  If you type in Behnke Nurseries, you get a list of everything they bought from us. It’s a least a hundred, I bet.

 

You will have to scroll to the right of the screen to see the Behnke Nurseries name again and again. Our hashtag #bornatbehnkes can be used everywhere! Now who will go there and snap photos of these plants and share them with us?
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990 donated by Albert and Rose Behnke
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990 donated by Albert and Rose Behnke
CLose Up of the Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990
Variegated Aralia at Longwood Gardens 1990 donated by Albert and Rose Behnke
front entrance of Longwood Gardens Variegated Aralia in background 1990
Front Entrance of Longwood Gardens with the Variegated Aralia 1990 donated by Albert and Rose Behnke

Stephanie Fleming was raised at Behnke’s Nurseries in Beltsville. Her Mom, Sonja, was one of Albert & Rose Behnke’s four children. She was weeding from the moment she could walk and hiding as soon as she was old enough to run, so many weeds, so little time. Although she quickly learned how to pull out a perennial and get taken off of weed pulling duty.

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