Washington Park Arboretum n I fcfi ** '-\ . V.\ ' *£*$?'& ' ' - & !- : ' : "‘ i^r itf/fr -ifflBW|gaea|gn^f ■ i® , '*—~-.-ttei .tfo .. •. ■ tfeMstfil ’MgS^4 & AaHraB9»MMi^^^®sfos«’ ' :':/■ < *%M4 ■ ■ %i:: ^f| 'Pm' RM if#- s5^-?fC* *7i T*'.- . •■ :>i-< $5 The Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin is a benefit of Arboretum Foundation membership. For information on membership or advertising opportunities, contact the Arboretum Foundation at 206-325-4510 or gvc@arboretumfoundation.org. — University of Washington Botanic Gardens — The University of Washington manages the Arboretum’s collections, horticultural programs, facilities and education programs through the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. It owns some of the land and buildings and all of the collections. - Washington Park Arboretum - The Arboretum is a 230-acre dynamic garden of trees and shrubs, displaying internationally renowned collections of oaks, conifers, camellias, Japanese and other maples, hollies and a profusion of woody plants from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. Aesthetic enjoyment gracefully co-exists with science in this spectacular urban green space on the shores of Lake Washington. Visitors come to learn, explore, relax or reflect in Seattle’s largest public garden. The Washington Park Arboretum is managed cooper¬ atively by the University of Washington Botanic Gardens and Seattle Parks and Recreation; the Arboretum Foundation is its major support organization. - Graham Visitors Center - Open 10 am — 4 pm daily; holidays, NOON — 4 PM. Closed University of Washington holidays. The Arboretum is accessible by Metro Transit buses #11, #43 and #48. For more information: www.transit.metrokc.gov - Arboretum Foundation - The Arboretum Foundation’s mission is to create and strengthen an engaged community of donors, volun¬ teers and advocates who will promote, protect and enhance the Washington Park Arboretum for current and future generations. 2300 Arboretum Drive East, Seattle, WA 98112 206-325-4510 voice / 206-325-8893 fax gvc@arboretumfoundation.org www.arboretumfoundation.org Office hours: 8:30 am — 4:30 pm weekdays Gift shop hours: 10 AM — 4 PM daily Officers of the Arboretum Foundation Board of Directors Paige Miller, Executive Director Barbara Wright, President Susan Black, Vice President Steve Cory, Vice President Allan Ferrin, Vice President Kathleen Pierce, Vice President Della Balick, Secretary Paul (Skip) Vonckx, Treasurer John Johnston, Immediate Past President 206-543-8800 voice / 206-616-2871 fax Office hours: 10 AM — 4 PM weekdays www.uwbotanicgardens.org Sandra Lier, Interim Director - Seattle Parks and Recreation - The City of Seattle owns most of the Arboretum’s land and buildings. Seattle Parks and Recreation is respon¬ sible for park functions throughout the Arboretum and manages and operates the Japanese Garden. 206-684-4556 voice / 206-684-4304 fax Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Jan K. Whitner, Editor Cynthia E. Duiyee, Copy Editor Constance Bollen, cbgraphics Graphic Design Joy Spurr, Photography (unless otherwise noted) Editorial Board Janine Anderson, Garden Designer & Writer Walt Bubelis, Edmonds Community College Niall Dunne, Commu nications Manager, Arboretum Foundation Cynthia E. Duryee, Writer/Editor Lorene Edwards Forkner, Writer Polly Hankin, Edmonds Community College Daniel J. Hinkley, Author, Lecturer, Horticultural Consultant Steven R. Lorton, Former Northwest Bureau Chief, Sunset Magazine Ciscoe Morris, Horticulturist Christina Pfeiffer, Horticultural Consultant Richie Steffen, Coordinator of Horticulture, Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden Brian R. Thompson, Elisabeth C. Miller Library, University of Washington Botanic Gardens Cass Turnbull, Plant Amnesty Founder Martha Wingate, Writer Phil Wood, Garden Designer & Writer Botanical Editors Randall Hitchin, Plant Collections Manager, University of Washington Botanic Gardens Martha Wingate Winter 2009 Volume 70. Issue 4. © 2008 The Arboretum Foundation. ISSN 1046-8749. ONTENTS 2 Our Own Cascadia — Paige Miller 3 Mary Randlett’s Landscape Photography: An Eye to See — Rebecca Alexander 12 The Pinetum: A Place for Conifers — Janine Anderson 16 Mosses: A Brief Introduction — And a Tour of Some Arboretum Species — Dan Paquette 24 Paxistima — A Dry Shade Stunner — Walt Bubelis 30 In a Garden Library: Practical Guidance for Maintaining a Garden — Tracy Mehlin ABOVE: A decorative detail on the interpretive panels at the Arboretum’s new Pacific Connections Garden shelter. (Photograph by Steve Whitner.) ON THE COVER: Photographer Mary Randlett’s Deception Pass 1, 1972 reveals the most essential elements of the Pacific Northwest’s landscape, among them: fog, rock, water and evergreens. For an introduction to more of Randlett’s extraordinary work, read Rebecca Alexander’s article beginning on Page 3. Winter 2009 1 Our Own Cascadia s winter damp and dark descend in the Northwest, our thoughts tend to turn to the things that brighten our winter days — a fierce humming¬ bird working the bright-yellow flowers of a mahonia, lingering sprays of “Red Garnet” penstemon flowers in the side border, a flock of dusky juncos working the ground below the feeder where squirrels have greedily spilled out a bounty of sunflower seeds. And, of course, to the feast of sight and smell that greets us each year at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. If kids warm themselves in their eager anticipation of what Santa Claus might bring, many of their parents and grandparents dream of the mid-February abundance of the Show. This year we are awaiting it with special anticipation. Longtime Arboretum Foundation friends and supporters Bob Lilly and Phil Wood, both distinguished designers and plantsmen, have teamed up to design the exhibit. They have shown us their prelimi¬ nary sketch, and it promises to be a wonderful garden. The theme will be “Cascadia,” and the garden will feature rock work and native plants in keeping with the Cascadia Forest of the Pacific Connections Garden. Cascadia will be the first of the new focal forests to be completed in Pacific Connections, so Bob and Phil’s display garden will not only be a harbinger of spring but of the new forest to come. This display garden, as with our other recent exhibits, will be a collaborative effort with our Arboretum partners, the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. The Parks Department generously will supply carpenters to help build the framing, and they will give us space in their Jefferson Greenhouses in which to hold and force our plant material. The University’s crew, as always, will provide their much-appreciated exper¬ tise and manpower to help create the exhibit. But it is the Foundation’s outstanding cadre of dedicated volunteers — led by our Chair, Mike Allen — that will be responsible for the major part of the work involved in transforming Bob and Phil’s drawings, and the Parks Department’s wooden frame, into the bit of Cascadian magic that will sparkle at the Show. We are grateful to all of them for their part in brightening our winter days. We look forward to greeting you at the Arbor Eden Preview Gala on February 17th, the night before the Show opens to the public, or seeing you during the Show itself. In the meanwhile, cherish the hummingbirds and juncos, and the dreams of the summer garden to come. Cheers to you all, Paige Miller, Executive Director, Arboretum Foundation 2 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin . . . . y LHv/fl ► ;nr Mary Randlett's Landscape Photography: An Eye to See By Rebecca Alexander hink of images that define the Pacific Northwest — the region’s natural beauty, its artistic and literary heritage, its architecture and public spaces — and an artist whose name undoubtedly springs to mind is photographer Mary Randlett. For over five decades, she has been observing, documenting and illuminating the essence of the Northwest in her work, and she is as much a part of our cultural landscape as the forests, mountains, tidepools, rain and fog are essential elements of the physical landscape. If you are looking out your window and feeling the weight of winter’s bleakness, imagine seeing the scene through Mary Randlett’s lens, and a new kind of vision will unfold. A native Seattleite, Randlett was given her first camera by her father when she was 10 or 11, and she took her first photographs in the San Juan Islands. Although she briefly studied photography in school, she soon learned that she did not need to be told how to take pictures. Her own vision and inner ABOVE: Pond in Morris Graves Garden, May 1979 Winter 2009 3 sense of what makes a captivating image had already begun to develop. Randlett won her first photography prize while in college and sought a career in the field after graduating. While serving as an apprentice to Hans Jorgensen, who ran a commercial photography studio in Seattle, she learned to use the twin-lens Rolleiflex camera and began taking professional portraits. Randlett’s career photographing artists and writers began when her mother, Elizabeth Bayley Willisan — an art dealer and curator at the Hemy Art Gallery, the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art, and the Palace of the Legion of Honor — introduced Mary to Morris Graves, Mark Tobey and Henry Miller. In her portraits, Randlett transcends the static atmos¬ phere of traditional portraiture. By capturing artists in their “native” environments — Jacob Lawrence in his studio, James Washington with his sculpting tools, Morris Graves in his garden — she is able to reveal the inner spirit of her subjects. For examples of her portrai¬ ture, see “Iridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art” by Randlett and Deloris Tarzan Ament (University of Washington Press, 2002). I met with Randlett last spring at “Veiled Northwest,” an exhibit of her work shown in the Tacoma Art Museum between September 2007 and May 18, 2008. The show featured BELOW: River’s Edge, February 1991 RIGHT: Winter, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, January 1992 4 Washington Park. Arboretum Bulletin work from the past four decades and closely coincided with the University of Washington Press’s publication in 2007 of a retrospective of her landscape photography in the book “Mary Randlett: Landscapes.” As we viewed the show together, Mary pointed out some of her favorite photographs and provided a lively narrative. As we talked, her long-time involvement in the local artistic landscape was evident. Many of the photographs prompted anecdotes about her friends, who are among the Northwest’s best- known painters, sculptors and writers. From the start, Randlett knew her own artistic direction and needed only technical guidance. But, while little influenced by other photographers, she benefited from a lot of cross-pollination with friends in the arts. For example, Randlett once had admired a landscape painting done by her friend Neil Meitzler. She later came across a view at Snoqualmie Pass that brought it to mind and captured it in her photograph Falling Water. Randlett often takes pictures that are a kind of response or tribute to the work of her friends: Look at some of Randlett’s strongly abstract and patterned photographs and you may think of the paintings of Leo Kenney, Kenneth Callahan, Guy Anderson and Mark Tobey, or the sculptures and sumi paintings of George Tsutakawa. Leo Kenney, who told her that “dark against light gives tension”; British Columbia painter Emily Carr, whose paintings are strongly identified with the Northwest landscape; and the late 19th-early 20th century painter Albert Pinkham Ryder, whose veiled daylight scenes resemble Winter 2009 5 moonlight, have all influenced Randlett — as has an intense interest in Asian art, which is evident in the composition of some of Randlett’s landscape images. Her photographs, in turn, have inspired others — like the poet Denise Levertov, who wrote seven poems based on them that are included in the University of Washington Press book. As Randlett has said, “Each artist that Eve met has given me an eye to see something I would have missed otherwise.” Though she has done portraiture and documentary photographs of public art and architecture, Randlett’s preferred place to work is always outside, in nature. Her childhood experiences skiing at Alpental, sailing near the northern part of Bainbridge Island, and spending summers on Orcas Island have given her a foundation for her intimate knowledge of Washington’s natural landscapes. She describes keeping a mental catalog of all the places to go and the times of year to see their changes, but her working methods are sponta¬ neous, intuitive and open to chance — to those moments “when the landscape reveals its essence.” She is also intrepid and describes several excursions she has taken on narrow roads full of hairpin turns, just to see what she might find. On such a road near Obstruction Pass, she rounded a bend to discover a dazzling view of summer wildflowers. She went 12 miles up a road in Deer Park (part of Olympic National Park) and found a 360-degree view of Hurricane Ridge. On the way, she saw trees that had been through a fire, their trunks and branches bleached white and feather-like. Other scenes that capture Randlett’s imagi¬ nation include cottonwoods in bloom, their “May snow” piling up on the roadsides, and the patterns made by the snow-dusted tips of densely planted young firs and pines refor¬ esting Mount St. Helens. She loves winter landscapes for their stark beauty, and leafless trees that create “a veil to see something beyond.” Randlett feels she knows the Pacific Northwest coastal areas especially well, as evidenced in many of her photographs that capture the patterns in water caused by wind, ice, currents and tides. Randlett’s landscapes act on the viewer in many ways: We can revel in their sheer beauty; they document a particular place at a partic¬ ular time, sometimes revealing the effects of human intervention or acts of nature; and they can be read as painterly or sculptural abstrac¬ tions, revealing patterns of light, shadow and shape. She uses the term “liquid light” (from John Muir) to describe the variability of Northwest light, which passes through water in the atmosphere to give gradations from clear white to pure black. In her poem “Alchemy,” inspired by a Randlett photograph, Denise Levertov uses the phrase “fogmuffled radiance,” her interpretation of this particularly Northwest light that Randlett captures in her work. As Randlett says, she is not interested in sunny days and prefers a misty, veiled light that lends magic to a landscape and fires the imagination. In some of the landscape photographs, things that are close up and small may seem infinitely vast, while the broader views capture unexpected details and subtleties. An example is Pond in Morris Graves's Garden, May 1979 , which was shot from the top of a high wall in the artist’s garden. (See Page 3.) The stone from which patterned lines of vegetation radiate is actually a meteorite, but its dimen¬ sions are hard to grasp. At first glance, its scale seems so large that the surrounding water lilies might almost be giant lotuses. Looking closely, there is a reflection of clouds in many greys, and the outline of a tree. Once the water reveals the sky, it seems possible that one of the brighter leaves in the pond might be the mirror of an occluded sun. River’s Edge, February 1991 is full of mystery. (See Page 4.) In the midst of the water’s ripples, there is a vein of darkness that could be a reflection. Running from corner to corner of the composition is a light-bejeweled 6 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin hem demarcating the glassy dark water from what might be sand but could also be newly forming ice. What is the light’s source? Are we near the edge or looking at it from a great height? This puzzling quality only deepens the photograph’s beauty. Winter, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, January 1992 teases the brain with topsy-turvy possibilities. (See Page 5.) I can only guess that nearby branches curve and touch the pond’s frozen surface in the top half of the image, while the fluid water beneath holds a reflec¬ tion of trees farther in the distance, though the branch ends appear trapped beneath the ice. Mary says she herself had difficulty recognizing which way was up when printing both this image and Flooded Field, November 2006. When is an island a whirr of locomotion? In Jack Island, April 1990 , Randlett tells me that the shape of the land mass and the wild movement of mist or fog around it remind her of the Kalakala — the retired art deco ferry — steaming ahead. (See above.) Compare the liveliness of this image to Stillness, View from Guemes Isla?id, April 1990 , taken in the same spot with a slightly rightward focus: A heron and its barely quivering reflection are the tiny stitch holding together the island, the mist and the sky. (See Page 8.) Randlett possesses an uncanny ability to perceive the one detail that unifies a composition and sets the mood. In her visual language, birds represent nature’s awesome power. Their presence in the landscape predates and will outlast us, and ABOVE: Jack. Island, April 1990 Winter 2009 1 8 13 (Taiwan coffin tree), are largely unknown outside of arboreta and their often-limited native ranges. Located in the westernmost part of the Arboretum, the Pinetum begins at the intersection of Lake Washington Boulevard and 26th Avenue East and continues south along the west side of Lake Washington Boulevard almost to Boyer Avenue East. From the Graham Visitor Center, the Pinetum can be reached by the Lynn Street footbridge. History of the Pinetum The Pinetum took shape in the late 1940s and early 1950s under the influence of former Arboretum director Brian Mulligan. In the 1960s, the northern section of today’s Pinetum was a construction site prior to its intended incorporation into the R. H. Thompson Expressway, which was to connect SR 520 to Interstate 90. The area, referred to as “the pit,” was a wasteland for over a decade. After the highway extension project was abandoned in 1972, the area became, in turn, a dirt bike path, a planting ground on Earth Day, and a p-patch. In the early 1980s, as part of a master plan update, the pit was filled, contoured into rolling terrain, and renamed the Conifer Meadow. The initial planting there included many conifers from the Arboretum’s nursery. Noteworthy Specimens Familiar Conifers Among the conifers in the Pinetum are speci¬ mens of our common, native Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii). Douglas fir is logged and replanted extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest, and its lumber is used widely as a building material. Forests of old- growth Douglas fir provide habitat for the threatened Northern spotted owl; a single pair of these owls requires 2000 to 5000 acres of undisturbed forest, and they do not like to cross harvested land. Maintenance of suitable habitat for these birds has caused a decades- long conflict between environmentalists and the timber industry. At least one Douglas fir located near Lake Washington Boulevard in the northeastern section of the Pinetum existed before the Arboretum was established and probably predates the clear-cutting of the area that took place in 1899-1900. Unusual Conifers There are many reasons why a particular tree or collection is valuable. The Taiwan Douglas fir (. Pseudotsuga wilsoniana ) is treasured for its rarity. Worldwide, there are only eight species in the genus Pseudotsuga — three in North America and five in Asia. The Taiwan Douglas fir is native to Taiwan, where it forms forests. Like our native Douglas fir, mature specimens of Taiwan Douglas fir have thick, deeply fissured bark. Unlike true firs (of the genus Abies), which have upright female cones that are usually located at the top of the tree, the abundant female cones on the Douglas fir hang down from the branches. An Arboretum specimen of Taiwan Douglas fir is still quite small, having been planted out only recently from seed collected in the wild in China. Keteleeria evelyniana is rare in cultivation. It is a member of the pine family (which also includes firs, true cedars, spruces, pines and larches); is native to moist and dry evergreen forests of southern China, Laos and Vietnam; and is usually found at elevations between 3000 and 6000 feet. Scientists believe the tree can live up to 600 years. Although a mature Keteleeria can reach 100 feet tall and seven feet in diameter, our young Arboretum specimen with its long, narrow, pointed needles is still quite small. Some pines in the Pinetum have a very limited native range. These include the Coulter pine ( Pinus coulteri ), native to California and northern Mexico. Coulter pines are called “widow makers” because their giant, spiny cones weigh four to 10 pounds when fresh — the heaviest cones of any pine tree. Chinese white pine ( Pinus armandii), which is native 14 '*> Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin to China, has long, fine, soft needles bundled in groups of five. (The presence of needles grouped in bundles of five distinguishes white pines from other pines, which usually have needles held together in groups of two or three.) Siberian pine (Finns sibirica ) is native to the arid regions of eastern Russia; also a white pine, its cones bear edible seeds, or nuts, that are harvested and sold. Siberian pine is often considered a variety of the better known Swiss stone pine (. Pinus cembra ), whose native range is in the mountains of Europe and parts of Asia. Another white pine, Taiwan white pine ( Pinus morrisonicola), is found on Taiwan, usually at altitudes of 1,000 to 7,500 feet; occasionally it is found at lower levels and is most prevalent in areas that are diffi¬ cult to reach. Endangered Conifers Worldwide, many conifers are endangered because they have been harvested for timber or their ecological ranges are restricted — sometimes to a single mountaintop. The World Conservation Union publishes a Red List that catalogs and highlights species that face a high risk of global extinction. By planting endan¬ gered conifers on the list, the Arboretum fulfills its mission to conserve important species for the future. The Maidenhair tree ( Ginkgo biloba ), the only species in its genus, is grouped with conifers, even though it has fan-shaped leaves with delicate, branching veins not seen in true conifers. The native range of the red-listed Ginkgo is limited to a small area in eastern China. Among the most ancient of plants, the Ginkgo is believed to be 270 million years old. Fossil remains are found worldwide, including in the Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park in central Washington, near the town of Vantage. Cunninghamia konisbii is a member of the cypress family, which also includes juniper, redwood and the Western red cedar, a Northwest native. Cunninghamia konishii is considered vulnerable to extinction within the medium- term future in Taiwan and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Its native population has been reduced by at least 80 percent over the last three generations, owing to logging; often used in house construction, its wood is easily worked and resistant to rot and termites. Cunninghamia konishii is similar to, but has shorter needles than, the better known China fir ( Cunninghamia lanceolata ), a close relative that is not considered endangered. Although scientists previously had consid¬ ered it extinct for 20 million years, living specimens of the Dawn redwood ( Metasequoia glyptostro bo ides) were found in China in 1945. By 1948, it was being planted in arboreta throughout the world. In the Pinetum, Dawn redwoods are grouped, with other water-loving deciduous conifers such as the larch and the Swamp cypress, in the lowlands near Arboretum Creek and Lake Washington Boulevard. The Dawn redwood is critically endangered in its native region in China. It is estimated that no endemic subpopulation of Dawn redwoods contains more than 50 mature individuals! The Coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens), an iconic giant found in a narrow coastal belt in Northern California and Southern Oregon, is considered vulnerable to extinction in the wild, with a population reduction of greater than 30 percent within the past three genera¬ tions. A specimen of the Coast redwood was continues on page 28 "By planting endangered conifers . . . the Arboretum fulfills its mission to conserve important species for the future." Winter 2009 15 16 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Mosses: A Brief Introduction And a Tour of Some Arboretum Species By Dan Paquette Photos by Richard Droker child or a poet might perceive mosses as thin green strips gluing together sidewalk slabs, or as furry coats comforting tree trunks. Ecologists might focus their attention on the role of mosses in the production of oxygen or the retention of large amounts of carbon in peat bogs. A taxonomist might be interested in diver¬ sity, wondering how many of the world’s currently recognized 12,800 moss species are found in the Pacific Northwest, while gardeners might be searching for moss species that can be used as lawn replacements. Like a beetle foraging through moss, I will ramble — and perhaps stumble — through these different perspectives. Origins and Characteristics Evidence suggests that mosses descended from green algae some 350 to 400 million years ago. Unlike later-evolving plants, mosses do not have vascular tissues, such as xylem and phloem, to enable the transport of water, minerals and organic molecules throughout the body of the plant — nor do they manufacture lignin, which provides a stiff structural compo¬ nent for these transport systems. Instead, some mosses have transport systems based on a variety of specialized cells, while other mosses rely princi¬ pally on diffusion and osmosis. Like other plants, mosses can reproduce in a number of ways, and their gender is determined by their reproductive gear. Also like other plants, mosses need nitrogen, which they often obtain from decaying leaf litter or from a symbiotic relationship formed with Nostoc, a cyanobacteria. (Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms at least two billion years old that are capable of nitrogen-fixing and oxygen production. About 54 species are currently recognized.) Like ferns, each generation of moss “alter¬ nates,” a process in which certain characteristics skip a generation. Drawing 1 (see Page 18) ABOVE: A frog under observation by a colony of Hylocomnium splendens, commonly called Stair-step moss. LEFT TOP: Homalotbecium fulgescens LEFT BOTTOM: A mixture of Homalotbecium fulgescens and Scleropodium cespitans. Winter 2009 °*> 17 Glossary of Terms Calyptra: A hairy or membranous cap torn away from the archegonium, which provides temporary protec¬ tion for the sporophyte. Capsule: The vessel holding the spores. Foot: Located at the bottom of the seta, it allows the passage of nutri¬ ents from the gametophyte to the sporophyte. Gametophyte: In the case of mosses, a plant beginning as a haploid spore that eventually grows into a leafy plant with rhyzoids. Lateral hud: The beginning of a branch formed on the side of a stem. Operculum: A lid that covers the peristome and capsule mouth. Peristome: An arrangement of membranous teeth that serve to facilitate spore dispersal. Rhyzoid: Filaments that serve to anchor the gametophyte to the substrate. Seta: The stalk of the moss sporo¬ phyte holding the capsule. The seta elongates as the sporophyte develops. Spores: Usually a microscopic haploid cell produced by the sporophyte via meiosis and subsequent cell division. Sporophyte: The generation that produces moss-producing spores. Sporophytes typically begin when male sperm impregnate an egg in the gametophyte female plant’s archegonium. Terminus: The end of a branch or stem (farthest away from the rhyzoids). illustrates the parts of a “parent” moss and its “child.” The parent, termed a gametophyte , is shown in the lower portion of the drawing; it includes rhizoids, a stem, leaves and hidden reproductive tissues, termed the archegonium. The child, termed a sporophyte , consists of the following parts: the foot, seta, capsule, peris¬ tome and operculum. The sporophyte results from the fertilization of the egg in the gameto- phytic female’s archegonium via sperm from a male plant (not shown). The sporophyte’s capsule contains spores that, when blown away by the wind, settle and become the next generation of moss — a generation that will resemble, in maturity, its leafy-stemmed gametophyte “grandparent.” Most mosses can be divided into two large groups called “acrocarps” and “pleurocarps.” As Drawing 2 (see Page 19) shows, an acrocar¬ pous moss tends to grow upright and display veiy little branching, and its sporophyte usually grows from the terminus of a stem. Sometimes these mosses form a lateral bud near the terminus that allows the stem to grow upward beyond the reproductive gear at the first terminus. Drawing 1 : Readily visible parts of a female moss plant showing both gametophyte and sporophyte generations. 18 v«o Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Acrocarp Pleurocarp on tree limb Drawing 2: Acrocarps grow upright; pleurocarps grow prostrate and their female reproductive structures grow from modified brances. Pleurocarpous mosses grow horizontally, tend to have regular to irregular branching, and their sporophytes form from modified branches. Pleurocarps appear much later in the fossil record than do acrocarps; molecular studies and some fossil discoveries place their origins in the Jurassic period around 194-160 million years ago. Mosses can be tiny; some have leaves less than a millimeter in length. In order to see the leaves clearly, use of a 10-16X doublet loupe magnifier or a dissecting microscope is recom¬ mended. For $60 or $70 one can purchase a twenty-power dissecting microscope that can be used, with a gooseneck lamp as a light source, to begin learning about the very rich world of life just beyond our normal visual limitations. One can use such a microscope to identify a large number of mosses to the genus level and occasionally to the species level; it also enables viewers to have a panoramic view of a specimen in its natural surroundings. For more serious work, the greater magnifying power of a compound microscope is needed. Grow your own One way to acquire moss for your own home is to participate in salvage events sponsored by King County. (For more information, visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/mailing.htm or call Greg Rabourn at 206 296-1923.) After salvaging plants for a few hours for the county, you are then allowed to salvage for your own needs. I usually collect a few mossy logs or portions of stumps, which then become part of my yard. I try to place the transplanted logs and mosses in spots that replicate the shade condi¬ tions in which they originally were found; in summer, I try to mist the mosses daily if they were found in forest settings, so as to repli¬ cate the conditions of humidity present in their original sites. Recommended Resources For your first field guides to mosses, I recom¬ mend both of the following: the moss section in Jim Pojar’s and Andy Mackinnon’s “Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast” (Edmonton: Lone Pine International Publishing, 2004) and W.B. Schofield’s “Some Common Mosses of British Columbia” (Victoria: Sutton, 1969). For moss gardening, George Schenk’s “Moss Gardening” (Portland: Timber Press, 1997) describes a number of ways to start and maintain mosses in your yard. See Arthur Lee Jacobson’s “The Crypto- gamic Carpet — Mosses in Seattle” in the Spring 1982 “Bulletin” for informative line drawings and a list of 103 moss species found within the Seattle city limits. In addition, the University of Washington Herbarium has approximately 304 mosses that have been collected within Washington State. Note: the Herbarium is open to the public but is primarily a research collection. For more information, go to: http://www.washington.edu/ burkemuseum/coUections/herbarium/visit.php. A Moss Tour Let’s identify a few mosses by touring a small area in the Arboretum, using maps available at the Graham Visitor’s Center. Our tour begins across the road from the Center, at Azalea Way. From the entry sign, walk south about 18 paces; on the left is a tree labeled Prunus subhirtella. The main trunk of this tree is broken off about five feet from the ground. Our first moss is atop this break and is a pleurocarp called Homalothecium fulgescens. This fuzzy-looking moss mingles with its thinner Winter 2009 19 Syntricbia mingles with an unidentified moss and two stems of Scleropodium in the upper right. Orthotrichum lyellii. Note the partially immersed capsules. Sometimes leaves at the tops of stems have clear tips. 20 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin cousin Homalothecium nuttallii. With a loupe magnifier, you can see that both species have lateral folds in their greenish-golden leaves. Sixty-three paces farther south on the left side is another Prunus subhirtella. On the base of the tree trunk is the pleurocarp Scleropodium cespitans. While this moss is yellowish like Homalothecium , it has a stringy look because the leaves lie tight against the stem. With a magnifier, spray bottle and the bent end of a paper clip, you should be able to spread the leaves away from the stem and note their characteristic concave and oval shapes. Unlike the long leaves of Homalothecium , which gradually narrow to a tip, the leaves of Scleropodium cespitans remain concave and wide for much of their length; they only become narrow at the tip. (See Drawing 3, Page 22.) Don’t be surprised to find a little Homalothecium mingling with the Sclero¬ podium. Many mosses tend to be gregarious, and some species rub shoulders with each other, as well as with lichens. Both Scleropodium and Homalothecium , for example, are genera of the Brachytheciaceae family and are sometimes found together. Epiphytic mosses grow in trees; recent studies support the theory that many mosses that are both epiphytic and pleurocarpous have evolved shorter seta, larger spores and modified peristomes — features that allow the spores to flow out with raindrops during wet weather, rather than being blown by the wind like many of the ground mosses. Think of small boulders (spores) tumbling along in a raging river and then coming to rest downstream — or in the case of the mosses, at an empty crevice on the tree bark or at the edge of the mother moss clump. (Molecular studies in the past decade support the idea that these features have evolved independently in different pleurocarpous moss families, rather than from a common ancestor.) It would Winter 2009 21 appear that spores traveling a short distance on trees have a greater chance of survival than do ones that are carried on the wind. There are, however, many epiphytic mosses — such as Homalothecium species — that do not exhibit these tendencies. On the other hand, we can see the pressures of the environment encouraging these traits in some epiphytic mosses that are not pleurocarpous, such as the next mosses on our tour. From the second Prunes subhirtella , walk another 114 paces south and locate the branches of a Rhododendron luteum sited on the left. You will see tufts of an acrocarpous moss called Orthotrichum lyellii. There are roughly 750 species in the Orthotrichaceae family; the most common one found in our area is Orthotrichum lyellii. Its lower leaves are usually somewhat pressed against the stem, while the leaves near the top look like little green brushes, hence its common Syntrichia Schistidium Drawing 3: Generalized leaf shapes of some moss genera found around the Arboretum. name, Bottle brush moss. Other Orthotrichum species have a similar branched appearance, but Orthotrichum lyellii is the largest one. You can tell that a specimen is O. lyellii if the following obtain: the stems are sometimes longer than five cm; the leaves are occasion¬ ally longer than six mm; the capsules are pale and barely emerge from the leaves; or spindly, bulbous male plants are found in the vicinity. Arboretum Shop WASHINGTON PARK ARBORETUM Shop for Valentine’s at the Arboretum A great selection of handcrafted jewelry C* Handmade silk scarves by Wearable Art ff) Heart-shaped porcelain keepsake boxes C* And gifts galore for the garden lover! Ten percent discount for members to AM-4 PM Daily Graham Visitors Center 206-325-4510 Pacific Office Automation thanks the many dedicated employees and volunteers whose hard work makes it possible for all of us to enjoy the Arboretum. 22 *n Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Examine the mosses on the footbridge over Lake Washington Boulevard, just a little distance to the west from Azalea Way. Here you will find the acrocarp Schistidium apocarpum, with its dark-green, appressed leaves and tiny clear leaf tips. (The leaf texture of this species makes me think of terra cotta or a fiberglass surface.) Nearby, look for the rounded leaf tips with projecting hair points of the acrocarp Syntrichia princeps (former name Tortula princeps). Other mosses found on the bridge are difficult to identify by eye, even to the genus level; microscopic exami¬ nation of their cell structures is needed to correctly identify them. If you decide to pursue your study of mosses, you will become acquainted with such fascinating features as the subtleties in leaf margins (toothed, plain, incurved and recurved) and the characteristics of the costa (a structural support in the middle of a leaf that looks like a mid- vein). To learn more about moss gardening, you might want to visit the Washington Park Japanese Garden. If you arrive in the morning, you may have an opportunity to see the caretakers and docents at work. There are also volunteer opportunities. The Garden’s hours vary, so for further information call (206) 684-4725 or vis it http ://www .Seattle . gov/parks/ parkspaces/ japanesegarden.htm. Dan Paquette is a poet and amateur bryol- ogist. He serves on the board of the Seattle chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society and writes a regular column for its monthly newsletter, “Walk of the Month.” Moss capsule wobbles. Soft wind. One inch womb barrel high over grandmother. — Dan Paquette Well sAVed i na NURSERY (fj/iere hardeners Srocv 5 Acres of Superior Quality Plants Perennials • Annuals • Shrubs • Roses Rhododendrons • Japanese Maples Reference Library • Knowledgeable Staff • Display Gardens Demonstration Containers 425.454.1853 8300 NE 24th Street • Just off 520 in Medina, WA Winter 2009 ^ 23 24 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Paxistima — A Dry Shade Stunner Story and Photographs by Walt ou don’t mind if a plant is elegant, fits into native landscapes, and happens to be tolerant of sun or shade, now do you? And even better — if it thrives in dry shade? Dry shade — even the thought makes one pause. For those who don’t already know about the habits of that garden thug, the Western red cedar, consider the plight of someone who tries to establish new plants under a good-sized specimen. You start digging where you think your new plants will be well sited and look good. Your foot is on the edge of your trusted spade or shovel, you start to dig... and immediately run into roots. Myriads of roots, in all sizes. You start to dig away at the smaller pieces. You shake soil loose from others. To compensate for the now-lower soil level, you add something like a composted mulch. Finally you plant your shade-tolerant treasures and water them in. You know, of course, to water the new plants often during their first growing season. But if you plant under a Western red cedar, you will find yourself still watering regularly into the third or fifth year. Because during those years, cedar roots will have re-invaded your carefully prepared site with a vengeance, and they are continuously drawing away moisture. You could re-cut the cedar roots at intervals, or you could keep watering both your new plants and the cedar for a long time, until they reach an accommodation. Or you could start with a plant that can compete with the cedar roots from the start, namely Oregon boxwood ( Paxistima myrsinites, also termed P. myrsinifolia). It doesn’t need shade to survive and is quite tolerant of condi¬ tions that tax other plants. I’ve seen lush B U B E L I S examples in full sun in the Tumwater Canyon of central Washington, as well as on fully exposed talus slopes on Mt. Rainier and in the Olympic Mountains. It is also found in locales with dappled sunlight throughout Western Washington and Oregon. This adaptability to different light conditions extends to its moisture needs, thus making it a candidate for dry shade. I’ve grown Oregon boxwood under a large Western red cedar for years, so I can testify that it does well even in such a difficult location. Where it grows in shade, it opens up but still presents itself as an elegant plant. For those desiring a native theme in their garden, Paxistima myrsinites can add a bit of mystery because it is not immediately identi¬ fiable. It has a passing resemblance to such plants as Privet honeysuckle ( Lonicera pileata) and dwarf cultivars of Japanese holly, such as Ilex crenata ‘Helleri.’ Oregon boxwood has quiet features that allow it to blend into many landscapes. What does it go with? In the wild, it is found associated with a wide-ranging set of woody and herbaceous plants. Trees include Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir), Tsuga heterophylla (Western hemlock), Pinus ponderosa, Abies lasiocarpa (Sub-alpine fir), Taxus brevifolia (Western yew) and Cornus nuttallii (Western dogwood). Shrubs include Sympboricarpos mollis (Creeping snowberry), Garry a fremontii (Fremont’s silk tassel), Vaccinium spp. (Huckleberry) and Sambucus mexicana (Blue elderberry). Ornamental herba¬ ceous genera range from grasses and sedges (such as Festuca, Agrostis, Elymus and Car ex); to Alum root ( Heucbera ), goldenrod (Soli dago), yarrow ( Acbillea ), harebells ( Campanula ), stonecrops (, Sedum ), larkspurs (Delphinium), Winter 2009 25 spreading phlox {Phlox diffusa ) and fairy bells (. Disporum ); to various ferns. With a list like this, one sees that unaggressive Paxistima can be used as a low shrub fronting taller shrubs and trees, as a mixer with smaller shrubs and perennials, or by itself as a groundcover. Close inspection will reveal some of Oregon boxwood’s distinguishing characteris¬ tics. Leaves that are small, evergreen, serrated (toothed) and elongated sit oppositely on the stems of a multi-stemmed shaib that ranges from one foot to three feet high and as wide. Flowers are small, either solitary or in small cymes, and have maroon petals; they bloom in the spring — typically May. Faiit consists of a small capsule. Paxistima myrsinites ranges in the wild from southern British Columbia and southwest Alberta southward through both the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades. In the north it appears at higher elevations; it is found at sea level west of the Coast Range and southward into California. As a measure of its wide adaptability, it is found throughout the Rockies all the way into Arizona and New Mexico. As a climax shrub it usually indicates dry to moist, cool sites and well-drained soils. With this wide-ranging habitat, it’s no wonder that many Native American groups throughout the region used it. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia made a decoction or infusion of Oregon boxwood for internal ailments and to set broken bones; a poultice of boiled leaves was applied to swellings and body aches. The Colville/Okanagan tribe of Eastern Washington/south-central British Columbia made a decoction of branches that was taken internally for kidney troubles. The Navajo of the Southwest used it as an emetic in various ceremonies. In times of stress, it was also fed to livestock throughout the West. Deer, elk and moose typically forage on it, as do mountain sheep and grouse. Oregon (western) boxwood was named Ilex myrsinites Pursh in 1814; it was renamed Paxistima myrsinites in 1838. The western plant came into cultivation long before its eastern counterpart, Paxistima canbyi. The eastern plant was not even identified in the wild until 1873 — perhaps because it is quite sparse in the landscape. The eastern plant is found in the central Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, with tiny outliers in Ohio and Kentucky. Today it is listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. federal government and some states. Usually called Canby’s Mountain Lover, Paxistima canbyi also is known as Rat Stripper. Currently the latter name is listed in U.S. and European reference sources without explana¬ tion of its origins. But Douglas Ogle, a retired biology teacher and naturalist who lives in Virginia, has confirmed to me in recent corre¬ spondence that the name derives from the habit that native wood rats {Neotoma magister) have of stripping the plant’s leaves to line their nests. Whichever common name it goes by, this plant is a fine garden groundcover. It shares many features with its western counter¬ part, but has smaller leaves and a prostrate habit, never getting above a foot in height and up to five feet in spread. There are remark¬ able, ancient specimens in the Southeast that have spread over hundreds of acres; Douglas Ogle has noted such extensive displays in western Virginia. Paxistima canbyi prefers a light, dappled shade and moist but well-drained soils; I have grown it successfully under a Western red cedar, along with Paxistima myrsinites. Due to its eastern origins, it is tolerant of alkaline soils but also will do well in our Puget Sound acidic soils. It wouldn’t resent being placed close to sites such as foundations or drive¬ ways that leak calcium. The renowned horticulturalist and author Michael Dirr says of Paxistima canbyi : “Good evergreen ground cover which once estab¬ lished requires little or no attention: excellent when used in combination with broadleaf evergreens; makes a good facer plant or low 26 •-*> Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Mr. Parker, guardian spirit of the Bubelis garden, examines a specimen of Paxistima myrsinites. hedge.” Pacific Northwest-based botanist C. Leo Hitchcock had this to say about Paxistima myrsinites-. “This is surely one of the finest low-growing shrubs in the Northwest, readily adaptable to shady or open, well-drained sites, graceful when growing untouched, but readily shaped into a low hedge. Although the flowers are somewhat inconspicuous, nevertheless they have real beauty, but it is because of the handsome, glossy evergreen leaves that the plant is rated so highly.” One last note: Both species are practically problem free. A Euonymus scale is the only pest I have occasionally noticed; soapy water sprays discourage it. To find either plant, you’ll have to do some searching, however, since they are not commonly offered in the trade. Both are worthy of consideration in your garden, References Dirr, Michael A. “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Third Edition.” Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing Co. 1983. Hitchcock, Leo C. et al. “Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest: Part 3.” Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1961. Walt Bubelis is chairman of the Horti¬ culture program at Edmonds Community College and is a member of the “Bulletin” editorial board. The 2009 Northwest Flower & Carden Show 20th Annual Arbor Eden PREVIEW GALA Tuesday, February 17 5 to 9:30 PM Washington State Convention & Trade Center • Acres of luminous display gardens • Delicious Northwest wine and cuisine • Fabulous live and silent auctions Tickets: $100 to $500 Visit www.arboretumfoundation.org or call 206-325-4510 Presented by the Arboretum Foundation to benefit Washington Park Arboretum Don’t miss “Entry to Cascadia,” the Arboretum display garden at the Flower & Garden Show, designed by Phil Wood and Bob Lilly Arboretum Foundation Winter 2009 27 The Pinetum: A Place for Conifers continued from page 15 planted in the Pinetum in 2003 in honor of former Washington State governor Dan Evans. It is the progeny of our state’s largest redwood, which has a trunk circumference of nearly 20 feet and is over 140 feet tall. Governor Evans was responsible for preserving the Washington State Champion Redwood, which now resides in a small city park in Olympia, the Daniel J. Evans Park. Value of Pinetum for Gardeners and Wildlife Gardeners interested in creating a tapestry of texture, color and form will find inspiration in the Pinetum. The Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden’s Great Plant Picks website (http://www.greatplantpicks.org/) recom¬ mends many conifers found in the Pinetum. Examples include mature specimens of Japanese umbrella pine ( Sciadopitys verticil- lata ) and Cryptomeria japonica ‘Nana,’ a cultivar of a Japanese timber tree that charms with its cloudlike puffs of foliage. The Pinetum is one of the “birdier” areas in the Arboretum because the conifers provide food, shelter and nest sites for many species of birds; insects and mammals also find it attrac¬ tive for the same features. Some birds — such as juncos, pine siskins, nuthatches, chickadees, grosbeaks and crossbills — eat the seeds. Others, such as woodpeckers, forage on insects in both live and dead trees. Cavity-nesting birds and other wildlife nest and roost in tree cavities. Juniper berries are eaten by some birds, such as jays. Squirrels tear off fibrous strips of Western red cedar bark and use it for nest material. The foliage is used as a larval host by some types of butterflies and moths. Challenges The Pinetum currently is undergoing a renova¬ tion that began more than 10 years ago; it includes assessment, removal and replacement of many poorly performing conifer specimens. Because of its former uses as a construc¬ tion site, logging area and dirt bike run, it is not surprising that the Pinetum’s soil is less than ideal. In the northern area of the Pinetum it is compacted, heavy clay; in the southern part of the Pinetum, it is an imported fill that creates an artificial, unhealthy soil profile. Many conifers do best in well-drained soil — and some treasured Pinetum specimens have not fared well. Stressed plants are more vulnerable to opportunistic infections and insects. Bark beetles and wood wasps attack weakened conifers, sometimes with ensuing secondary infections. While these problems are not unique to the Pinetum, the poor soil condi¬ tions there increase their prevalence. An effort is being made to improve its cultural condi¬ tions through application of compost, appropriate irrigation and air spading, which uses high volumes of compressed air to remove and break up soil — even compacted clay — without damaging roots. The Lacebark pine ( Pinus bungeana), a classic of Chinese gardens, arguably has the most beautiful bark of all pines. Unfortunately, disease has devastated the larger Pinetum specimens, and they have been removed and replaced with new trees. It is hoped that improved cultural conditions will enable this pine — which prefers hotter summers and colder winters than afforded by our maritime climate — to succeed. Future of the Pinetum The Portico Group, a Seattle-based landscape architecture firm, has created a plan to better showcase the Pinetum’s conifer collections. A major goal of the renovation is to eliminate the distinction between the northern and southern sections of the Pinetum. (The current division is artificial, having no taxonomic, eco- geographic or functional foundation — the three criteria by which plants traditionally are 28 *0 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin grouped in the Arboretum.) To this end, the recently reconfigured Redwood Trail now loops through major features of the southern section — including stands of large pines, Cypress Hill, and collections of spruces. In the future, the path that connects the current playground area to the Lynn Street footbridge — now a straight, utilitarian feature that essentially cuts the Pinetum in two — will be reworked into a serpentine path that allows for a leisurely exploration of the northern section collections. As a result, future visitors should experience the Pinetum as a fully integrated space. Eventually, the children’s playground adjacent to 26th Avenue East and East Lynn Street will be redeveloped as a children’s arboretum at another site in the Pinetum; this feature will introduce younger visitors to the Arboretum and the world of plants. An entry portal to the Arboretum will be constructed in place of the current playground in order to formally define the Arboretum’s western edge. Other plans for renovations include threading a collection of one or two broadleaf genera through the conifers, and integrating smaller conifer varieties into the current collections. The Arboretum master plan calls for the eventual daylighting of Arboretum Creek, which runs along Lake Washington Boulevard in the easternmost portion of the Pinetum; such a change would open up the channel to migrating salmon. Native plants would be planted along the banks of the creek. Currently, it is unlikely that the Pinetum will be affected by expansion of the SR 520 bridge. Keep your fingers crossed and your interest level raised so that this amazing collection of conifers will not only be preserved but will thrive! Janine Anderson, CPH, is a landscape designer (www.anderson-design.net), long¬ time Arboretum guide and member of the “Bulletin” editorial board. Inoo/te/iuan less ( yandens elegant healthy pruning of small trees, shrubs, vines Bill Wanless ISA Certified Arborist 206.938.5675 gardens@drizzle.com The Berger Partnership PS Landscape Architecture 1721 Eighth Ave. N Seattle, WA 98109 206.325.6877 bergerpartnership.com 10 acres of shrubs, trees, flowers, & mature plants for U-Dig. View our website & plant list online, or visit Vashon & enjoy an old fashioned Country Store. vr — L 20211 Vashon Hwy SW - Vashon WA 98070 & www.countrystoreandgardens.com % w (206)463-3655 J Winter 2009 29 Practical Guidance for Maintaining a Garden By Tracy first became interested in gardening as a child through my fascination with annual flowers such as portulaca and marigolds. During my college years I lived in rental houses, where I learned about herbs and vegetables. Now, as a homeowner, I must employ strict discipline to avoid filling every inch of the garden with my favorite new plants: trees and shrubs. I started with a garden that had ratty lawns and blight patches; after seven years of planting, I find myself with a complex garden and a veiy long maintenance chore list. Now I spend my evening stroll through the garden wondering how to simplify. Which plants are not worth their upkeep and must go? Desiring to reduce the maintenance burden, I made a survey of books that discuss general maintenance and also give overall introduc¬ tions to the various techniques necessary to keep a garden looking good. As I was reviewing the books, I looked for the answers to a few specific questions I had this season: ■ What’s the best way to keep my peony flowers from flopping onto the ground? ■ How can I avoid the “legginess” that develops in my beautiful heath? ■ My corn hardly grew this year and produced only little ears. Was it the weather or the growing conditions? ■ How can I renovate my garden for easier maintenance? Learning How to Garden England is well known for producing celebrity gardeners who are eager to educate the masses. M E H L I N “How to be a Gardener” is a fine example of the genre. Author Alan Titchmarsh is a famous British TV and magazine gardener, and a prolific fiction writer. The book is meant to be a companion to a British TV show of the same name but easily stands alone as an intro¬ duction to gardening. “How To Be a Gardener" displays glossy photos throughout its 570 pages and is divided into two parts: “Gardening Basics and Maintenance” and “Garden Design and Themes.” Its attractive design resembles a modern magazine, with “how-to” instructions and factoids or tips in pastel-shaded sidebars sprinkled throughout the pages. The scope of the book is very wide, but no subject is discussed in depth. This approach is perfect for a new gardener because it does not overwhelm; an advanced gardener may prefer to read books that discuss each topic in greater detail. For example, Chapter 10 on vertical gardening has an instructive, 10-page section on hedges. It includes a discussion of 18 types of hedging plants, as well as infor¬ mation on how to plant a hedge, how and when to prune one, types of hedges, and suggested plants for formal, informal and dwarf hedges. Yew, boxwood and beech are traditional favorites, while the fast-growing Leyland cypress is discouraged because it risks getting out of control by growing too large for its space. One interesting suggestion is to stick willow twigs into the ground in a criss-cross shape; the twigs will root to form a leafy hedge in summer and an airy fence in winter. If the experienced gardener does not find this book’s discussion on hedges 30 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin informative enough, the Miller Library offers approximately 20 books dedicated solely to this topic. Titchmarsh was a host of UK’s Ground Force , a TV show in which a team of experts swoops into a disheveled garden and completely remakes it in 48 hours, often using hardscape and paint to liven things up. He occasionally lets a bit of his TV personality slip into his clear, thorough (yet hardly dull) writing style. From Chapter 12, entitled “Beds and Borders”: “Beds and borders are your plant features . For plant enthusiasts, these are the most important part of the garden around which everything else revolves, hut in contemporary and low maintenance gardens, they often take second place to hard landscaping (also called ‘hardscaping) and bold, architectural features. That may he why some dyed-in- the-wool gardeners have a problem with decking, gravel, and blue paint.” “How To Be a Gardener” answered my questions only in a general sense. For example, Titchmarsh simply advises that peonies must be staked. Peonies are typically staked with a “peony ring” stake, (a mesh ring about 16 inches wide on a stake) through which the plant is meant to grow. The problem is the flowers often grow much taller than the leaves, so supporting stems discreetly at leaf height will not prevent tall flowers from flopping right over in the rain. Must each flower stem be individually supported well above the leaves? Evidently, yes, but personal experience taught me this lesson rather than the general instruc- tion in “How To Be a Gardener.” More Expertise from England A more studious approach to horticultural education is employed in “Essential Garden Maintenance Workbook,” which could have the subtitle “Gardening 101 — -The British Method.” The author, Rosemary Alexander, is founder and principal of the English Gardening School, a formal educational organization. (For more details, see: http://www.englishgardening school.co.uk/about.asp) This 384-page, five- chapter book also includes recommended reading and a calendar of maintenance regimes. Color photographs are concentrated at the end of each chapter, but detailed line drawings illustrate examples throughout the text. Alexander removes the fear and mystery from garden renovation by taking a system¬ atic and professional approach to the processes of evaluation, planning and implementation. In the first two chapters, the author uses the example of an overgrown, neglected garden to lead the reader through two major steps: first, taking an inventory of plants and features that currently exist, including making a rough map of the property; and second, evaluating the current plantings, the lawn, pathways and the general design. What must go, what should stay, what needs rejuvenation? Once a full BLUESTONE FLAGSTONE WALL STONE STONE BENCHES COBBLE STONE stone _ Lakeview Stone& Garden Open Monday through Saturday In Seattle, behind University Village (206) 525-5270 Delivery available Winter 2009 31 evaluation is completed — and only then — the reader may select from new woody and herba¬ ceous plants discussed in chapters three and four respectively. Each of the book’s chapters ends with a project to give the reader hands-on experience with concepts introduced in the text. If each project were to be fully completed, the reader would have a personalized reference book of garden plans, maintenance schedules and plant descriptions. A disciplined person who wants a plan to execute from start to finish would find this book very helpful. The last chapter, “Caring for Plants,” inter¬ mingles botany with maintenance lessons, giving, for example, the scientific reasons behind why a plant should or should not be pruned or staked. Other discussions in the book also intertwine the science of horticul¬ ture with the principles of design. The author devotes many pages to the theories behind how decisions should be made in garden design. From Chapter Three, “Planning New Plantings: Woody Plants,” this no-nonsense advice is offered: “ Planting for structural effect is crucial: the permanent planting creates the ‘bones’ of the garden: bones provided by the woody plants, that is trees, shrubs, including roses, and woody climbers. This long-term structure provides a permanent backdrop against which the more ephemeral decorative or edible elements provide seasonal relief. For a large part of the year in a temperate climate, you may look at a wintery scene that is dependent on the shape and form of your plants rather than on flowers. ” “The Essential Garden Maintenance Workbook” gives a sense of how orderly and systematic the process of doing a garden makeover could be. This useful book will help an inexperienced gardener get a grip on how to whip a garden into shape. While the somewhat general horticultural information may be too shallow for some gardeners, it conveys the essentials necessary to become proficient in the complex field of gardening and garden design. After reading this book, I understand how to alter my garden so that it works for me, rather than the other way around. Local Experts for Local Gardens When authors Carol and Norman Hall started gardening in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s, they had to learn to grow their plants by trial and error because most gardening books of the time addressed only East Coast weather conditions, such as summer rain and winter freezing. Too bad the Elisabeth C. Miller Library didn’t exist then! When the library opened in 1985, it began to offer hundreds of books about gardening in our region by Pacific Northwest authors, the majority of which have been published within the last 15 years. However, perhaps it’s just as well the authors had to figure it out on their own because their depth of understanding how the Pacific Northwest climate affects plants is impressive. Although the question of where the boundaries of the Pacific Northwest lie is open to debate, the Halls define them as: the areas stretching between the ocean coast and the Cascade Range, and between latitude 51° in British Columbia and latitude 41° in Northern California. The northern boundary was chosen because north of latitude 51° the “difference between high and low temperatures becomes smaller and light intensity starts to diminish even on clear days. . . gardening conditions beyond this point are not those of the Pacific Northwest, but those of coastal Alaska.” The southern border seems a bit more arbitrary, especially on the coast, but the authors note, “It’s only after negotiating the steep descent from [the Cascade Range] to the valley floor and seeing the palm trees lining the streets of Redding, California, that you know you’ve suddenly entered a whole new gardening world.” The unifying climatic condi¬ tions that define the region are wet, mild winters and dry summers. 32 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin This large-format book with 351 pages and a liberal use of color photographs is divided into four sections, which include an introduc¬ tion to the region, a 12-month maintenance calendar, discussions of recommended plants, and solutions to common gardening problems. Detailed descriptions of climate, soils and horticultural conditions are given about the region’s seven sub-regions, which include the Georgia Basin/Puget Trough, the Olympic Rain Shadow, Puget Sound, Pacific Coast (northern section), Pacific Coast (southern section), the Cascade Slopes/Outflow Valleys and Willamette. The authors recommend their favorite plants that grow well in the Pacific Northwest according to plant types such as ornamental trees, shrubs, bulbs and others. Instructions on caring for the recommended plants always refer to specific Pacific Northwest climate considerations. For example, heaths and heathers need supplemental water during our typical regional summer droughts for the first two years until they become established. From the perennials chapter on alpine plants: “Since most [alpines] are fully exposed in their native habitats, true alpine plants need full sun — but since they grow at such high altitudes, they like cool sun; most need protection from hot sun. In addition, since mountaintops lack a thick buffering layer of soil to hold summer heat in, they need cool summer nights and a cool root run.” If all this sounds familiar, it should: although alpine-growing conditions are hard to replicate in most climates, they’re a near¬ perfect match for the peculiar climate of the Pacific Northwest. The only thing that needs careful watching is drainage: Most true alpines need very well-drained soil, especially in winter. “Timber Press Guide to Gardening in the Pacific Northwest” didn’t help me solve the mystery of my runty corn or floppy peonies, but now I feel like an expert in growing heaths and heathers: A full 8 1/2 pages are devoted to these sub-shrubs, which regional gardeners seem to love second only to rhodo¬ dendrons. Perfectly suited to growing conditions in the Pacific Northwest, Calluna (heather) and Erica (heath) need annual light shearing, typically just after flowering, before new growth starts. This is an excellent general gardening reference that focuses on the Pacific Northwest climate like no other. ^ Bibliography with other recommended maintenance books: Alexander, Rosemary. “The Essential Garden Maintenance Workbook.” Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0881927832, $34.95 Buczacki, Stefan. “The Plant Care Manual: The Essential Guide to Caring For and Rejuvenating Over 300 Garden Plants.” New York: Crown Publishers, 1993. ISBN: 978-0517592830, out of print, but used copies are available online. Hall, Carol W. and Norman E Hall. “Timber Press Guide to Gardening in the Pacific Northwest.” Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2008. ISBN: 978- 0881928792, $29.95. “Plant Care.” Newton, CT: Taunton Press, 1994. ISBN: 978-1561580866, out of print, but used copies are available. (Reprints of practical maintenance articles from “Fine Gardening” magazine. A good, concise gardening primer. Visit Taunton Press’s excellent website for articles and how-to videos: http :/ 7www.taunton.com/ finegardening/) Robson, Mary and Pfeiffer, Christina. “Month-by- Month Gardening in Washington & Oregon: What To Do Each Month to Have a Beautiful Garden All Year.” Nashville, TN: Cool Springs Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-1591861065, $24.99 Titchmarsh, Alan and Buckley, Jonathan, photogra¬ pher. “How To Be a Gardener.” Irvington, N.Y: Hylas, 2003. ISBN-13: 978-1592580361, $40.00 Turnbull, Cass. “The Complete Guide to Landscape Design, Renovation and Maintenance: A Practical Handbook for the Home Landscape Gardener.” 2006. ISBN: 978-1558702080, $18.00 (Available for sale from www.plantamnesty.org) Tracy Mehlin is the information technology librarian at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library, University of Washington Botanic Gardens. She lives and gardens in Ballard. 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