THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503100108
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G15 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: WEEDER'S DIGEST
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER, GARDENING COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
WHAT DOES A superintendent of the Norfolk Botanical Garden do when he retires? In the case of Robert O. Matthews, he moved to the country and planted daffodils. Lots of daffodils - 14,000 of them, to be more-or-less precise.
Matthews bought a home on three acres in Windsor, Va., in 1986 and moved there in 1988.
``For three years in a row, I made a trip to Lowe's when the season was over and bought all their left-over bulbs,'' Matthews said.
This spring he'll start dividing the bulbs, which he believes should be done every five years.
He planted his daffodils in a ``naturalized'' fashion to suit his wooded lot. Matthews said he threw them out on the ground and planted them where they fell.
Matthews said he dug holes 6 inches deep and put the bulb in the bottom. He spaced them about 6 inches apart. He mixed all colors and types together but noted his favorite daffodil is the Mrs. R.O. Backhouse, with a pink cup.
Today his garden also includes weeping cherry, flag iris, white and pink wisteria, miniature jonquils and Quonson flowering cherries. He also planted two Magnolia souleanga, including ``Jane,'' a new darker purple hybrid, his favorite.
His three acres give him plenty of planting room. A stream that runs through the back of his lot allows him to test and grow swamp plants.
``This place was waist-high with honeysuckle and briars when I bought it,'' he said. ``But with Roundup and a grubbing hoe, I have most of it cleaned out.''
On an uphill side of the property are daphne, oak-leaf hydrangea and 35 deciduous azaleas. The bright orange ``Gibraltar'' is his favorite.
Matthews was known during his tenure at the Norfolk Botanical Garden as an East Coast authority on azaleas and camellias. His standard answer to the question, ``What is your favorite azalea?'' was always, ``The last one I saw.''
He does acknowledge that Pink Pearl is one of his favorite azaleas, and he has one plant that he said he's moved every year since 1953, proving that azaleas are tough.
On another side of the three acres are flowering plums and Cornus kousa, the Korean dogwood. In yet another sunny location, he has started an orchard that includes figs, pears, peaches, apples, grapes and Japanese persimmons.
In a small nursery plot, he's growing 30 Danae (poet's laurel). He also has several Japanese red maples there.
In still another bed are flowering almonds, anemones and nine varieties of clematis growing on and over a wall. Crawling up the side of his house are his favorite climbing roses, New Blaze and Comanche Place.
So when botanical garden superintendents retire, they build new, but perhaps smaller, botanical gardens. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ROBERT STIFFLER
Robert O. Matthews planted his 14,000 daffodils by throwing them on
the ground and planted them where he fell.
by CNB