Montgomery Pinetum

Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut

102 acres

A registered historic site and public park.

Directions:

I-95, Exit 4.  Turn left onto Field Road; drive 0.8 of a mile to cross over Route 1 and onto Old Post Road #6; turn left onto Stanwich Road; drive 1.1 of a mile and turn left to continue following Stanwich Road; drive about 0.4 of a mile to turn right onto Montgomery Lane (the street sign is on the left; drive about 0.2 of a mile to the end of Montgomery Lane and park by the park sign.

The main entrance is at the intersection of Bible Street and Clover Place.  (Bible Street is located off Orchard Street.)  The sign at the entrance says "Montgomery Pinetum; Department of Parks and Recreation; Garden Education Center."

History:

A plaque placed at the Pinetum in 1953 says: "Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Montgomery.  Loving the unique beauty of the woodland home, with its primeval hemlock forest and it magnificent collection of conifers, gave it to Greenwich for the enjoyment of all."

Facilities:

wooded trails, majestic trees and unusual specimen plantings and wildflowers

Garden Education Center of Greenwich  Horticulture and gardening programs, lectures, special events, working greenhouse and three gift shops. Located within the Montgomery Pinetum.  Program fees.

Trails:

10/17/2005.  On a cool but good day, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked at the end of Montgomery Lane.  The sign does not say Montgomery Pinetum but this is the place.  (An asphalt heads south up to the Montgomery house and the pinetum part of the park.  There are a number of trails that head off to the right into the woods from the asphalt road.  We took a little side turn off to the left to see the small pond.  There is a small dam at the southern end of the pond and a little waterfall flows over the dam.  The stream heads south from here.  There is a path on the west side of the pond, but none on the eastern side.  From the pond we continued walking east to an exit onto a dirt road (Pinetum Lane?).  We turned around and returned past the pond to the asphalt road, turned left and continued south. 

On the right we came upon a small picnic grove with quite a few picnic tables and restroom facilities.  A little farther south on the road and there is a big open area on the left.  The joggers in the park had their dogs and all were off leash, so we decided to let our dog off the leash in this open area.  He ran around us a couple of times in a big circle and then just plopped down.  So we leashed him again and continued south.  There are a few marshy areas both on the left and right sides of the road. 

We came to the low area of the pinetum and then we headed uphill.  On the right we saw a sign by a trail saying the equivalent of this way to Orchard Street.  So there must be another parking area on Orchard Street.  We continued south uphill to the old Montgomery house and the  pinetum part of the park.  It is a very pretty area with a couple of ponds.  They have planted conifers from other countries in the pinetum.  We then reached the main entrance to the pinetum at the intersection of Bible Street and Clover Place.

We turned around and walked north back to the car.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick Cooney

*  = plant blooming on date of field trip, 10/17/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Aralia spinosa (Hercules club)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)?
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus sp. (pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Taxus sp. (yew)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Leucothoe sp. (leucothoe)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay rhododendron)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus flagellaris northern dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Euonymus fortunii (Fortune's euonymus)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster)       *
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)        *  
Bidens sp. (beggar tick)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Callitriche palustris (water starwort)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Eupatorium sp. (Joe-Pye weed)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Nuphar advena (southern pond lily)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)      *
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum aviculare (doorweed)    
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)      *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)   *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Urtica dioica v procera (tall nettle)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)

Grasses:
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Setaria faberi (Faber's foxtail grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)  did not get a close-up look because in was in wetlands
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polypodium sp. (rockcap fern)

Some other species at the Pinetum part:

Trees:
Acer sp. (Japanese maple)
Magnolia sp. (southern magnolia)
Picea abies  ....  (Barry spruce)
Picea asperata (dragon spruce)  from w. China
Picea pungens var. glauca (blue spruce)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae)

Shrubs:
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rhododendron spp. (azaleas)
Spiraea japonica (Japanese spiraea)
(boxwood)

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