![[Urban Forestry & Urban Greening] cover](https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/graphix/UrbanForestry&UrbanGreeningontheshelf.jpg)
One of the more popular periodical publications in the Miller Library is Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, a peer-reviewed, internationally-focused journal published 10 times per year. The publisher (Elsevier) describes the focus as “urban and peri-urban woody and non-woody vegetation and its use, planning, design, establishment and management.”
The editors accept submissions on a wide range of topics under the urban umbrella, including everything from the expected arboriculture and horticulture to urban planning and design, public health, and even environmental psychology. The intended audience includes academics but also policymakers and landscape professionals.
The current and upcoming issues demonstrate this breadth of topics. One report discusses stormwater infrastructure designs, showing that the preferences of professionals and laypeople are often quite different. Another article outlines the challenges of developing “an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies,” using Malaysia as the model. Closer to home, researchers from the University of British Columbia study “urban green equity on the ground” using Portland (Oregon), Phoenix, and New York City as their models to compare.
Many of the articles are available to download from the journal’s website (linked from the Miller Library’s catalog entry); however, the library maintains a print collection dating from the release of volume 1 in 2002. Visit the library and browse through this impressive journal.
Published in Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 6, Issue 11, November 2019
![[book title] cover](https://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/graphix/anillustratedhistoryoftheherbals.jpg)
While researching the oldest books in the Miller Library’s collection, I discovered a much more recent gem. An Illustrated History of the Herbals by Frank Anderson quickly became a valuable resource in my study of our rare books.
I say recent – but that is relative. Anderson’s book dates from 1977, when he was honorary curator of rare books and manuscripts for the New York Botanical Garden. Honorary, because this was his retirement career after many years working for the U.S. Postal Service. According to his obituary in the New York Times (August 20, 1994), he “had his first official link with the garden’s library in 1968 when he answered an ad seeking a ‘mature’ person to serve as book shelver.”
Although it was his second career, Anderson proved a talented student of ancient writings on botany. He was also a superb writer. I have read several other such histories; he often clarifies topics that I struggled to understand as presented by other authors. This is an easy book to read from cover to cover and along the way you’ll learn the history of plants and their uses from 70 to 1700 C.E.
He had great wit, too. In describing one book in the Miller collection: “The title page of the Theater of Plants, to use its English name, proclaims it as ‘An Herball of Large Extent.’ It is, for there are 1,755 folio sized pages…if a reader should happen to drop it on his foot he would be well advised to consult the passages on comfrey or other plants good for mending broken bones.”
Published in the Leaflet, Volume 6, Number 11, November 2019.
“Legacy of Trees: Purposeful Wandering in Vancouver’s Stanley Park” has an unusual way of telling the story of a public park. The intent of author Nina Shoroplova in writing the book was to allow herself the “purposeful wandering” of the sub-title. She skillfully brings the reader along on this journey, using individual trees as markers and the focus in telling the natural and human history of this peninsula and the adjacent, densely populated city.
This makes for an engaging book to read, but a hard one to describe. While it is helpful if you are planning to explore the park, I recommend it more for reading as a narrative before going. I gained much understanding and appreciation for the indigenous and many immigrant nationalities that make up the city of today, as well as the importance of trees in all cultures.
Shoroplova gives much of the credit for the early history she recounts to Major James Skitt Matthews (1878-1970), who established the city archives and like herself was from Wales. She describes him as an “irascible Welshman who insisted on single-handedly seeking out and detailing the early stories of Vancouver.”
For more recent history, the author consulted with living experts, including interviewing Alleyne Cook, shortly before he died in his 90s. Cook designed and established the very popular Ted and Mary Grieg Rhododendron Garden, a 22-year project completed in the 1980s. Shoroplova skillfully weaves the story of bringing rhododendrons from the Grieg’s remote specialty nursery on Vancouver Island and incorporating them, along with complimentary flowering trees, into the existing landscape.
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
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
One tool that librarians use to organize books is the subject headings in catalog entries. For “Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style,” the single subject heading term as provided by the Library of Congress is “flower arrangement.” While this choice is technically correct, this new book by Victoria, BC author and photographer Christin Geall is also a memoir, and explores deeper matters than most books with the same heading.
The author describes herself as like a magpie; she is drawn to many different topics. Fortunately, she is skilled at combining those interests around the central subject of this book, and rarely strays off topic. For example, gardening is very important to her and she encourages flower arrangers to grow their own material. However, this is not a how-to book on gardening. Instead, she recommends you find such a book, and then suggests some choices.
I learned many practical tips from reading “Cultivated,” including keeping a photographic record as part of your study. A chapter on history provides insights from the baroque, the rococo, and the styles of other periods and places. But resonant to me was Geall’s philosophical perspective shaped by the homestead she owned in her 20s on a tiny British Columbia island six hours from Vancouver. During this time, she also visited Findhorn, a self-described ecovillage in Scotland known initially for applying spiritual principles to grow robust gardens.
She uses the lessons learned from all these experiences (including training in horticulture at Kew Gardens) to guide the purpose of her flower arrangements. She encourages the reader to draw on all of life’s experiences. “This book is both an aesthetic and personal inquiry–an exploration of history, culture, the senses, and my own understanding, which I hope might serve as tools for interpreting and appreciating floral designs in new ways.”
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
For 15 years, the Elisabeth C. Miller Library has been hosting an exhibit by the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists every spring. These artists keep alive a tradition of many centuries by creating scientifically accurate portrayals of the flowers, leaves, seeds, and other parts of plants, often with more detail and accuracy than a photograph.
One of the local, participating artist is Sharon Birzer. Recently, she illustrated many of the native plants of southwest Alaska, published in “Yungcautnguuq nunam qainga tamarmi = All the Land’s Surface is Medicine.” This new book is written by a consortium of experts in cultural anthropology, ethnobotany, and the Yup’ik language, and is based on a 20-year oral history project to preserve the stories of elders and their traditional way of life.
The book is divided equally into two parts. The first is a catalog of the native plants used for food or medicine, organized by the time of harvest and starting with the plants that define the spring after long, cold winters. One example is Mertensia maritima or Neqnirliaraat, literally “best-tasting things,” a plant I grow in my garden. Although not widely used, “one Nelson Island woman reported collecting them before they flowered, cooking the stems briefly, and eating them with seal oil.”
The traditional tales of the plants and the land where they grow are collected in the second half of the book. Quoting many of the elders, these entries are in English on the left page, and in Yup’ik on the right. This includes “mouse foods,” caches of plants parts harvested and stored by voles and lemmings before the onset of winter, and an important source of food for humans.
Winner of the 2022 Annual Literature Award from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
We have several books on dahlias in the Miller Library collection, but none provide as much photographic detail on the different forms and the methods of growing, especially the harvesting, storing, and dividing of dahlia tubers as “Floret Farm’s Discovering Dahlias.” This how-to section also has a demonstration of hybridizing and creating your own dahlia varieties.
As to be expected from Floret Farm, the use of dahlia flowers in arrangements is the heart of the book. This includes a catalog of recommended varieties, divided by color. These emphasize subtle differences. For example, pink, coral, raspberry, peach, and blush each have a separate entry.
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
“Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers”, is an especially helpful book on flower arranging for those who prefer a structured teaching approach and lots of practical matters, along with inspiration. To do this, Erin Benzakein and her co-authors use many comparison photographs.
An example is a full-bleed page of “warm” pinks on the left, contrasted with “cool” pinks on the right page, giving a clear insight to how the addition of a bit of yellow or blue makes an important difference in the exact shade.
Other pages demonstrate the different shades of green or the texture of foliage types. Another important consideration is the stylistic functions of different shapes of flowers. Some, by their substance, will be the focus of an arrangement. Others will act in supporting or accent roles.
Following the basics are pages and pages of gloriously photographed arrangements, taken by Erin’s husband Chris Benzakein, accompanied by lots of details in the text on the components.
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
John Albers has highlighted his garden of 20 years in Bremerton and his passion for sustainable gardening practices in two previous books. Now, he turns his attention to a favorite plant group: conifers, especially dwarf and small cultivars. He is very clear in his reasons for writing the book. “Given the horticultural and ecological importance of urban conifers, it is vital that all of us do our part to restore conifers to our urban environment.”
More than just a gardening book, “Growing Conifers” is a good introduction to the botany of conifers. The narrative description of each genus and species gives clues to help with identification, as do the excellent photographs by David Perry. It also explains the origins of the beloved dwarf forms, including many found in the Pacific Northwest, either as mutations in the wild or in nurseries.
The author walks the reader through the process of assessing a garden and developing a design, with the liberal use of suitable conifers. But he doesn’t stop there. He also gives careful instructions for planting and sustainable care of these long-lived plants, and even the basics of propagation.
The design elements also include good companion plants. An example being clematis, especially if they are species that come from lean soil, as Albers believes neighboring plants should share the water needs. However, “sometimes rules can be broken for the sake of a greater good […] for the sake of creating a beautiful garden vignette that warms the heart and soothes the soul.”
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin
“Japanese Gardening: A Practical Guide” provides a long-needed book on how to apply the principles of Japanese style gardens on a small scale, allowing the incorporation of Japanese garden elements in a home garden.
This is done with a collection of projects that will engage the do-it-yourself gardener, and allow as little or much Japanese influence as desired. Author Charles Chesshire and photographer Alex Ramsay “show you how to create a beautiful and individual Japanese garden.”
Excerpted from the Fall 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin