Seamus O’Brien is another modern day plant explorer. Between 2012-2015, he led four tours of small groups to explore the rich flora of Sikkim, the tiny state of India wedged between Nepal and Bhutan, and butting up against the Himalayas. This landscape creates vast extremes in topography and climate, and an especially rich variety of plants in an area only slightly larger than King County.

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was one of the prominent plant explorers of the 19th century with voyages to Antarctica, the Middle East, Morocco, and western North America. He is arguably best remembered for his three years in and around Sikkim from 1849-1852. At that time, it was an independent kingdom and the crossroads of several distinct cultures.

O’Brien wrote “In The Footsteps of Joseph Dalton Hooker” about his trips to Sikkim, skillfully weaving his travel stories around a biography of Hooker’s trip. “Unlike Hooker, our mission was not to collect, but to study and compare places he visited and to record how they had fared and appeared over 160 years later. In some ways Sikkim has changed little over the course of time.”

The main goal of each man was finding plants, and especially rhododendrons. Hooker discovered many, and confirmed and accurately described several other species for science. O’Brien’s group sought many of the same plants in the same locations where Hooker found them. Each was also interested in the people and the animals of Sikkim.

The result is a rich dialogue between two eras. Many of the physical and flora features of Hooker’s day are still there. An example is “Hooker’s Rock,” a gigantic boulder in the Lachen valley, probably deposited by retreating glaciers. Hooker sketched it in great detail and included a circle of seated villagers and a couple of enormous yaks in the foreground. O’Brien includes photos of the same rock, and even captured a large, black yak posed in front! Hooker also adopted a Tibetan mastiff named Kinchin to be his companion and fierce protector. Sadly, Kinchin perished during a river crossing, but O’Brien was able to find similar – if somewhat more placid – dogs of the same lineage.

Seeds of many of the Rhododendrons that Hooker sent home were planted at an estate south of Dublin. Conditions here closely match the climate, soil, and rainfall of Sikkim and the plants are still flourishing. This estate became the National Botanic Garden, Kilmacurragh of Ireland in 1996 (an annex to the gardens at Glasnevin). O’Brien took a position managing these gardens in 2006. The awe he felt for these “Hooker rhododendrons” every spring gave him the incentive to see them in their native land.

Excerpted from the Fall 2019 Arboretum Bulletin.

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.

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.

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.

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.