gardens | AirSpace

During World War II, a group of young, enthusiastic and skilled African American men pressed the limits of flight and the boundaries of racial inequality by becoming Army Air Forces pilots. Most of these pilots trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. One of the most popular and beautiful plants of that region is a fiery red Crape Myrtle. Like the Tuskegee Airmen, whose characteristic red-tailed aircraft became their trademark, this Crape Myrtle was named for the city of Tuskegee. In an ongoing effort by Smithsonian Gardens to link ornamental horticulture to the many themes and exhibitions that are part of the National Air and Space Museum, this emblematic tree now adorns the grounds of the world’s most visited air museum.

Native to Asia, Crape Myrtles are known for their delicate yet robust blooms, thick canopies of glossy green leaves, vibrant fall color, and flaking bark which is a unique and attractive feature during the winter months. Large and heavy flowers explode from June to September making the Crape Myrtle one of the most popular and visible trees on the Smithsonian campus. The northernmost Plant Hardiness boundary for this tree is Zone 7a, extending from Baltimore through southern Illinois. Crape Myrtles are adaptable to many climates and are drought resistant, growing best in well-drained soils and full sun. Most of the Crape Myrtles on display at the Smithsonian, like the ‘Tuskegee,’ are cultivars selected from the United States National Arboretum’s renowned plant breeding program located in Washington, DC.

Smithsonian Gardens staff plant a ‘Tuskegee’ Crape Myrtle tree outside the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

The ‘Tuskegee’ Crape Myrtle tree (Lagerstroemia x ‘Tuskegee’), planted in May 2012 by Smithsonian Gardens staff at a National Air and Space Museum community horticulture education seminar, is located about 200 feet west of the Museum’s south entrance near the access ramp. It may seem a small gesture, but planting a tree to remember one of the most significant groups of WW II pilots and the social legacy that they represent to our nation is anything but trivial.

The “Spirit of Tuskegee” is on temporary display at the Udvar-Hazy Center until it is moved to the new National Museum of African American History and Culture where it will be placed on permanent display.

Visitors can view artifacts from the Tuskegee Airmen in the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery at the National Air and Space Museum and will also have an opportunity to view related exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture when it opens on the National Mall near the Washington Monument in 2015. Included in the planned exhibits will be a PT-13 Stearman called the Spirit of Tuskegee flown in training by the Tuskegee Airmen at Moton Field during World War II. The Tuskegee Stearman is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center located in Chantilly, Virginia.

Dik Daso is curator of Modern Military Aircraft in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum

Brett McNish is a Supervisory Horticulturist with Smithsonian Gardens

“Space Age Mums” advertisement in Flower Grower, 1961. Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Botany and Horticulture Branch.

Moonbeams, rockets, and Blue Angels are not just showcased in the National Air and Space Museum — they are in the garden too! The extensive terraced garden that surrounds the Museum is now home to many plants with extraordinary cultivar names that reflect the Air and Space theme, like Skyrocket Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’) and Globemaster ornamental onion (Allium giganteum ‘Globemaster’).

Cultivars are plants with unique characteristics that maintain these traits through breeding. These plants are typically bestowed a distinctive name which may reflect a particular attribute. Skyrocket Juniper, for example, received its name because it grows quickly to a 6 meter (20 foot) tall spire, but only reaches .5 meters (2 feet) wide, thus resembling a tall green rocket. The range of plant names that can be assigned is practically limitless. Memorable historical events can also inspire the naming — or renaming — of plants. The launch of Sputnik I in 1957, for instance, opened new frontiers of plant names befitting the Space Age; common marigolds and petunias were reintroduced to gardeners as blazing comets or flying saucers in outer space.

Since January, Smithsonian Gardens staff has been hard at work enhancing the terrace garden surrounding the National Air and Space Museum. A work plan was launched with a brainstorming session that focused on how best to bring the Air and Space theme to the garden area, essentially reflecting the inside outdoors, and beginning the visitors’ Museum experience as soon as they stepped onto the grounds. Preliminary planning resulted in an extensive list of plants with air- and space-inspired cultivar names.

Smithsonian Gardens staffers Jeff Smith and Thomas Hattaway planting Minuteman, Blue Cadet, and August Moon hostas at the Museum

Over the coming months, the garden areas at the Museum will be enhanced with nearly 300 perennials and 13,000 bulbs. Just a few of the exciting new plants going into the garden include Minuteman and Blue Angel Hosta, orange Tang tulips, giant purple Globemaster ornamental onion, tiny Moonbeam coreopsis, and Eremurus bungei which are commonly called desert candles but very much look like the fiery exhaust that follows the space shuttle into space.

'Minuteman' Hostas

Despite being earth-bound, the garden at the National Air and Space Museum incorporates a variety of plants, shrubs and trees that pay homage to the skies above us. Now, visitors will not only see Cold War relics, rockets’ red glare, and jet engines inside, but also jetfire daffodils and Minuteman Hostas outside!

Brett McNish is a supervisory horticulturist for Smithsonian Gardens

AirSpace

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