In the let's kill the Polar Bear, BP the oil, weasel stomping day mold of Sarah Palin, the National Arboretum wants to save the azalea collection at the Arb by destroying it.
The proposal is to uproot/hack back and paint with herbicide a internationally recognized collection of azaleas, because they are not sufficiently documented. Talk about illegal aliens!
Now- I'm pretty much indifferent to plants, but I've been to the Arboretum when the azaleas are in bloom- and they ARE very pretty, and the traffic does back up. It's like the Cherry Blossom Festival- but for Azalea lovers. In a sleazy section of Washington DC, the traffic backs up and out of state plates are common.
That very traffic is the excuse that the administrator uses to justify the destruction of one of the collections that has the admiration of people around the world. He says that the property does not have the capacity to handle such crowds, and uses as further justification for axing the azaleas, the loss of private funding for the Bonsai and Asian collections. Huh? Cut off your nose to spite your face!
Did I say the azalea collection is historic? It is. You probably have to like azaleas a lot to know this but it is. Trust me. If you have a azalea in your yard-it's probably a GlennDale azalea, and these are the Grandmom of it.
The administrators now say that the cutback will only be of 20% of the 'herd'
Can you do something? Write or email your Congressman/woman and/or write politely to the following administrators:
- Dr. Judith St. John, Deputy Administrator, National Program Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705 Phone: 301-504-6252 Fax: 301-504-4663
Email: Judy.stjohn@ars.usda.gov
- Dr. Joseph Spence, Beltsville Area Director, 10300 Baltimore Blvd. Bldg. 003, BARC-West, Room 223, Beltsville, MD 20702 Phone: 301-504-6078 Fax: 301-504-5863
Email: Joseph.Spence@ars.usda.gov
- Dr. Ramon Jordan, Interim Director, U.S. National Arboretum, 3501 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002 Phone: 202-245-4539 Fax: 202-245-4574
Email: Ramon.Jordan@ars.usda.gov
You can keep up with the ongoing machinations at WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com
And Azaleas Part 2