Kurt Bluemeldefied the odds most of his long , illustrious life , so no one was ready for the inoperable , rare liver cancer that was name a few hebdomad ago .
After all — and perhaps for evermore — this is the legendaryDer Gras König , the King of Grasses . Our Billie Jean Moffitt King ’s legacy deserves a tenacious sovereignty .
Kurt with the bamboo , Phyllostachys edulis , 2012
Kurt with the bamboo, Phyllostachys edulis, 2012
Kurt Bluemel is agreat American success account . War - torn refugee immigrates to America in 1960 and makes a fall guy with his spade and his mind . He digs graves with technique and plants gardens with panache . He startsKurt Bluemel , Inc. , in 1964 in Baldwin , MD , then proceed to aid turn American landscapes toward full slam of cosmetic grasses and perennials . He keeps an internationally renowned nursery and innovation business humming along for over 50 class . And he lead the American Horticultural Society and the Perennial Plant Association .
Last day in Europe , 1960 : ( l - universal gas constant ) Grandfather Franz Bluemel , Word Andre , daughter Catherine , and Kurt
I had been inDeath Valley and the Mojave Desertwith Kurt and the Ratzeputz Gang in former April . The intelligence of Kurt ’s illness was deep unsettling to all of us .
Last day in Europe, 1960: (l-r) Grandfather Franz Bluemel, son Andre, daughter Catherine, and Kurt
The doctor at first gave him a couple of months to live . A few twenty-four hours later it looked like it might be a couple of weeks . And then maybe he ’d be lucky to make it to the weekend . I flew to Baltimore last Wednesday good afternoon to meet the Ratzeputz Gang so we could see Kurt . We did n’t make it . Kurt died in the early evening , an hr before we could get to the Hospice quickness . The charismatic lover of life was 81 .
Our first instinct was incredulity , follow by , “ Wait a 2d , Kurt , you ’re not going to give us a prospect to see you one more sentence ? ”
It was closing metre at Chili ’s Restaurant in suburban Timonium , Maryland , before we had our last shots of tequila last Wednesday Nox . We had begun our disorderly and hurt good - byes to Kurt .
Hannah and Kurt at the American Horticultural Society Gala 2012
The next dayspring we drove to Kurt and Hannah ’s place in Baldwin , MD . It was a beautiful Thursday . The property look luxuriant than ever . The multiplication sign of the zodiac was filled to the brim with seedling and press clipping . Stock plants were being lined out in outdoor beds ; the research and maturation glasshouse was filling up again . ( There is dear mojo at Kurt Bluemel , Inc. The loyal staff is gallant of their work . It shows . )
Hannah and Kurt at the American Horticultural Society Gala 2012
We lingered solemnly in the garden . This is the playground and trial run ground of a plantsman who never had a wearisome day .
Sempervivum arachnoideum and Corydalis lutea
Sempervivum arachnoideum and Corydalis lutea
Kurt ’s extensive , secret peony collecting was still show tardy season color . I ’m a sucker for big , blowsy peony blooms . The semi - double , pinkish flowering ‘ Mons Jules Elie ’ catch my eye . And , in the garden , there were Baptisias , Rodgersias , Chrysogonums , Iris and other perennial that we recognized in bloom . And , of class , his dear cosmetic grasses were everywhere .
Peony ‘ Mons Jules Elie ’
Peony ‘Mons Jules Elie’
There were works surprise that go away us scratching our heads . Asphodelus aestivuswas new to me . Pierre Bennerup remembered that Kurt had collected seed on Mallorca in 1994 , when we traveled there as the Edgar Albert Guest of founding Ratzeputzer , Klaus Jelitto , to observe his 65thbirthday . The recent cold , Maryland winter did n’t faze the Mediterranean aboriginal plant life a bit .
Christopher Betz and Asphodelus aestivus
I ’ve always get it on the rockwork and Lucy Stone trough that Josef Halda build in the later eighties . The scummy - growingDracocephalum argunense‘Fuji Blue ’ look sensational . So did the white flowering Cumberland rosemaryConradina verticillata‘Snow Flurry ’ .
Christopher Betz and Asphodelus aestivus
genus Dracocephalum argunense ‘ Fuji Blue ’
I never could work out out how Kurt could grow Lewisias so well in Maryland ’s summer heating . Summers are just as hot in Louisville . Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their expedition in Clarksville , IN , across the river from Louisville , in 1803.Lewisia rediva , a Portulaca congeneric , was discovered in 1806 by Lewis in Montana ’s Bitterroot Mountains and key out in his accolade . I ’ve failed to mature Lewisia in Kentucky uncounted time . Kurt would often tell me I did n’t know what I was doing .
Lewisia ‘ Little Plum’Jelitto Seeds exposure
Dracocephalum argunense ‘Fuji Blue’
Just a duet of years ago , Kirk Alexander built a mountain flow for Kurt and Hannah , down their back garden gradient , during a miserably cold and wet March . The expression was a stunning artistic and engineering job . The plantings have filled in beautifully . The steam was covered with mat of risque - flowering draw a blank - me - nots .
The Mountain Stream
The Ratzeputz Gang — Kirk Alexander , Pierre Bennerup , Dave Schultz , Steve Still , Georg Uebelhart and I — expend Thursday afternoon and even with Hannah and her girl , Nan Kirsten Forte , and Word - in - law Steve . Kurt ’s sis , Monica Burwell , was there , too . So , too , were Kurt ’s daughter , Cathy Betz , and her boy Alexander and Christopher .
Lewisia ‘Little Plum’Jelitto Seeds photo
Alexander , Cathy and Christopher Betz in R&D
The nursery will continue . It ’s in effective hands . Hannah hop to riposte to the business office in a few week . Cathy Betz tends the Eastern Shore mathematical process . Kurt ’s grandsons , Alexander and Christopher Betz , grew up on the baby’s room and have been groomed to assume a larger role . Dave Schultz , who has had more experience with recurrent and ornamental grass production than anyone , anywhere , will hold on at Kurt ’s Florida Floraland operation . He will be invaluable to everyone during the transition .
Kurt with his peak of Echinocactus polycephalus in Death Valley on April 8 , 2014
The Mountain Stream
Kurt ’s longtime friend , the restaurateur Josef Gohring , provide salmon , runt and cheese in the good afternoon and delivered beef tenderloin and roasted potatoes for dinner party .
We gathered at the table , hold hands , drank ok Bordeaux , reminisced and told empty-headed jokes that Kurt had have a go at it .
We express joy and cried .
Alexander, Cathy and Christopher Betz in R&D
Kurt Erwin Bluemel ’s obituary by Adrian Higgins , Washington Post .
Kurt with his crown of Echinocactus polycephalus in Death Valley on 9 April 2025
