AUDREY COX SHOWS US WHY WE SHOULD STOP AND SMELL BOTH OF THESE FLOWERS.
♪ AUDREY: YOU MIGHT SAY GUY AGAIN GUY GUINTA HAS A PURPLE THUMB WHEN IT COMES TO GARDENING AND FLOWERS.
GUY: WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID, 6, 7 YEARS OLD, I USED TO GET PLANTS AND TRY TO ROOT THEM OFF OF OTHER LANCE.
I JUST LIKED THEM BACK SENT.
-- PLANTS.
I JUST LIKE THEM.
AUDREY: IT GREW INTO A LIFELONG POSITION.
HE STARTED A LANDSCAPING BUSINESS.
GUY IS NOW THE CHAIRMAN OF THE GOVERNOR’S COMMISSION OF LILACS AND WILDFIRES.
GUY: WE DO -- WILDFLOWERS.
GUY: WE DO LANDSCAPING ALONG THE HIGHWAYS.
WE ENDED UP PUTTING THEM TOGETHER.
WILDFLOWERS AND LILACS JUST BECAME MY DREAM, WHAT I WANTED TO DO.
>> A SELF-DESCRIBED "LILAC NUT," GUY IS ALL ABOUT THE COLOR.
GUY: WHATEVER I BUY IS PURPLE, PURPLE, PURPLE.
YEAH, IT IS ONE OF MY -- ANYTIME I SEE SOMEONE, AS LONG AS I SEE PURPLE ON THEM RIGHT AWAY, I SAY TO MYSELF "LILAC COLOR." I LOVE IT.
[LAUGHS] SO I HAVE THREE VEHICLES WITH "LILACS." I USED TO HAVE A FOURTH ONE WITH A +, BUT I THOUGHT I WAS OVERDOING IT, SO THREE IS
ENOUGH.
AUDREY: THE FIRST LILACS TO ARRIVE IN THE UNITED STATES CAME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE TO ENGLAND TO THE WENTWORTH COOLIDGE MANSION BACK IN THE 1700’S.
LILAC BECAME THE STATE FLOWER IN 1919.
GUY: IT IS A STRONG PLANT, AND I THINK THAT REPRESENTS THE NEW ENG HAMPSHIRE PEOPLE, STRONG AND HEARTY.
AUDREY: ROCHESTER, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS, YES, THE LILAC CITY.
SOME OF THE EARLY LILACS HAVE STOPPED BLOOMING, BUT GUY KNOWS HIS STUFF.
THIS LILAC, KNOWN AS SENSATION, KEEP ITS BLOSSOMS A BIT LONGER.
WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR LILAC?
GUY: IT IS THE FACT THAT IT HAS A WHITE TRIM AROUND EVERY PETAL, WHICH IS JUST VERY, VERY RARE AND SO BEAUTIFUL.
THIS ONE ALWAYS GETS THE OOHS AND AHHS FROM ALL THE PEOPLE AT THAT SEE IT AT THE GARDEN CLUBS WHO SEE IT.
THEY JUST LOVE THIS PLANT.
AUDREY: WE HAD A CHILLY SPRING.
GUY: WE ARE WELL BELOW NORMAL, BUT I LOVE IT, BECAUSE IT KEEPS THEM GROWING LONGER.
IF IT IS TOO HOT AND HUMID, THEY WOULD ALL BE GONE.
THE EARLY BLOOMING VARIETY, AND THEN GET THE LATER BLOOMING, YOU CAN HAVE A THROUGH EARLY JUNE, MID-JUNE MOST LIKELY.
AUDREY: GUY AND HIS WIFE, MARIE, LIVE ON 180 ACRES IN SANBORNTON.
THEY HAVE MORE THAN 120 PLANTS, EVEN A LILAC TREE, NOT THE SAME AS A TYPICAL SHRUB.
GUY: NOT QUITE LIKE THE PURPLE SNOW THAT YOU ARE USED TO COME UP BUT IT IS A FRAGRANCE, AND YOU WILL KNOW.
THE LILAC TREE IS IN BLOOM.
AUDREY: GUY’S ADVICE?
PLANT IN SPRING AND DO NOT FORGET TO PRUNE.
GUY: YOU WANT TO PRUNE RIGHT AT THE BLOSSOM, AND YOU WANT TO PRUNE YOUR LARGER STEMS OVER THE SMALLER ONES.
AUDREY: GUY CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO COUNT HOW MANY HE HAS PLANTED IN PARKS AND ON HIGHWAYS.
GUY: LILACS IN THE THOUSANDS, EASILY.
WILDFLOWERS, LET’S JUST SAY WE HAVE PLANTED ACRES.
AUDREY: IF ENTHUSIASM COULD SERVE AS PLANT FOOD, GUY’S LILACS WOULD BLOOM ALL YEAR LONG.
THIS IS HIS FAVORITE QUOTE FROM DR. O WHEN ROGERS.
GUY: WHEN SOMEONE ASKED HIM "WHICH LIE LIKE IS YOUR FAVORITE?" HE SAID "THE LILAC I AM CLOSEST TO." HE LOVED THEM ALL.
AUDREY: THE RHODODENDRON STATE PARK, THEY HAVE BEEN HERE SINCE THE ICE AGE.
THESE ARE NOT THE SAME SHRUBS THAT YOU PLANT IN YOUR YARD.
♪ SUE: THIS GROVE HERE IS THE LARGEST GROVE IN THE NORTHEAST.
AUDREY: SUE TIRRELL ALONG WITH PARKER BERGHOLM ARE WITH THE DIVISION OF STATE PARKS AND WORK AT THE RHODODENDRON PARK.
SUE: AND IF YOU LOOK AT THESE LEAVES RIGHT HERE, YOU SEE HOW LIGHT THEY ARE?
THAT IS ACTUALLY A SUNBURN.
AUDREY: THESE BRIGHT PINK SHRUBS ARE THE RHODODENDRONS YOU PLANT IN YOUR YARD.
VERY PRETTY BUT NOT THE REAL DEAL.
SUE: THE RHODODENDRONS THAT YOU PLANT IN YOUR YARD IS SORT OF LIKE A HYBRID THAT THEY HAVE BREAD TO FLOWER IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT SO THAT PEOPLE CAN PUT THEM IN THEIR GARDENS.
THE RELIGION TRENDS HERE YOU COULD NOT -- THE RHODODENDRONS HERE YOU COULD NOT PUT IN A GARDEN BECAUSE THEY NEED THE SHADE.
AUDREY: MANY FLOWERED EARLIER THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF LAST YEAR’S WEATHER.
SOME ARE STILL FLOWERING, SUMMER BUDDING, AND MANY HAVE PASSED THROUGH.
PARKER: THIS YEAR, WE HAD A DRY ONE, SO THE BLOSSOM HAS NOT BEEN SUPER EXTRAORDINARY.
AUDREY: THE RHODODENDRON LOOP IS A 26-MILE TRAIL THAT ENCIRCLES THE GROVE.
CLUSTERS OF PINK AND WHITE POSSUMS GREET VISITORS DURING PEAK TIME AND CREATE A FRAGRANT TUNNEL THAT VISITORS CAN FOLLOW.
FOLKS WILL ALSO SEE FALLING TREES ENTER BREEZE -- FALLEN TREES AND DEB A RESULTRIS, A VIOLENT STORMS.
SUE: DO YOU MOVE THEM OR DO YOU LEAVE THE TREES TO DECOMPOSE?
MOST OF THE TIME WE CHOOSE TO LEAVE THEM TO DECOMPOSE.
AUDREY: RHODODENDRON STATE PARK IS THE ONLY BOTANICAL PARK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
AS PART OF LITTLE MONADNOCKS, THERE ARE OVER 2700 ACRES HERE, A PEACEFUL PLACE WHERE FOLKS CAN STOP AND TAKE IN THIS NATURAL, NATIONAL TREASURE.