Yew Dell Botanical Gardens

On-Site Plant Evaluation

Most of the plants at Yew Dell are the subject of ongoing evaluation to help us determine which new plants are best adapted for use in the regional climate. With thousands of varieties of plants on the grounds, and new plants coming in all the time, you'll find many of your favorites and plenty of new selections. Look to our Gardening Tips section for listings of the best and worst performers - and check back often; they are updated on an ongoing basis.

Sterile Hellebore Variety Development

Hellebores (Helleborus species and hybrids) used to be primarily seed-grown plants. They have been wonderful pass-along plants because of their tendency to produce a plentiful supply of seedlings. In recent years, however, tissue culture produced plants of highly desirable cultivars have started to show up on the market. Seedlings from these cultivars won't show the exact same traits as the parents so seedlings can accumulate and actually crowd out your highly-prized and usually quite expensive mother plant.
Yew Dell has been working to develop sterile Hellebores in order to allow future selections to grow and increase in the garden vegetatively only, eliminating the seedling competition problem. As the holder of one of the largest public Hellebore collections in the U.S., we have plenty of excellent starting material from which to select.

Baptisia Hybridization

Members of the genus Baptisia are found only in North America, and are typically found in open field situations. They are all tremendously drought tolerant, disease resistant and long lived. Yew Dell has been working for several years to take advantage of the tremendous diversity in plant size, inflorescence size and color, and foliage color, to create excellent new plants for the garden.

Propagation of Arundinaria gigantea (native cane) from seed and rhizome

Native bamboo used to cover hundreds of thousands of acres across Kentucky and neighboring states. Development and other environmental changes have resulted in loss of most of this previously plentiful plant. Yew Dell is working with regional naturalists, researchers and industry members to determine best propagation methods to support local production of this unique local native plant.

21st Century Parks Native Plant Production Project

When the Floyds Fork Greenway project was looking for local provenance plant material for use in habitat restoration projects, they found that this material was unavailable in the quantities and species desired. As a result, the parent organization, 21st Century Parks, formed a collaboration with Yew Dell Botanical Gardens to identify, locate, and collect propagation material from target species and grow plants for the park restoration projects. A three-year pilot program produced hundreds of plants that will be planted in park projects over the coming years. Additional species may be added to the future list. This collaboration has allowed the park staff to replant plants derived from local germplasm, an important component of their habitat restoration work.

Magnolia Society International

With Yew Dell executive director Dr. Paul Cappiello serving as a board member and research committee chair of the Magnolia Society International, the two organizations have an ongoing relationship working with many other organizations across the U.S. and internationally, to promote conservation and support research relating to this unique group of plants.