11/28/07 — The rhododendrons in Greendale Cemetery have bore colorful witness to the Meadville area’s rich history for well over a century.

And now, the roughly 800 plants that annually splash their bright pigments across the cemetery’s 200 acres at 700 Randolph St. are being recognized as one of the United States’ most significant cultural landscapes.

Greendale’s rhododendron collection was recently designated one of 21 nationwide “Heroes of Horticulture” sites by The Cultural Landscape Foundation based in Washington, D.C. Currently featured on TCLF’s Web site (at www.tclf.org), each of the sites is being showcased in a photographic exhibit opening Friday at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, N.Y.

The list will also be featured in the January edition of Garden Design magazine.

It’s a recognition being celebrated by Jim and Mary Vogan, the nonprofit, publicly-owned cemetery’s full-time caretakers. And, said Mary, “I’m hoping our community itself really celebrates” it as well.

Each year, TCLF publishes its “Landslide” selections, a list of significant landscapes at risk of being lost because of various threats.

“ ‘Landslide’ is one of TCLF’s key ways for highlighting how landscapes are integral to our nation’s cultural identity,” TCLF founder and president Charles A. Birnbaum said in a recent news release. “Each ‘Landslide’ site is irreplaceable. Each is a unique link to the story of who we are.”

Vogan said Greendale’s collection is, like the cemetery itself, at risk of being lost in the future due to ever-decreasing funds available to support it.

The Greendale Association helps maintain the cemetery through capital funds and donations, according to Mary, who said she hopes the new designation will help get the word out that Greendale is indeed worth saving for future generations.

“Living with (the rhododendrons), I think we have always known how spectacular of a display we have,” she said. But “it’s amazing to me the number of people we come into contact with who don’t know we’re here, and what treasures we have.”



Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.



You can go

Greendale Cemetery was recently designated one of 21 nationwide “Heroes of Horticulture” sites by The Cultural Landscape Foundation based in Washington, D.C.

Currently featured on TCLF’s Web site (at www.tclf.org), each of the sites is being showcased in a photographic exhibit opening Friday and continuing through March 2, 2008, at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, N.Y. After that, the exhibition will travel across the country.

Here are the other nationwide sites being featured:

n American Sycamore Tree — Antietam National Battlefield, Sharpsburg, Md.

n Angel Oak Southern Live Oak Tree — Johns Island, N.C.

n Azalea Collection — Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, N.C.

n Baldcypress Grove Spring Grove Cemetery — Cincinnati, Ohio

n Banyan Tree Allee — Banyan Street, Boca Grande, Fla.

n Bamboo Collection — Jungle Gardens, Avery Island, La.

n Bur Oak Tree — Henry Ford Estate Fair Lane, Dearborn, Mich.

n Camellia Collection — Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, S.C.

n Cork Oak Tree — Santa Cruz, Calif.

n Glendora Bougainvillea — Glendora, Calif.

n Horse Chestnut Tree — Susan B. Anthony House, Rochester, N.Y.

n Desert Ironwood Tree — Arizona-Sonora Museum, Tucson, Ariz.

n Elms of the National Mall — Washington, D.C.

n Eucalyptus Tree — Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, Wash.

n Live Oak Tree Allee — Main Street, Houston, Texas

n Pear Trees — Ellwanger Garden, Rochester, N.Y.

n Moreton Bay Fig Trees — Rancho Los Alamitos, Long Beach, Calif.

n Pow-Wow Big Leaf Maple Tree — Gladstone, Ore.

n Southern Live Oak Tree — Baton Rouge, La.

n Tree Peony Collection — Linwood Gardens, Pavilion, N.Y.

The exhibition includes images by internationally-recognized photographers including Mark Klett, John Pfahl, Eli Reed and John Divola.

For more information on “Heroes of Horticulture,” including exhibit venues, visit www.tclf.org/landslide/2007.



Did you know?

Established in 1852, Greendale Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 21,000 people, including U.S. Congress members, early American soldiers, inventors, a Supreme Court Justice and the personal physician to George Washington. To find out more about Greendale’s rich and colorful history, visit the cemetery itself at 700 Randolph St. or take a tour online at greendalecemetery.org.