Tour an Outstanding Aptos Rhododendron Garden
On Sunday May 5, 2024 at 1 PM, the De Anza Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society will feature a tour of the Monte Toyon Garden of Maury and Fran Sumner, that is located at the Monte Toyon Camp and Conference Center, 220 Cloister Lane, Aptos.
From the parking lot located in the area of 36°59’46.7″N 121°53’51.5″W, please walk up the trail to the Observation Platform of the Rhododendron Garden, which is located at the top of the hill, where the tour will start from.
The tour will be led by Mike McCullough, who knew the Sumners from 1975 on.
The Sumners lived in San Francisco, but in order to test and display their hybrids such as the Maddenii Series rhododendrons My Lady, My Guy, Mi Amor, Saffron Prince, Martha Wright and Owen Pierce; and to grow other rhododendrons, in the 1950s they established the three acre Monte Toyon Rhododendron Garden in Aptos.
Information on the rhododendrons of Maurie and Fran Sumner can be found here:
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v47n4/v47n4-morebeck.htm
https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v48n2/v48n2-basford.htm
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v53n4/v53n4-steinbruner.htm
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v20n3/v20n3-californiashow.htm
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v22n3/v22n3-osborn.htm
https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JARS/v27n1/v27n1-sumner.htm
Hopefully the regular blooming Sumner hybrids Mi Amor (with its large fragrant flowers), My Guy, and R. burmanicum x R. dalhousiae shall be in bloom; as well as rhododendrons such as the Maddenii Series species Rhododendron supranubium (Maddenii Series species and hybrids do superbly in the Greater Bay Area, make good container plants for the small garden, and many have fragrant flowers), the Maddenii series hybrid Roy Hudson (which was hybridized by Howard Kerrigan who lived in Hayward and created many maddenies and azaleas); rhododendron hybrids developed on the West Coast such as Lem’s Cameo, Red Olympia, C. I. S., and Nestucca; foreign created hybrids such as Tyermanii (a maddenii from England), Dame Nellie Melba (from England), and Scarlett King Kaka (from New Zealand); species such as Rhododendron yakushimanum, and Rhododendron augustinii; and a row of deciduous azalea hybrids including Cecile, Ilam Red, and Life.
There is a chance that newts will be spotted near the newt pond.
Information on the De Anza Chapter, and the rest of the American Rhododendron Society can be found at:
http://deanza-ars.com
https://www.rhododendron.org
https://www.rhododendron.org/membership.htm
If you would like to see superb rhododendrons, please come to the tour of the rhododendron garden that was created by Maurie and Fran Sumner.