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Introduce myself

Hello,
My name is Bill Haldeman and I am a section gardener at Longwood Gardens 
in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The three greenhouses I take care of 
include the palm house, silver garden, and Mediterranean Garden.
I am a 1990 graduate of the professional gardeners training program here 
at Longwood. I also had the privilege to train in South Africa for nine 
months at Durban Botanic Garden and Kirstenbosh. Spent six months in New 
Zealand at a sub-tropical garden in the Witakery (spelling ?) Range and 
Wanganui. Visited the gardens on Aust. East coast and finished up 
traveling by coming back through Indonesia and Singapore.
 The mediterranean house at Longwood was built in 1993 and designed by 
Ron Lutsko, a landscape architect from CA. The house is approx. 100 feet 
long and 17 feet wide. It has a central pool surrounded by a meadow and 
four beds along the four corners. Plant material is from all climates 
with winter rain summer drought and we maintain the house at a minimum 
of 45 degrees F.
The soil mix we use was a custom blend we worked up in the experimental 
greenhouses here on the property and consists of
             3 parts Hadite (expanded shale)mined in ohio and heated to 
2300degrees so all the mineral vaporize leaving a lava type stone.
             3 parts #3 sand (a round sand not sharp)
             2 parts fur bark
             1 part peat moss
This mix has been very successful in the green house for its benefits of 
being well drained but still holds moisture, acidic, and nice to look 
at. The bed depth runs from 18 to 24 inches and contains biotherm heat 
which are heat pipes that run in the soil so we can save energy on 
heating as well as form micro climates within the house.
Climate control is maintained by a central computer that has a weather 
station, soil temp, air temp, humidity and can be made to dehumidify if 
needed.
Plant material is a mix with many South African bulbs, proteacious 
material from both Aust. and S.A., many shrubs, large Shinus molle and 
Arbutus unedo 'Marina',and countless herbacious perennials. I hope to 
set up a plant list soon to share.
The largest challenge is growing plant that thrive in a climate so 
different than our here in PA. The soil and computer help but it still 
is hard to keep Proteas and Banksias alive for more than a few years. 
Even with a fertilizer regiment that realizes the toxicity of 
phosphorous to the proteacious material.
In the future we hope to have a tour included in our home page that will 
enable our friends on the web to view us. Our home page address is:     
http://www.longwoodgardens.org./
This site will be able to introduce you to our garden and tell about our 
greenhouses, gardens, fountains, and educational opportunities. Hope to 
talk with you all real soon.
                              Bill Haldeman
                              section gardener 

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