A plant-hunter in Afghanistan

a plant hunter in Afghanistan book cover Christopher Grey-Wilson is a major author in the Miller Library collection with twenty-four books he either wrote or edited. Many focus on a specific plant such as cyclamen, pasque-flowers, saxifrages, or poppies of the genus Meconopsis. Others are excellent guides to alpine and rock garden plants. As you read these books, you learn that he has considerable experience as a plant explorer. In “A Plant-hunter in Afghanistan,” he provides a detailed and fascinating account of his nine months of plant exploring through southern Iran and Afghanistan in 1971.

Why publish this now, almost fifty years after the events? The author claims other professional demands prevented him having the time, but he also reflects on the tragic changes to these countries, suggesting the need to document “the peaceful and welcoming country that I and my colleagues encountered in 1971.” In my reading, I certainly developed a greater awareness of the destruction caused by the upheavals that began just two years later.

Grey-Wilson’s writing is always quite accessible, but this book especially reads like a matter-of-fact journal. Some of the cultural clashes put the author and his colleagues in an unfavorable light, but they are left as written at the time in this self-published book. His photographs were all taken on film during the trip and although digitally enhanced, still evoke an earlier time.

In the Iranian city of Mashhad, Grey-Wilson was eager to photograph the golden dome of the tomb of Iman Reza and the turquoise colored dome of the nearby Great Mosque of Goharshad. He knew that as a foreigner, he was not allowed within the sacred area enclosing these buildings, but the boundary was unclear. “I unfastened my camera and was just about to take the photo of a lifetime when a hefty clout on my shoulder almost sent the camera spinning to the ground, fortunately undamaged.” A group of local students recognized his confusion and led him to a permitted, if somewhat farther away, rooftop to take his photo.

Of course, the main purpose of the trip was to find plants and Grey-Wilson and his companions were successful at that, finding 18 new species. Many plants are documented with photographs taken by the author, but this book is mainly a travelogue, and the photographs also effectively capture the often spectacular terrain, the human structures, the people, and the animals of this fascinating area. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this region before the recent wars and terror; an interest in plants is not required. That said, this is a limited edition book, and does not lend, but I urge spending time with it in one of the Miller Library’s comfortable chairs.

Excerpted from the Fall 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.

The orchid hunter

The orchid hunter book cover Taking a gap year between college and graduate school is often a time for young students to explore distant parts of the world, perhaps to donate their time to a devoted cause, or to learn a different culture. Very few spend the time botanizing. This is what makes Leif Bersweden’s story so interesting. At age seven, he found his first orchid: “Mum, this flower looks just like a bee.” From this simple beginning, a passion grew, and he decided to spend his gap year tracking down and photographing all 52 native species of Orchidaceae in Great Britain and Ireland. He relates his story in “The Orchid Hunter: A Young Botanist’s Search for Happiness.”

This was no small task. In general, the orchids of the British Isles are not showy except up close and easily hide amongst other vegetation. Some are extremely rare. Most are located well off beaten pathways, difficult to reach with Bersweden’s car that was prone to breaking down. Actually two cars. The first did not last the year. Meanwhile, our young botanist was growing up and undergoing many of the usual coming-of-age emotional upheavals.

Other than the botanical theme, why am I recommending this book? Because Bersweden is an excellent storyteller. Combining this with a plant theme is a bonus. In additional to his personal challenges and triumphs, he is adept at telling the history of British and Irish botany and related studies of wildflowers. Best of all, you the reader get caught up in the chase! (Spoiler alert). Will he succeed in finding all 52 native orchids despite a late spring, a hot summer, the challenges of driving 10,000 miles on often minimal roads, and some iffy accommodations? Happily, he does.

And happily for the reader, he never loses his sense of humor. He notes that the Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera), despite the name, is pollinated by a digger wasp. “It looks very different from the Fly Orchid flower. So different, in fact, that you really start to question the wasp’s intelligence. How can it possibly be duped into thinking the orchid flower…is its star-crossed lover?” After explaining how the smell and feel of the Fly Orchid is the attraction, he concludes: “To the digger wasp, the Fly Orchid is a sex toy, not perfectly life-like but able to arouse the senses and cloy the mind.”

Excerpted from the Fall 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.

The bulb hunter

Bulb hunter book cover I received at an early age a birthday present of a dozen gladiolus corms. The results – plants taller than I was, with brilliant colors – were enthralling and made me a life-long bulb (more accurately: geophyte) enthusiast. For author Chris Wiesinger, it started with a single red tulip bulb. He planted “his little rock” in his Central Valley of California home and forgot it. The next spring “something magical had occurred; my living rock had turned into the most striking red tulip.”

Sadly, this was a one-and-done experience. The next year, only leaves appeared. A year later, he dug down to find the remains of a rotted bulb. But it lit a spark, and for Wiesinger, this experience turned into a combination business and consuming passion. He wrote his story in “The Bulb Hunter,” co-written with William Welch.

Wiesinger was only a temporary Californian. He returned to his southern roots in Louisiana and now Texas, searching for bulbs who have long out-survived the demise of the house they surrounded. This includes an elusive, perennial red tulip (Tulipa praecox), but it is found only where there is gritty black clay, so hard that it bends shovels. This quality protects the bulbs from their natural enemies, gophers and voles, and the good drainage allows drying out in the summer, much like the tulip’s central Asian homelands.

The book is divided into two halves, with the second being author Welch’s story. His is more typical garden memoir, recounting the bulbs and companion plants that thrive in each season for Texas and the Gulf South. While it is a stretch to use this as guidance for Pacific Northwest gardening, there are some interesting possibilities here, and I’m looking forward to trying them.

I was pleased that gladiolus species are prominent in both halves of the book. Gladiolus byzantinus (syn. G. communis var. byzantinus) is found in old cottage style gardens and Wiesinger considers it one of the most valuable bulbs he sells. Unfortunately, it is also a favorite of gophers and voles. The challenges of thwarting these “glad lovers” will amuse every gardener.

Excerpted from the Fall 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.

Outdoor learning environments : spaces for exploration, discovery and risk-taking in the early years

[Outdoor Learning Environments] cover

Why do childhood play and learning in the outdoors matter? The short answer is because then we are less likely to destroy it. Good habits start early. With knowledge and habits established in a young generation, the outdoor paradise of the Pacific Northwest will be here for us in the future.

Nature inspires curiosity, learning, and renewal. In a time of widespread tech addictions, expanding cities such as Seattle, and changing behavior and cultural values, connecting with the outdoors contributes in unique and important ways to our health, well-being, and survival in the long run.

Outdoor Learning Environments: Spaces for Exploration, Discovery and Risk Taking In the Early Years guides educators, policy makers and community builders to developing positive and engaging outdoor learning environments for children. Editors Helen Little, Sue Elliott and Shirley Wyver, as well as other authors, researchers and practitioners, present a range of ideas drawn from contemporary education theories, research and practice. Australia is the location of the publication, but it could be anywhere in the world.

The book highlights how educators interweave learning and the environment, beyond management-style supervision. Positive approaches to risk-taking are considered, with risk-taking defined as events, behaviors and consequences that are associated with some degree of uncertainty about the outcomes. Designing and planning for outdoor learning are included in a way that incorporates children’s voices and cultural perspectives. Education for sustaining a healthy environment is explored. The editors, at the same time, address the issue of ensuring that outdoor spaces and equipment align with relevant regulations and safety requirements.

Outdoor Learning Environments opens minds of children and caring adults to the wonders and realities of our environment and to working collaboratively toward sustainable futures with wisdom and heart.

Excerpted from the October 2019 Leaflet Volume 6, Issue 10.

The Tree Book: Superior Selections for Landscapes, Streetscapes, and Gardens

Michael Dirr is the guru of woody plants. Beginning in 1975, his “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” – through six editions as of 2009 – has been required reading for any horticultural student. These books are very technical and rely on line drawings to illustrate their subjects.

Working with Timber Press, Dirr changed directions in 1997 with the publication of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” Described by the author as “a photographic essay that profiles and highlights the most common woody landscape plants,” this proved an excellent way to reach a more general gardening audience. This style continued with “Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs” (2012).

While this last book will remain an important reference because of its inclusion of shrubs and helpful lists of selection criteria, the photographic essay approach reached a new height with the publication of “The Tree Book.” For the first time, it is written with a co-author, Keith Warren. While Dirr is from the southeast, spending his academic career at the University of Georgia, Warren is a retired tree breeder and nurseryman from Oregon. His voice makes this new book especially valuable to gardeners in the Pacific Northwest.

Photographs are still the eye-grabbers of this huge book (940 pages!), but the text has been expanded to achieve the right balance of being informative without excess detail, and is often very funny. Reading about Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboretum), I learned that in its native Georgia it can reach 60’, but “in the dry summers of the West, a 20’ height is a big tree.” The authors claim this as a favorite species, looking good in all seasons, with the best in the fall: “Like a drum roll, the fall color comes on slowly and intensifies, finally reaching a crescendo.”

The authors do an excellent job of highlighting the best of new cultivars or selections of their subjects. For example, I learned of nine cultivars of one my favorite trees, the Persian Ironwood (Parrotia persica) – I only knew of one! There is even a newly available species, Parrotia subaequalis, which in Oregon has fall color that “is consistently brilliant red, brighter than P. persica.”

This is a reference book and not available to check out from the Miller Library. However, if you are planting new trees, or want to learn more about trees, I recommend visiting the library and seeking out this book.

Published in Garden Notes: Northwest Horticultural Society, Fall 2019

Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness

[Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants] cover

Can plants heal our bodies? Searching for answers to this basic question, Scott Kloos provides a revealing excursion in “Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants: Identify, Harvest, and Use 120 Wild Herbs for Health and Wellness”, published by Timber Press in 2017. This comprehensive field guide and reference work covers Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, and Northern California.

Kloos shares what he has learned from more than two decades of wildcrafting and working with plant medicine. He runs his own school as well as a folk medicine business. In helping people understand traditional uses of medicinal plants, he acknowledges some level of uncertainty and risk involved. Self-treatment is strongly not recommended; consulting a qualified practitioner is advised.

In the book, Kloos first describes basic botanical concepts, tools for harvesting, formulas for making medicine, ethical and sustainable wildcrafting practices, herbal safety, and a breakdown of the harvesting season. Photographs taken by Kloos accompany the plants he profiles. He provides detailed descriptions of each plant: their growth habits, parts of the plant, identifying characteristics, where one is likely to find the plant, the best time of year to harvest, and how to harvest the plant. Medicinal uses of the plant and methods of preparing each part of the plant as medicine are described. Cautionary notes throughout the book alert readers regarding such matters as toxicity, dosage precautions, and uses with other medications or during pregnancy. It is imperative to consider potentially harmful effects of an herb.

For thousands of years, plants have been the chief source of medicine around the world. Healers have prescribed many cures from the flora around them. Nevertheless, there is a lot we don’t know. It is important to let your doctor and other health practitioners know which herbal remedies you are considering taking. Meanwhile, reading this book can help you cultivate a more healthy respect for the wild, bonding with the living world in all it offers us.

Excerpted from the August 2019 Leaflet Volume 6, Issue 8.

My Hair is a Garden

[My Hair is a Garden] cover

Can we tend to our sense of self the way we tend to a garden? Can a garden teach us self-acceptance and resilience? Cozbi Cabrera’s picture book, My Hair is a Garden, demonstrates the way a little girl who is teased for her appearance takes heart in the kind guidance of an older neighbor who is a gardener. A garden contains beauty in many forms, and a tree is not better than a ground cover: “They’re both beautiful […] even though they’re so different.” The neighbor teaches the girl practical lessons in caring for her hair, but more importantly and subtly, she sows in her the seeds of self-confidence.

Elizabeth and Her German Garden

[Elizabeth and Her German Garden] cover

Here is light summer reading, in which the main attraction is Elizabeth’s delight in her garden. Billed as a novel, the text reads as a year of journal entries by Elizabeth, and the situation follows von Arnim’s life situation as wife of a German baron. She was born Mary Annette Beauchamp (later changing her name to Elizabeth) in Australia and raised in England. She describes convincing her husband to spend more time in their country estate, which had been neglected for 25 years. There was no garden left, and she had no experience as a gardener but was eager to have one. The book describes her efforts and failures and renewed efforts, particularly with roses but with many other plants as well, flowers, bushes, and trees. Patience and failure, she says, are the lot of the gardener. The garden becomes her place of refuge and delight, as she spends most of her days outdoors.

The reader will need to return to the world of Downton Abbey, except that the point of view is restricted to the upstairs, not the downstairs. There is much talk of problems with cooks, maids, and, of course, gardeners. Von Arnim writes with a light touch and includes many set pieces such as sleighing to church wrapped in furs, and Christmas with the children, especially the staff children.

Most frustrating for her is that she can’t do the gardening herself. A baroness must not garden. She must hire gardeners and tell them what to do, not an easy task. Once she sneaks out when no one is looking and digs a little. Her work, then, consists of ordering seeds and supervising. But she loves being in the garden as it develops, and resists going to town, much to the amazement of German women visitors, who think city life is far superior (as in Jane Austen novels). Her husband, known to us only as “the Man of Wrath,” does not seem wrathful, just scornful of women, whom he regards as children. Elizabeth does not contest with him, she just acts independently. He does not approve of large expenses for gardens, so she buys seeds with her “pin money” and frets that she may have to cut back ordering dresses for herself.

The reader won’t learn how to plant a garden from this book but will have fun seeing Elizabeth’s grow and sharing her pleasure.

Say “Yes!” to Kids with Disabilities

[Say Yes! to Kids with Disabilities] cover

We have shared values and aspirations for all children. What are some of the ways for parents, teachers and community members to plan and carry out a welcoming, engaging, inclusive environment for children with disabilities? Say “Yes!” to Kids with Disabilities: Stories and Strategies for Including ALL Kids provides a guide.</P

Read this guide to find out more about the why and the how of creating a positive sense of belonging, building friendships, community, and empathy for others. That’s inclusion. Education equity is a child’s human right. Every learner matters equally.
Following the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, this guide was prepared by a collaboration of King County Best Starts for Kids Initiative, Public Health Seattle & King County, and Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, along with a strong, dedicated group of parents, volunteers, and children with special needs. The Seattle Children’s PlayGarden was achieved through this collaboration so that child and family can truly enjoy going to the park. Fragrance garden activities heighten interactions with the senses, which nourish everyone. The PlayGarden and the guide offer ideas for creative experiences that are not only accessible, but are inclusive.

The authors bring a range of professional expertise to the guide. Elizabeth Bullard has an M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from Indiana University. Hannah Gallagher completed a Teaching Residency program in Education for Environment and Community (EEC) from IslandWood and in 2016 received her Master in Education and a Nonprofit Management certificate from the University of Washington. Adana Protonentis studied Political Science and Organizational Leadership at Seattle University and has a background in civil litigation. She has a child with a disability and brings first–hand knowledge and parent advocacy to the program.

Sections of the guide say “Yes!” at parks, playgrounds, soccer, dance, zoos, museums, festivals, ball games, sporting events, to inclusion every day. Inclusion Every Day offers adaptions and considerations that align with core principles of Universal Design for Learning. UDL is an educational framework that shows the way to develop flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences. This guide addresses flexible means, methods, and materials giving all children equal opportunity to learn and to express themselves creatively. Adaptation and accommodation combine to meet the needs of each child. Say ‘Yes!’ to Kids with Disabilities helps to assure that everyone is served with these strategies. The focus is on the experience that leads to greater and more meaningful participation in community life.

Best wildflower hikes, Washington

Best wildflower hikes of Washington book cover I was surprised to learn that Art Kruckeberg co-authored “Best Wildflower Hikes Washington”, one of his last book publications (2004). His contribution is primarily found in “Art’s Notes,” extra tidbits on the floral treasures of the fifty hikes described.

His wry comments are a highlight, including this from a description of the Chiwaukum Creek trail east of Stevens Pass: “The stunning wildflower encountered early on the trail is the showy lewisia, Lewisia tweedyi, a.k.a. ‘Tweedy’s lewisia’—a rather redundant common name…we thank stars that it was not named the state flower of Washington, for collectors might have brought it to extinction.”

Excerpted from the Summer 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.