The Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Pinecrest Azalea Gardens: flower power in full bloom

Southeast Missouri has leapt directly into summer temperatures after being under Mother Nature's cloud of constant rain and cold for so long, but the flowers in Oak Ridge at Pinecrest Azalea Gardens have withstood the unseasonable temperatures and "spring" seems to have officially arrived.

Linda Penzel and her husband Gene acquired the 52 acres of over 3,000 plants from her mother- and father-in-law -- who originally bought the farm in 1963 -- and now maintains the land themselves, with the help of additional family members from time to time.

"We're not experts, we're just lucky," she said. "Now it's just a matter of keeping the grass mowed and the weeds down. We have six riding lawn mowers. My son and daughter-in-law help, so it's just us."

She said it's hard work; it's hot, in addition to "little creepy, crawly creatures out there."

"This is nature. You're going to see turtles, little snakes," she said. "But usually they're just black snakes and garter snakes. We haven't seen a poisonous snake in this area for years and years."

Molly French Garden Club member Mary Golden, left, and club president Monica Goodin view blooming azaleas Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at the Pinecrest Azalea Gardens in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

Penzel said they have also seen turkeys and deer on the farm, but her grandson "takes care of lot of that."

"There's a lot of baby deer born in here. We have to be careful when we're mowing," she said. "And the deer never bother the azaleas. I know a lot of people from Cape who say they always have so much trouble with deer eating their azaleas. But we never have any problems."

Penzel said the farm attracts anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 visitors each year, which is "just an estimate," because there is no foolproof way of counting them.

She said there have been visitors from Asia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Argentina.

"And that's why I like to get out here and talk to people," Penzel said.

She said there are multiple varieties of azaleas spread throughout the acreage to preserve, a number that's "too many" to count.

Some of the plants have interesting names, such as "Martha Hitchcock," a variety of azalea that doesn't bloom until the very end of the season, "but she is worth the wait," Penzel said.

"She starts out pinkish white on the throat, then turns into a light purple, then she turns white, with a deep purple ruffle," she said. "She's very pretty, but very susceptible to frost."

"When the frost came, this lady called me and said, 'Linda, do you need help covering your azaleas tonight?' I said, well, I really appreciate the offer but I don't have enough stuff to cover all the azaleas."

Penzel said the first "major frost" was 10 years ago, which greatly affected the plants.

"It was just a couple of days and they would've been in full bloom," she said. "We went to bed, got up the next morning and by 11 o'clock everything was brown. All the flowers, all the blossoms, everything was brown.

So needless to say, we didn't have many flowers. It was an ugly sight. It was devastating to get up and see all the brown," she said.

Another type of flower on the farm, a "pink-toned azalea," Penzel said, is called "Dream," named by her mother-in-law; it was her favorite azalea.

She said the frost this year, though, contributed slightly to the loss of its brilliant color.

"We also have a lot of volunteer pines that come up and start," Penzel said. "We started out with 6,000 pines. My mother- and father-in-law planted them."

Penzel said this weekend is the "peak time" for when the flowers will be in full bloom.

"It's late," she said. "Usually that last week in April is actually the peak, but not this year."

Because of the multiple different varieties of plants on the acreage, Penzel said they used to have signs displaying the plant names so visitors could easily differentiate the flowers.

"One little boy came out here and he picked up all these signs and put them in a pile," she said. "He thought he was helping us. He ran all through the azaleas and had a nice little pile with all the names."

Penzel said they also have a lot of rhododendrons on the farm, in addition to the vast variety of azaleas.

She said a lot of times they are in bloom by the time the viewing season is over, but "they won't be this year."

"A lot of those are volunteer. They have washed down and ended up on the bank," she said.

The Oak Ridge property also features a small lake; with a large tree that Penzel said was "always a favorite" for visitors and was also the scene of her daughter's wedding.

"It's the only wedding that's been out here. We'll probably never have anymore," she said, "because it poured down rain all day long. This is a really good photo shoot area. Everybody comes down here."

She explained the tree itself was about to split, so her husband "put a bar through it to hold it."

"You can see the nut and the bolt," Penzel said. "He's trying to preserve it as long as he can."

Nearly eight year's ago, Penzel said the acreage sustained a small brush fire and a few of the plants were damaged.

She said it burned "the deciduous azaleas and everything," but they did come back the next season.

Penzel said the soil is very sandy on the farm, because "that's what the azaleas like." She also said they don't water the plants and they never sell plants.

"The exiting ones are just transplanted to a different area," she said.

Penzel said they usually, when needed, move the plants in the fall because if you try moving them in the spring, the summer is "just too hard on them."

"We close on May 15, and I'm sure there will be some that have not even bloomed yet," Penzel said. "But on May 15, it goes back to being home. So whether they bloom or not, it's closed."

She said the farm will "always be" in the family and believes it to be the "best kept secret" in Southeast Missouri.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

799 Torre Lane

Oak Ridge, Missouri 63769