By Andrew Bunting, PHS Vice President of Horticulture
Steve and Melody met at the Philadelphia Flower Show in 1982. They have been living and gardening on their four-acre property since 1988 in Willingboro, New Jersey. They have been developing their garden, much of which is throughout an existing woodland that was filled with a tangle of understory plants including weedy trees. A year-round stream runs through and borders the property in multiple locations. Many of the original plants were propagated seedlings or small plugs.
For years I have heard about Steve Silberstein and his passion for collecting, especially variegated plants. In late September, I visited Steve and Melody’s garden as part of a garden open house. Today, the property is packed with botanical gems, a true collector’s garden. They are “zone busters” for sure, growing plants that would be considered marginally hardy for that part of New Jersey (USDA Zone 7b) including several species or hardy palms including Rhapidophyllum hystrix, the Florida native needle palm; Trachycarpus fortunei, windmill palm and Sabal minor, dwarf palmetto, as well as, cold hardy elephant ears, hardy bananas including Musa basjoo and Musella lasiocarpa and many interesting plantings include a rare member of the witchhazel family, Exbucklandia populanea and and a large specimen of a native stewartia, Stewartia malacodendron. As Steve stated “The garden has always had a somewhat experimental aspect, with the goal of growing attractive plants”
To support their garden there is a greenhouse are several coldframes used for seed starting and winter storage. Their propagation work supports several public plantings throughout Willingboro. Steve is also an avid seed collector which he contributes to the Hardy Plant Society-Mid-Atlantic Group seed exchange.
While I had heard of his passion for variegated plants this was only one aspect of an extensive collection of both trees and shrubs, marginal tropical plants and many rare and interesting exotic plants. Impatiens namcharbarwensis is native to the Namcha Barwa canyon in Tibet and has amazing vivid blue flowers. This has become a self-sowing annual which colonizes the entire foundation of the house. The Genseriad family is mostly known for indoor plants like a host of plants that are grown in terrariums or the commonly cultivated African violet. However, there are some hardy rarities that can be cultivated in the Mid-Atlantic including Hemiboea subacaulis var. jiangxiensis (pictured above) with late summer tubular white flowers.
Steve and Melody welcome visitors to their garden.
