Hellebore Helluva bore?

In case you're among the innocent who think controversy in the plant world means what shade of pink petunia to grow...

Back in April, trouble starting brewing on NPR's Sunday morning show, Weekend Edition Sunday, during a piece about hellebores. The brew, let us say, remains quite tasty.

Seems my colleague Lianne Hansen, who continually tackles far thornier stories than spring-blooming perennials, interviewed a seemingly nice gardener named George Ball about his hellebores.

What she didn't know was that Ball is reviled as a traitor in some horticulture circles, after shutting down Heronswood Nursery in Kingston, Wash., easily one of the finest mail-order nurseries in the world.

The man was certainly within his rights since he owned Heronswood. But until this unexpected move, he'd left the care and cultivation of that holy grail of a place to the man who put it on the map, Dan Hinkley.

Suffice it to say, when Ball bought Heronswood, he bought the good name and life work of a man considered to be one of the greatest plantsman in the world. (Dan's one of my best friends, so do know I would never describe him that way. Mostly I hate him for his oh! so tedious talents.)

So here comes Ball onto NPR, talking about his prize-winning hellebores, when anyone who knows his H. foetidus from his H. argutifolius is painfully aware that Ball is no breeder. He's a businessman with a good p.r. machine which was certainly not going to muck up a good story with excessive facts about the origins of his stellar plants.

WESUN followed up with some shake and bake the the following Sunday. And Ahhh Heyullped.

8:16 PM ET | 06-28-2007 | permalink