The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour

The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour cover

Donald Olson brings extensive experience as a writer of novels, plays, and travel guides along with his passion as a gardener to “The Pacific Northwest Garden Tour.” He also brings the zeal of a convert. As a native Minnesotan and world traveler who now lives in Portland, he extols our gardens, our native landscapes, and our climate – yes, even the grey of winter.

The focus is on the three major metropolitan areas of the region: Seattle/Tacoma, Vancouver, B.C., and Portland, and this book is essential to consult for travel to any of these. Even as a nearly life-long Seattle area resident, I discovered there are local treasures awaiting my discovery, including the Evergreen Arboretum and Gardens in Everett and the newer gardens of PowellsWood in Federal Way and Soos Creek in Auburn.

Donald Olson praises the 1915 design by the Olmsted Brothers of the Dunn Gardens in Seattle, noting how the “essential Olmsted aesthetic remains intact” a century later. He notes that reds, purples, and whites were favored in the design, while yellow was “severely frowned upon.”

At the end of this Dunn Gardens entry, Olson mentions the newer Curators’ Garden, tucked in behind the visitor center and created by co-curators Charles Price and Glen Withey “…using a bright, brilliant palette of plant color decidedly different from the muted tones favored by Olmsted Brothers. There’s even yellow.”

No trips in the planning? This is still a book easily read cover-to-cover, especially for the history and the author’s often witty turns-of-phrase. The Lake Wilderness Arboretum “…rescues old gardens that have lost their owners and moves them phlox, stock, and marrow to new digs at the arboretum” while at the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden it was “…Betty who wore the plants in the family.”

Like most garden tourists, I enjoy visiting destination nurseries, and many are included by Olson, especially those which have lavish display gardens. Of course, you’ll read about the gardens and nurseries you know, but don’t skip over the unfamiliar; I’m already thinking of a garden tour in the Portland area to share the author’s special passion for several of his recommendations there.

Excerpted from the Spring 2015 Arboretum Bulletin.

Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Algarve

Wild flowers of algarve book jacket “Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Algarve” introduces the rich Mediterranean flora of the southernmost province of Portugal. Several indigenous plants have become mainstays of western horticulture, including species of Cistus, Quercus, Euphorbia, and Narcissus. This is also a major tourist destination – a chance to combine fun in the sun with serious botanizing!

Published in the March 2015 Leaflet for Scholars Volume 2, Issue 3.

Deer in My Garden, Volume 2: Groundcovers & Edgers

Grass Valley, California is on the outer rim of our region, but the resident gardening columnist Carolyn Singer is worth knowing about, especially for gardeners in the foothills of the Cascades. She is very experienced with the ravages of deer, and address this concern in two books. “Deer in My Garden” (2006), was largely written while the author spent the summer of 2005 in Seattle and focuses on perennials and subshrubs. “Deer in My Garden: Volume 2” (2008) considers the impact on groundcovers and garden edge plants.

Both books are part of “The Yucky Flower Series,” honoring the advice of her then 3-year-old grandson: “The deer wouldn’t eat yucky flowers!” So that is what she planted. Her deer-resistant recommendations are based on her own experience, or those of gardeners who grew trial plants for her, knowing that in the interest of science (or cervid consumer selection), the trial plants might disappear.

While yucky to deer, the selected plants are all quite lovely to gardeners and would make many other recommended plant lists. Most are drought tolerant and adapted to a wide temperature range. Best of all, the author enthusiastically rates the maintenance requirements of most as “EASY!” to “VERY, VERY EASY!” Deer or no deer, these are great garden plants.

Excerpted from the Spring 2015 Arboretum Bulletin

A History of the Garden in Fifty Tools

Remember those tools you tossed into the shed after planting the last tulip bulb? They may need your attention now – otherwise come spring you’ll have a pile of dirt-caked trowels and rusty pruners. No fun.

To help inspire you, the Miller Library has a fine collection of books on the tools of gardeners. Most recent is A History of the Garden in Fifty Tools by Bill Laws, a delight to read with lots of practically, too.

Each tool is defined; a rake is “a tool employed, like the farmer’s harrow, to comb the ground for a variety of purposes.” Next is the origin: “the scarecrow took the place of the women or children once paid to frighten off birds.”

Following is a history of each tool—including accessories such as potting sheds, hats and gloves, and the unexpected, such as the language Latin. I was fascinated by these stories from around the world. Even Seattle Public Utilities is quoted by this British author, who noted their keen efforts to encourage composting.

This book would be great for a cozy chair by the winter fireplace. After you’ve cleaned your tools, of course!

Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Winter 2015

Back in the garden with Dulcy : the best of The Oregonian garden writer Dulcy Mahar

Back in the Garden with Dulcy cover

A book that took me totally by surprise is “Back in the Garden with Dulcy”, a selection of articles by Dulcy Mahar, who for 22 years wrote a gardening column for The Oregonian in Portland. Clearly, I haven’t been paying enough attention to gardening south of the Columbia!

Sadly, Dulcy died in 2011 after a long battle with cancer, but she continued writing up to a few weeks before her death. Fortunately her husband, Ted Mahar, has edited and published a selection of her writings. I am completely charmed by the results.

While Ted is understandably also a fan, I heartedly agree with him when he describes her columns as “…filled with solid advice, warnings, lists, ideas and experiments worth trying, the latest trends, yearnings for a change of season, and more. Whatever the subject, Dulcy’s wit glowed through. Pick a week, and you’d likely find a quotable quote.”

I would add that she had a knack of reaching out to young or inexperienced gardeners, putting them at ease, urging them not to be afraid to just go for it. She also had a love of animals, especially her cats (although one lucky dog, Hector, gets a lot of press, too). One of her Wagnerian felines is posed with her on the front cover, “helping” in the garden.

An example of her advice: “Make a list so that you can get exactly what you need when you hit the nurseries and plant sales. Oh, I could hardly say that with a straight face. I am practically rolling on the floor, and the cats and Hector the dog are looking askance. Of course, it is excellent advice. But can I follow that advice? Hardly.”

Excerpted from the Fall 2014 Arboretum Bulletin.

Beauty by design : inspired gardening in the Pacific Northwest

Beauty by Design cover

Bill Terry and Rosemary Bates both had extensive careers in journalism. It shows in the quality of their interviews in “Beauty by Design,” a book about gardeners in a “passionate pursuit of perfection.” These profiles capture in just a few pages the personality of their subjects, and the intimate relationship of gardener to garden.

Every chapter reads like a memoir. All would captivate readers within a wide spectrum of artistic interests as many of the subjects are artists in a different medium, including painters, a potter, and poets. Terry and Bates conclude that “these gardeners, indeed all gardeners, are alchemists of nature, art, and artifice.”

Some of the eleven individuals or couples profiled are familiar names around Seattle, including Dan Hinkley, Linda Cochrane, George Little, and David Lewis. Most are better known in the gardening circles of southwest British Columbia, but a common theme is they have spent a significant part of their lives in other places, and have been strongly influenced by very different climates, traditions, and histories.

An example is Robin Hopper, a potter living in Metchosin, British Columbia, near Victoria. He describes the fusion in his garden as “Anglo-Japanadian.” He is quite familiar with the various styles—he counts five—of Japanese gardening, and acknowledges their impact, but the description of his garden makes it clear that it has its very own style.

“The forest floor is all happy chaos: hostas mingling with hellebores (H. foetidus) in flower, the leaves of hardy cyclamen, bits of iris, various self-seeded woodland wildlings, and, most delightfully, the flowers of the white fawn lily (Erythronium oregonum). Birds and bugs must love this place.”

Excerpted from the Fall 2014 Arboretum Bulletin.

For the love of trees : an arboreal odyssey

For the Love of Trees cover

Roy Forster was the first curator and director of the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, designing much of the plantings that help make this one of the outstanding botanical gardens in our region. “For the Love of Trees” is in some ways his autobiography, but in a most unusual format, as he uses his own paintings to tell most of that story.

His life has taken him to many locations, providing a wide range of subjects for the “Arboreal Odyssey” of his sub-title. After making comparisons to Homer, he clarifies that “the giants of my story are not fearsome cyclopean monsters but giant redwood trees, ancient venerable pines, and cedars that ascend to the sky.”

Many of his subjects are found in another gem of the Vancouver landscape, Stanley Park. While the large conifers are well-represented, my favorite piece is of a particularly large red alder (Alnus rubra), shown in winter time “when the red dormant buds, twigs and catkins show on the naked branches, contrasting with the somber green of the coniferous forest.”

Travels have given him many more stories, and the human elements that surround his trees are significant. A hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is seen in front of the Glastonbury Tor, the legendary burial place for the Holy Grail. A venerable olive tree (Olea europaea) dwarfs the gates of Les Collettes, the garden of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France.

Throughout, Forster shares his philosophy on trees, which is also his philosophy on life. He describes the profits of his life as a tree planter in public landscapes: “The rewards are of a different kind, consisting mainly in the joy of observing the vigorous growth of the trees over the decades of life, knowing they will be there long after the planter is gone. There is a kind of love in that.”

Excerpted from the Fall 2014 Arboretum Bulletin.

Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest

Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest cover

Mark Turner, another gifted photographer, has produced his second Timber Press Field Guide: “Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest,” co-authored with Ellen Kuhlmann. As with his earlier book on the wildflowers of the region (co-authored with Phyllis Gustafson), this is designed for use in the field. Quickly accessible inside the front and back covers are diagrams of the various types of flower parts, leaves, fruits, and seeds. The cover is weather-resistant and a ruler, in both inches and centimeters is handily placed on the back cover.

This guide is also very comprehensive. “While a few readers may gripe about the size and weight of this volume, we chose to err on the side of clarity and include at least a pair of photographs for most of the 568 taxa that have a main entry.” The authors also joke that this book was “…our excuse to learn the willows” and sure enough, 28 pages are devoted to this genus that is notoriously difficult to identify at the species level.

The plant descriptions begin with conifers, followed by angiosperms divided by leaf types. There are no keys, but the extra photographs, and their high quality, makes finding plants pretty straightforward. The range maps include all of Washington and Oregon, along with southern British Columbia and northern California, showing all the counties or regional districts where the plant has been documented. The maps are a fascinating study all on their own.

The helpful introduction is only slightly modified from Turner’s earlier book, but no matter: it is useful information on how to get the best use out of this book and make the most of your plant exploration. The descriptions of the different ecoregions could make a useful booklet by itself.

Excerpted from the Fall 2014 Arboretum Bulletin.

Trees live here : the arboretums of America

Trees Live Here cover

There are very few books specifically dedicated to arboreta, and it is always exciting when a new one is published, but even more exciting when the author lives in Seattle! In “Trees Live Here,” Susan McDougall has photographed and written about 33 arboreta throughout the United States, but her “home” arboretum is our very own Washington Park Arboretum. Of course, I turned to that chapter first.

McDougall’s camera leads the tour. While the photos showcase the color of Azalea Way in spring and floral highlights from the Witt Winter Garden, the author also favors some of the less well-known collections. The Pinetum and conifers throughout the Arboretum are highlighted, as are the Lindens (Tilia) at the north end. I need to spend more time exploring both of these areas. Elsewhere the subjects may be familiar, but the focus is often on unexpected features such as leaf buds swelling in spring, or close-ups of peeling bark.

The photographer’s eye is clear in McDougall’s description of the Hybrid Rhododendron Garden. “It is not necessarily a photographer’s dream, for though this collection is uniquely-colored and filled with leaves of varying brightness and size, the shades and angles of flowers and stems pose a challenge for the camera.”

Tearing myself away from “our” chapter, I found other Pacific Northwest arboreta presented, including the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, the Peavy Arboretum in Corvallis, and the University of Idaho Arboretum in Moscow. Like in all the chapters, the photographs “…provide a sense of the plants in each arboretum’s collections, while the text serves to describe, augment, and inform.”

The introductory chapters answer such basic questions as “What is an arboretum?” and “What is their history?” beginning by quoting the Oxford English Dictionary definition, which is simply ‘a place for trees.’ Her research found the first use of the term to be by John Claudius Loudon in his 1838 encyclopedia “Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum”, which he translated in his sub-title as “The Trees and Shrubs of Britain.” Loudon not only wrote about his interest in trees, he acted upon it, establishing an arboretum in Derby, England. McDougall quotes from his writings to the Town Council, “The Derby Arboretum would not only serve as a source of recreation and instruction to the inhabitants of Derby and its neighborhood, but as a standard of nomenclature…the collection of trees and shrubs being one of the most extensive ever planted, and the whole being named with a degree of correctness scarcely to be found in any other garden.” This standard of excellence for an arboretum is still very valid today!

These chapters also tackle more challenging topics such as “Why are they still important?” This is partly answered in the criteria for those arboreta selected for this book, which require an accessioned collection with records of provenance, a staff that is committed to public education, and programs dedicated to outreach, conservation, and research.

As an interesting aside, McDougall did most of her research by train, traveling with her husband, David Biek, with whom she collaborated on a 2007 book on the flora of Mt. Adams. In the spring of 2011 they took Amtrak to all four corners and the middle of the country, visiting 28 arboreta and taking 15,000 photos, timing their arrivals in each location with the coming of spring. Quite an adventure!

Excerpted from the Fall 2014 Arboretum Bulletin.

Victoria The Seductress: A Cultural And Natural History Of The World’s Greatest Water Lily

Want a really cool plant that will be the envy of all your fellow gardeners? Try Victoria amazonica. All you need is a deep pond, the water maintained at 80-85° year-round. A heated greenhouse is essential through the winter, and, for best display, the pond should be at least 20 feet wide. Easy.

If this strains your gardening budget and ambition, consider a visit this fall or winter to the Miller Library to read Victoria the Seductress: A Cultural and Natural History of the World’s Greatest Water Lily. Written by Tomasz Aniśko, curator of plants at Longwood Gardens, this ambitious work is really several books in one.

It begins as jungle thriller, following the exploits and mishaps of several ninetleenth century plant explorers in South America, each discovering V. amazonica independently, typically under dire circumstances. It continues as a botanical and political drama—this was a time when governments and storied scientific institutions were passionate to have their chosen name assigned to high profile new plants. “Pens were drawn and ink was shed in the next battle of the great paper-war.”

Next is the race to be the first to have it grow and bloom in cultivation. The winner, Joseph Paxton, was knighted for his success. Why don’t we have reality television shows like this?

While the frenzy has died down over the last 150 years, this is still a big-ticket plant. There’s almost a cottage industry of posing little children on the leaves. Growers compete to have the world’s biggest leaves (who needs pumpkins?), with the current record at just over nine feet. The round leaves with their turned up edges have become iconic—did you catch their cameo in The Wizard of Oz?

A plant this good deserves an award-winning book, and Victoria the Seductress won the prestigious Award of Excellence in Horticulture from The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries in 2014. Reading it, or just beholding the wealth of photographs, will make you look forward to visiting one of the public gardens where “she” resides, waiting to snare you with her magic.

Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Fall 2014