Brewster Rogerson (1921-2015) spent most of his academic career teaching English at Kansas State University. The purchase of four clematis plants began the focus of the latter part of his life, leading after retirement to his move to Oregon for a climate more conducive to his favorite genus.
His efforts to develop a comprehensive collection is recounted in “A Passion for Clematis” by the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Collection. Now grown at the Luscher Farm, owned by the City of Lake Oswego, Oregon, this assemblage is one of the newer horticultural treasures to visit in the Pacific Northwest.
The garden is divided into many sections, all highlighted in this short book. These include heirlooms more than hundred years old, species and cultivars from different regions of the world, and Rogerson’s favorite selections. If one is overwhelmed by these choices, a beginner’s garden demonstrates several easy, widely available selections.
Rogerson’s comments in a letter to another avid collector will resonate with many gardeners: “Being no botanist by training, and only a rather clumsy gardener, I find I need to pick up everything I can from every clematis grower, big or little, I can find, and so far I’ve done pretty well.”
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin