Polly Hill Celebrates 100th Birthday
Ted Stecki
Mrs. Julian (Polly) Hill, a member of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ARS since the early 1960s, celebrated her 100th birthday on Jan. 30.
Mrs. Hill donated her 40+-acre estate on Marthas Vineyard to the state of Massachusetts. It is now called The Polly Hill Arboretum. Mrs. Hill spends her summers at the Arboretum and winters at her home in Hockession, Delaware.
Mrs. Hill is a believer in propagating by seed because you never know what the results will be. She has introduced many new plants, listed on the Arboretum website.
In the 1960s she started growing azaleas from seed and cuttings sent to her by a friend, Dr. T. Rokujo who lived in Tokyo, Japan, from azalea crosses he made or seed he collected in Japan and Korea. Some are from
Rhododendron nakaharai
and are named the North Tisbury Hybrids. They are late bloomers and grow prostrate over walls, etc. Information on these azaleas can be found in Fred Galles book
Azaleas
.