n Botanic Summer 2009 $5 Washington Park Arboretum ELISABETH C. MILLER LIBRARY UW Botanic Gardens Box 354115 ... Seattle, WA ■ 1 9 20l 98195-4115 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 206-323-4510 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, Executive 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. Duryee, Copy Editor Constance Bollen, cbgraphics Graphic Design Joy Spurr, Photography (unless otherwise noted) Editorial Board Janine Anderson, Garden Designer & Writer Constance Bollen, Graphic Designer Walt Bubelis, Edmonds Community College Niall Dunne, Communications Manager, Arboretum Foundation Cynthia E. Duryee, Writer/Editor 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 Summer 2009 Volume 71. Issue 2. © 2009 The Arboretum Foundation. ISSN 1046-8749. ONTENTS 2 We and They — Paige Miller 3 The Arboretum’s Most Important Collection — Arthur Lee Jacobson, Steve Lorton, Sarah Reichard, Barbara Selemon, Phil Wood Q Reflections on the 75th Anniversary Year of the Washington Park Arboretum — Sandra Lier 10 A Poet’s Guide to the Arboretum — Pamela Gross 12 Notes on a Mother Turtle — Katie Boehnlein 16 Five Fabulous Garden Plants Introduced by the Arboretum — Niall Dunne and Randall Hitch in 20 An Appreciation of the Japanese Garden — Barbara Engram 26 The Architect, the Landscape Architect and the Arboretum — Joan Hockaday 30 A Tree Blooms in Summer — Christina Pfeiffer ABOVE: Carpenteria calif ornica is an evergreen shrub growing three to six feet tall that bears white, fragrant flowers from May through June. (Photo by Stephanie Jeter, a Seattle artist who specializes in black and white photo-portraits of plants. See her work at www.flickr.com/photos/stephpagel) ON THE COVER: Sun, water, earth and plants — Lisa Snow Lady’s “Pine Tree Sunset” captures the Arboretum’s most essential components. The Seattle artist’s love of botanical forms and education in landscape design inspire her colorful paintings and mixed media monotypes. Lisa will participate in the Arboretum’s “Art in the Park” event on August 6; her giclee prints are sold in the Arboretum gift shop. (See www.lisasnowlady.com) Summer 2009 1 We and They /in this issue of the “Bulletin,” we \j celebrate what our editor, Jan W y Whitner, calls “our most important collection”: the people whose vision and passion, patience and tenacity brought this Arboretum into being seventy-five years ago, and those who have nurtured, enhanced and sustained it ever since. Some are honored and profiled in this issue; most are not. Over the course of the next year or so, we hope to share the stories of many others. Some who made this place are legendary: John Charles Olmsted and the Olmsted firm; Arboretum director Brian Mulligan and his wife, Margaret; and Joe Witt. Some, like the members of the Seattle Garden Club that raised the funds to do the first design, are largely unknown to us now. Many, like the University of Washington Botanic Gardens team of Fred Hoyt, David Zuckerman and Randall Hitchin, have worked here for decades preserving and improving this place a bit at a time. Some have volun¬ teered for an equally long time with the Arboretum Foundation and its units to raise funds and do necessary maintenance. They all have given us the gift of this extraordinary place, and we salute them. But, just as the Arboretum is “a dynamic collection of woody plants” renewed over time, its people are too. One day twenty-five or fifty years hence, a “Bulletin” will surely reflect on the newer members of the collection: landscape designer and University of Washington professor Iain Robertson; plantsman Dan Hinkley; and Allan Ferrin, the dedicated chair of the ambitious effort to create the Pacific Connections Garden and its five Pacific Rim forests. It is their turn to pick up the mantle to nurture and grow this great public park and garden. And, it is our turn, too. In the past month, two of Seattle’s great citizens and city builders passed away: arts czar Peter Donnelly and Stimson Bullitt, whose pioneering Harbor Steps project led to the revitalization of much of downtown. Both were personal friends and generous mentors to me, as was Stim’s mother, Dorothy, whose role in helping to create this Arboretum is noted on page 28. Early this morning, I went out to my garden to cut back last year’s sword fern fronds and to meditate on this note to all of you. As I worked, I kept thinking about Peter and Stim and Dorothy — how strongly they loved this city, and how each set out to do something to make it better and succeeded. And then, I realized: It is our turn now. It is our turn to pour out our passion for and commitment to this city and this extraordinary place, to nurture and protect it, and to plant the new forests and collections that one day will be worthy companions and successors to the ones planted by the Olmsteds, the Mulligans and the Bullitts. That is truly the way to celebrate our 75th birthday. ^ Cheers to you all, Paige Miller, Executive Director, Arboretum Foundation 2 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin The Arboretum's Most Important Collection An arboretum is defined as a collection of woody plants, but perhaps its most important collection is the group of people that nurture and sustain it. Some of Washington Park Arboretum's notable nurturers are profiled below; during the next year, the “Bulletin” plans to profile others among the many individuals whose dedicated stewardship has made the Arboretum into the place we cherish today. TWO ARBORETUM ORIGINALS By Arthur Lee Jacobson siquio Narro was born in 1914 in Mexico and immigrated at age 39 to Seattle, where he lived until his death at the age of 85. Esiquio spent most of his working years as a gardener; for 23 years he worked both at the Arboretum and on the University of Washington campus. In 1976 he retired but continued to do freelance consulting, pruning and teaching. He was exceptionally talented in each of these realms. At its prime, his North Seattle garden was an Eden, luxuriant with diverse flowers, fruit and trees. Esiquio was an acute observer: His sharp mind was expert at analysis. People loved him because he was well informed and a superb conversationalist. I have never met anyone who could talk so well, at such length, and on such a diversity of topics. I first met Esiquio in 1979 at the Arboretum; we later became friends. I did not know for years that he was just as adept at writing as speaking. Esiquio didn’t write for publication or money; he picked up the pen because he felt compelled to express his thoughts and feelings. It was as if he were addicted to sharing whatever was on his mind, so he either talked or wrote: He couldn’t keep it to himself. He wrote abundantly, and before he died, told me to publish anything I thought was worthwhile. His writings consist of essays, letters, poems, fiction, class notes, jokes, recipes and autobiographical notes, covering a vast breadth of topics — in all, amounting to 15,733 pages! In 2004 I published a book, “Selected Writings of Esiquio Narro,” the net proceeds of which are donated to the Elisabeth Miller Library, University of Washington Botanic Gardens. The book is available on my Web site, cited on the following page. rt Kruckeberg — a botanist who turned 89 in March 2009 — has lived in Seattle, or nearby, since 1950. He moved from his first home in Seattle over 50 years ago, but today it remains surrounded by a Summer 2009 3 diverse, lush array of both Pacific Northwest natives and imported plants, most of them planted by him. Art met Brian and Margaret Mullligan in 1951 and began a decades-long association with them. Unlike most botany professors (especially these days), Art has a very green thumb; he does hands-on botany. He has grown — with his late wife, Mareen — thousands of different kinds of plants and shared both propagules and information with countless people. Some of Art’s plant introductions (his travels around the world were extensive) are the first of their kind to be planted in Washington state. He has donated plants to the Arboretum and other local botanical collec¬ tions. He has led tours and taught at the Arboretum. He has helped in awareness raising, fund-raising and tree hugging for various causes. To me, Art stands out not only for his great knowledge, towering height and ability to grow things, but also because he holds the broad views to which a Renaissance scholar might aspire. He is a teacher, promoter and raconteur; he co-founded the Washington Native Plant Society in 1976; and, in 1982, he published “Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest,” followed by other fine books. Unlike many scientists, his prose is felicitous and engaging to general readers. Though his license plate reads BOTANY, Art also is a geologist, horticulturist and pipe¬ smoking humanist. His large garden of treasured plants has been preserved as a City of Shoreline park (Kruckeberg Botanic Garden) in North Seattle. For details, visit www.kruckeberg.org, but you really should visit Art, and his garden, in person, n* Arthur Lee Jacobson is a Seattle plant expert and writer; his Web site is http://www.arthurleej.com NANCY DAVIDSON SHORT By Steve Lorton ancy Davidson Short was a senior at the University of Washington when the Arboretum opened in 1936. By 1943 she had a budding freelance career in magazine journalism and was filing reports on the Arboretum for “Sunset Magazine.” In 1955 Nancy became the magazine’s Northwest editor; under her leadership, the Arboretum benefited from thousands of column inches in “Sunset,” with many of the stories having been written on her own typewriter. Nancy also worked with early Arboretum directors Brian Mulligan and Joe Witt to bring hundreds of plants to the public’s attention. “After World War II, there were so many new plant introductions — especially from Japan and Northwest hybridizers. To mention a new plant in “Sunset,” there had to be a minimum of 500 plants ready for the market,” she recalls. “Sunset” also published stories on technique and design. “We published items on mulching, weeding, pruning. The Arboretum became a school for our readers. . . and for me!” Nancy has been a tireless volunteer and Arboretum Board member. She conceived and orchestrated the used book sale and the Northwest Flower and Garden Show garden contest. She has funneled money into the organization from her sources and contacts and has given what most of us would consider enormous amounts from her own funds. And she keeps going. As to the future: “We need new members, and we need young members. I want to see ... all the Arboretum units [working on] developing membership. That’s the heart of it all. We older members need to form an emeritus unit, the sole purpose of which is to increase membership and raise funds [by means of] canvassing, 4 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin free workshops, lectures and public outreach. I’d like to see 4,000 members by 2011!” And why not? That would be quite a gift to give Nancy the year before her 100th birthday, o* Steve Lorton is the retired Northwest bureau chief of “Sunset Magazine.” He has been active at the Arboretum since 1972 and currently serves on the “Bulletin” Editorial Board. JOHN A. WOTT By Sarah Reichard U /Is that a ‘u’ or an ‘a’?” “No, it must be Qyyx an £e,’ because this word has to be ‘office,’ and see how the ‘e’ at the end looks just like it?” How many conversations like this did staff at the Arboretum have during John Wott’s directorship? Those who could decipher his handwriting were in high demand. All was forgiven in December, however, when Dr. Wott threw his legendary Director’s Christmas Open House at his beautiful home. The house was decked with boughs of holly, and a juicy ham dinner — including creamy scalloped potatoes — awaited the guests. Arboretum staff and volunteers, past and present, jammed into the house, greeting old friends. Dr. Wott’s tenure at the Arboretum was not all fun and parties. He undertook the very complicated task of developing and winning approval for an ambitious Master Plan. By his own estimates, he presented the plan to nearly 200 garden and community clubs in one year, seeking endorsement in a city that is notori¬ ously opinionated. It took time, patience, and maybe an occasional gin and tonic, but after seven years the plan was approved by both the Seattle City Council and the University of Washington Board of Regents. Dr. Wott was soon back at the meeting table, working with others to determine the priorities for imple¬ menting the plan. Those priorities, including the five eco-geographic gardens collectively called “Pacific Connections,” are creating the future of the Arboretum. Any accounting of Dr. Wott’s career with the Arboretum would be incomplete without mentioning that he mentored graduate students who themselves have gone on to impact horticulture and public gardens. Dan Hinkley has changed the face of American horticulture with his plant introductions, Scot Medbuiy has provided visionary leadership at the San Francisco and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and other students serve as direc¬ tors of gardens from Kansas to South Carolina. Well done, Dr. Wott! Sarah Reichard is a University of Washington associate professor affiliated with the University of Washington Botanic Gardens (UWBG). She is head of conserva¬ tion for the UWBG, curator of the Hyde Herbarium, and has been an active member of the UWBG Curation Committee. REMEMBERING VAN By Barbara Selemon ichard Van Klavern, known as “Van,” was the Washington Park Arboretum plant propagator from 1962 to mid -1981. He was a large-framed man with a Summer 2009 5 shock of white hair and a longish beard. Due to his appearance, Van was called upon eveiy year to be Santa Claus at the annual holiday parties. Since I didn’t meet Van until after his years working at the Arboretum, I turned to Dean Powell — Van’s replacement — for a fuller picture of this popular propagator from the past: Van was a Dutchman who came to North America after World War II, armed with a solid base of knowledge in plant growing and propagation. He practiced high work standards and insisted that the gardening staff clean off their boots and shovels prior to entering his domain, the Washington Park Arboretum greenhouse. Even though his appearance might have seemed rather stern, he had a charming side when catering to visitors and Arboretum volunteers. Dean remembers that Van would never refuse questions posed to him by the public. At times he might not know the exact answer, but instead of telling them that he would get back to them or researching the answer further, he would reply with a heavy Dutch accent, and he would use only a few English words. This seemed to impress and satisfy the visiting public, even though his replies had little substance. Van liked being a showman and was called upon monthly to be “Hat Judge” for Arboretum volunteers who worked in and around the greenhouse. The group was composed primarily of ladies who would devise homemade hats piled with flowers and greenery; Van would crown the first-prize winner. Too bad we don’t have photos from these golden days! I asked Dean if Van favored any partic¬ ular plant. It seems that Van was partial to the lemon-scented geraniums that grew in the greenhouse. He would often pluck a piece from this plant to give to a curious visitor; and when Van returned for a visit to the greenhouse after his retirement, he hovered over the lemon-scented geraniums and said that he was happy to see that these plants were still there. Richard Van Klavern became well known in the local horticultural community, and his memory still remains vivid today for those familiar with the history of Washington Park Arboretum. Among the plants we are growing for the Arboretum’s new Pacific Connections Garden, my guess is that Van’s favorite would be Cardiocrinum giganteum, or giant Himalayan lily, because it can grow 10 feet or greater and its fragrant, white, trumpet-like flowers have a powerful, sweet fragrance. It is a plant as grand as Van himself. Barbara Selemon, now the plant propa¬ gator at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, began working in the Washington Park Arboretum (WPA) in 1985. When the Douglas Research Conservatory was established at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) in 1987, Barbara and the WPA plant propagation program moved to CUH and shifted to a container nursery production unit. In 2007, Barbara estab¬ lished the Native Plant Propagation Program at the WPA to grow native plants for use throughout the Arboretum. Blocks of native plants now grow where the old lath house structure used to shade stock plants for the collections. DUANE KELLY By Phil Wood hen Duane Kelly joined the Arboretum Foundation Board in 1991, he brought a bright light and a clear vision for the future of the Washington Park 6 van Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Arboretum. As chair of the Foundation’s Long-Range Planning Committee, Duane championed the need for a new Arboretum Master Plan. “The previous plan was outdated,” he recalls. “With a new plan, the Arboretum had a chance for excellence.” He encouraged the development of the plan while he served as the Foundation board chair from 1994 to 1996. The Seattle City Council adopted the plan in 2001, thereby laying the groundwork for the new Pacific Connections Garden, one of the plan’s key components. “I am pleased that the Master Plan implementation is happening now,” Duane says, “and proud of the board that made the decision in the ‘90s to proceed with the new plan.” Duane has not only shaped the course of the Arboretum but also the life of the horticultural community of the Pacific Northwest. With his wife Alice, he founded the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, and for 21 years the show has launched our region’s gardeners into spring. Duane also made possible the annual Preview Gala that has raised much-needed funds for the Arboretum Foundation. Now Duane is moving on to other interests — playwriting among them — and plans to pass the show on to new owners. Duane’s legacy — the Master Plan — con¬ tinues to attract people and support for the renewal of our beloved Arboretum. ^ Phil Wood is a garden designer and garden writer; he serves on the Editorial Board of Flora, Fauna & Cultural History of Belize February 28 - March 10, 2010 10 days/ 11 nights - $2,379 PPDO This unique tour is offered by the award¬ winning partnership of Anderson-LeLievre Landscape Design. Janine Anderson is a long-time Arboretum guide and member of the Bulletin's Editorial Board. Her article, "Ten Trees of Belize," is scheduled for the Winter 2010 issue of the Bulletin. 206.632.7978 ianine@anderson-desiqn.net www.anderson-design.net Anae»$on - leUevre landscape Dnup Pacific Office Automation thanks the many dedicated employees and volunteers whose hard work makes it possible for all of us to enjoy the Arboretum. Summer 2009 °*> 7 REFLECTIONS ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF THE Washington Park Arboretum By Sandra Lier, Executive Director, University of Washington Botanic Gardens t ^“he Washington Park V / s\ Arboretum, originally estab- I ( J lished in the early 1900s as one of Seattle’s first parks, is a lovely, green jewel of a place. I was struck, when I first visited, with the openness of it all — looking up with no buildings interceding between me and the sky. Even today, when I am out in the Arboretum, enjoying the seasonal changes and watching the enjoyment of the many others who find compelling sights and smells in the cedars, magnolias, stewartias and azaleas, I think back to the foresight of those early Seattleites who thought to preserve this space. Compiling various parcels of land began in 1900 and continued over the years until the current 230 acres were established. The concept for a University of Washington Arboretum was a part of University planning from the beginning of its estab¬ lishment at the Lake Washington site. But it wasn’t to be developed there. Hugo Winkenwerder, Dean of the School of Forestry, proposed to President Henry Suzzallo that the Arboretum be established in Washington Park. A resolution was passed by the Board of Park Commissioners in 1924 to work with the University to make the “Arboretum and Botanical Garden one of the chief centers for accurate botanical and gardening information on the Pacific Coast.” Since funding was scarce, the agreement wasn’t implemented until 10 years later, when an advisory committee of the City Parks and the University was established that is still in existence today. The Arboretum Foundation was created in 1935 by the Advisory Committee to raise revenues to help establish the Arboretum. 8 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin It is a wonderment to me that these early proponents of the Arboretum could harness the energies and money of Seattle and Washington state at a significantly challenging time in America — with a worldwide depres¬ sion constraining resources and no coherent, detailed plan for the future. Just as our current Master Plan is being implemented project by project, as resources are found — estab¬ lishment of the Washington Park Arboretum benefited from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the generous contributions of the Seattle Garden Club as money slowly became available. The Stone Cottage, the Gateway Pylons and the Lookout were built during this era. Many people and organizations have been intimately involved in creating the Arboretum that we enjoy today, including the Olmsteds, James Dawson and Dr. John H. Hanley, who was the director of the Arboretum from 1938 to 1946 when Azalea Way was created. Contributions came from various garden clubs — a tradition that is still active, along with expeditions to collect known-provenance materials. Brian Mulligan was director when the Arboretum was truly developed into the landscape that we know today. At the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Arboretum Foundation, the Graham Visitor Center was built and donated to the City of Seattle. It replaced maintenance and office facilities from the WPA era. As we celebrate these 75 years, problems that were inherent in the early history of the Washington Park Arboretum are still evident: not enough funds to maintain the high aspira¬ tions of the professionals who sustain this beautiful place and the public that treasures it. But we are making progress in our working partnerships as we continue improving and extending both the scientific uses of the Arboretum and the enjoyment of its many gardens by the visitors to this well-loved park, n* Please join the UW Botanic Gardens, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and the Arboretum Foundation to celebrate the platinum anniversary of Washington Park Arboretum. 75TH ANNIVERSARY SUMMER EVENTS Olde-Time Picnic in the Arboretum Families are invited to bring a picnic to Crabappie Meadow and enjoy old-fashioned entertainments. Sundaes on Thursday * I fflf Educational tours of the Arboretum, plus delicious ice cream. Sponsored by Snoqualmie Gourmet. Art in the Park Local artists display works with botanical and natural history themes. Optional wine tasting. For more information, call 206-325-4510 or visit www.arboretumfoundation.org. The 75th Anniversary Event Series is sponsored by Aqua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club The Berger Partnership PS The Portico Croup Slimmer 2009 9 A Poet's Guide to the Arboretum By Pamela Gross he Arboretum has always been a part of my life. But I’ve never experi¬ enced it the way the arborist intends: For me, it is a wilderness filled with explo¬ ration and adventures. When I was five, I skated on the frozen pond in Rhododendron Glen; in high school I scouted the same pond for paramecia while studying aquatic ecology. Later, my husband built a wood-frame canoe that we paddled in the Lagoon under the branches of willows and fragrant poplars, listening for the heron’s “grack!” as he flew off, startled, from a perch. On dark, winter evenings, we watched owls hunt their prey in the wetlands; in spring, we walked the paths of Rhododendron Glen as shrubs and trees began to blaze green; and on summer days, we counted the wildflowers blooming in the meadows of the Union Bay Natural Area. Seasonal pathways, sounds, smells, flora and fauna: They all lend much to the imagery found in these poems. Traced and retraced, they have taken up permanent lodging deep in the rooms of my subconscious. The images are themselves; they also are codes that can be broken to express experiences both personal and universal... Arboretum Wetlands, Winter §? WHAT THE OWL KNOWS How gliding, with its willed suspension, its faultless grip on the fluid and loping horizontal, ends. He would like to go on forever, this dream that skims the winter-brittle marsh, where dusk floats false light on salt-grass battered brassy, translucent, and sends the small, haunched shadows scattering. He knows how the soft ones wait without knowing. How their pulses’ muted hammers tap out a simple code that halts cold his loose flight’s stumble, renders the snub-nosed bullet of his body helpless to impulse, to the dizzy, granite- weighted drop. — “Blessed Coming Off Ladders” Ion Books, 1990 Rhododendron Glen, Spring H AT THE MARCH EQUINOX A sense of waiting — as if for the match to be struck — so strong, we imagine an odor of sulphur. Headhigh thickets of salmonberry flanking the trail’s start might already have struck their matchstick stems against flint. Leaflets flare, the closest green can ever come to flame, and eveiy visible inhabitant nears its flashpoint: Blaze of the Audubon warbler’s raised yellow jack; seethe of skunk cabbages’ oiled lamps. A hummingbird’s buzz raddles the dense wickerwork, his breastplate blinking the Stay Back! Gorget’s char, roused to an orange-red coal, dims then fans again. The green glaze on shoulder, crown — of maple, alder — is more suggestion than color, as if echo dared to anticipate its word. Blade, bud, sepal, petal, leaf. We have wished for something like this to happen to us. Habit, released from its winterdrab. If we are lucky, a burning that manages also to salve, to heal. — “Moon Viewing Ceremony” State Street Press Chapbooks, 1993 10 vao Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin Union Bay Natural Area Meadow, Summer O QUEEN ANNE'S LACE Mechlin: a simple Flemish lace, popular in the court of Queen Anne. On roadsides, in abandoned fields, its elaborate crochet ornaments neglect: the tattered rounds bestowing their perpetual fund, an inflorescent applique to augment even the poorest living. Soil stringent as strictest belief cannot stifle these robust celebrations. Pure Mechlin. Sunbursts worked transparent, fine, against the ordinary ground. Essentially, a summer lace, most charming when worn with the colors of August: chicory’s straggly bunting-blue spokes, winking shut toward noon; tansy, sporting buttons of gold floss, nubby clusters embroidered in French knots; and loosestrife’s crowded cities’ spires that hiss a fortnight’s magenta flame. How many English courts mortgaged themselves to Flemish cloisters for crass copies of this living lace? The plain but pretty smocking trims these meadows free. Cabriole legs, fitting to any piece of work called Queen Anne, support the floating, flat-capped compound umbels on which the needlework is pillowed and spun. And at each center, that single flower — purple so dark it is nearly black, nearly the color of royal blood — stains the lace where the needle, sharper than any bee’s thirst, missed the thimble. “Chaffinch in Cherry” by Sylvia Portillo — “Birds of the Night Sky, Stars of the Field” The University of Georgia Press, 1995 Pamela Gross lives in Seattle; her poems appear in many magazines and collections, the latest in “The Poet’s Guide to the Birds,” edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser, Anhinga Press, 2009, PO Box 10595, Tallahassee FL, 32302. Sylvia Portillo is a Seattle artist who belongs to the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists, the Wood Engravers and Seattle's Rain City Engravers. She works with a wide variety of media and focuses on wildlife and botanical art; her Web site is www.nalt.com/sylviaportillo. Summer 2009 11 Notes on a Mother Turtle By Katie Boehnlein ucked along the shores of Lake Union, the Washington Park Arboretum is one of Seattle’s hidden gems that even a long-term city resident might stumble across for the first time during a Saturday afternoon bike ride. It is a 230-acre forested oasis in the middle of Seattle and seems the epitome of unbridled nature, even though it serves a scientific purpose. I have slowly learned to navigate this living museum of plants on interconnected gravel trails that wander under towering native Douglas firs and Western red cedar trees, or alongside stands of Japanese maples and rhododendrons. In the midst of this natural beauty, it is hard to believe that the Arboretum is bordered by bustling 24th Avenue, crossed through the wetlands by the 320 Bridge, and adjacent to the lively campus of the University of Washington. During the summer of 2008, I interned with the Washington Park Arboretum School and Youth Programs. The education staff regularly conducts interpretive tours for students of all ages and backgrounds who come from Seattle and its surrounding areas with their schools and daycare centers. My work was devoted to developing and teaching curricula for natural history programs. Before working as an intern ABOVE: Katie Boehnlein and her young charges learn about the mysteries of leaves. (Photograph by Jacob Smithers) 12 <40 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin at the Arboretum, I had always thought that my career in the environmental field eventu¬ ally would culminate in non-profit work at a conservation or preservation organization, such as the Sierra Club or the Nature Conservancy. However, now that I have spent a summer in the Arboretum, surrounded by historic trees and chattering children, my ideas about my future have changed. I discovered my summer job in environ¬ mental education through a grant I was given by Seattle University to do service-oriented work at an organization of my choice in the Emerald City. I e-mailed various organizations where I knew I would be able to do hands- on, direct-impact work in the community. Shawna Hartung, the University of Washington Botanic Gardens education supervisor, e-mailed me back within 20 minutes, and I took this immediate response to be an indica¬ tion that I should take a bike ride down Lake Washington to explore this unknown park. My first impression upon biking into the Arboretum was one of absolute stillness and serenity. I meandered down the winding road that cuts through the park under a lush, virides- cent canopy of summer tree cover. Upon reaching the Graham Visitors Center at the end of this road and talking with Shawna, I was immediately captivated. Her dedication was contagious, and the animated passion she displayed towards her work as an educator rubbed off on me. I knew right away that this would be the right place for me. So, there I was the next day, thrown into my role as a third grade teacher. I stood in front of a restless group of students who were antsy under the influence of sun and summer. I held a copy of the typed curriculum entitled “Water Workings’' in my sweating, clammy hand, in disbelief that 20 pairs of eyes and ears were tuned to me and my knowledge. Twenty young minds as porous as 20 sponges were eager to observe first-hand the shrewdness of a Great WASHINGTON PARK ARBORETUM YOUTH PROGRAMS By Shawna Hartung, Education Supervisor, University of Washington Botanic Gardens mring 2008 thousands of youth from the Puget Sound area partici¬ pated in preschool-1 2th grade programs at the Washington Park Arboretum. Students explored the Arboretum’s world-class collections of trees and shrubs set amongst gardens, meadows, woodlands and wetlands through a Seedlings Preschool Program, Saplings School Program, Summer Sleuths program or using a Self-Guided Explorer Pack. Teachers, families and students can experience the splendor of color and wildlife at the Arboretum by scheduling participation in a program for summer and fall 2009. • Saplings School Programs are aligned with Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements, Environmental Goals and Guidelines and Grade Level Expectations. • Seedlings Preschool, Saplings School and Summer Sleuth Programs are $6.00 per student for a guided program. • Programs are popular, so book now! • Visit our Web site for further information: www.uwbotanicgardens.org • Please call Education Supervisor Shawna Hartung or Program Assistant Lisa Sanphillippo at (206) 543-8801 or e-mail uwbgeduc@ii.washington.edu for questions or reservations. Summer 2009 13 Blue Heron, the calm of a Western Painted Turtle, the quickness of an aquatic macro-inver¬ tebrate, or the domesticated, docile nature of a mallard duck. I was so nervous during this first program that I honestly do not remember it. I was so unsure of my own knowledge — and unable, at first, to assert my authoritative voice — that I had a difficult time figuring out how to engage 20 third-graders with the educational material when there was a mile-long stretch of path ahead where they could run freely, climb trees and pick flowers. After the first few programs, the job became steadily easier to manage. I grew more comfort¬ able with the material I was teaching, and eventually found myself one day kneeling on the ground at the level of 12 first-graders, looking the students in the eye and asking them if they could tell me how a bat’s acute sense of hearing helps it survive in the wild. I was suddenly more interested in connecting with my students and interacting with their diverse personalities than in trying to act as the disciplinarian to a child’s unrestrained summer energy. This realization soon led to another: As the weeks went on, I slowly was reminded of my own childhood — as mirrored in the inquisitive, wide-eyed children I inter¬ acted with every day. With this new sense of awareness, I began to remember snippets of my first memorable experiences with nature. When I was three and four, I attended the Portland Waldorf School. The Waldorf philos¬ ophy of education strongly believes that children learn best by intentional questioning and observation of their environments and by fostering their natural sense of wonder. I distinctly remember myself as an active preschooler; every day we painted pictures with sweeping watercolors, baked bread and played with cloth dolls. All Waldorf family celebrations followed the cycle of the seasons, living in tune with the earth’s natural processes. For example, the Michaelmas celebration in late October celebrated the coming of the winter solstice and the darker days ahead. Each Waldorf student crafted his or her own lantern out of a colorful, water-colored piece of paper wrapped around a small tea-light. All of the Waldorf families congregated at a neighbor¬ hood park in the late evening, celebrating our appreciation for the coming winter season with stories and songs. The simple image I recall from this event is a sea of flickering, bobbing, illuminated pinpricks that beautifully reflected the amazement on each of our young faces. I remember clutching my lantern as I traversed the path set with candles, the only apparent sources of light amidst an endless blackness of trees and navy sky. When I left the Waldorf School and became immersed in the conven¬ tional education system, my natural sense of wonder began to disappear. No longer was my entire education focused around fostering my natural connection to the earth through obser¬ vation and celebration. I was completely wrapped up in the societal norms and activi¬ ties that fill an acceptable college resume: joining soccer teams, dancing at a ballet studio, learning piano, and singing in two choirs. Animals on the Move Sixteen years later, as a college student in Seattle, there I was — a product of over a decade of disconnection from my natural, childlike sense of wonder. One day I was leading a group of especially rambunctious middle school children on the Arboretum program entitled “Animals on the Move.” We were exploring the idea of adaptation and identifying distinguishing characteristics of the numerous animals and plants that we observed in the wild. I knew from previous experience that the most exciting part of the program for the students would be dipping nets in the “Big Pond,” catching macro-invertebrates and observing how they scud, glide, or shoot through their watery environment. As we neared the pond, the path edged past a bench perched on a small mound of dirt. I stopped suddenly and held my hands out to the children, who trailed behind me. 14 19 An Appreciation of the Japanese Garden By Barbara Engram s Washington Park Arboretum celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Japanese Garden is getting ready for its 50th. Although it was not actually built until I960, the Japanese Garden was at least a twinkle in some eyes right from the beginning. Records show that in 1937 the Arboretum Foundation invited the Inter¬ national Cultural Society of Japan to create a garden on a five-acre site and that the Society donated $57,000 toward the project. It was not until 20 years later, in 1957, that a team of four Japanese designers created the plan for the present garden as a gift from the Tokyo municipal government. The city of Tokyo also donated the original teahouse, which was built in Japan, dismantled, shipped to Seattle and reconstructed on site. Juki Iida, a member of the design team, came to Seattle to supervise the installation of the Garden in 1959-1960, and it was opened to the public on June 5, I960. 20 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin The Japanese Garden is like — and unlike — the rest of the Arboretum. Like the Arboretum, it celebrates nature, and the plants within it are part of the collection that comprises the Arboretum. But it also differs in significant ways: The Arboretum is essentially a collec¬ tion of plants for scientific study, and though the plants are placed in a beautiful naturalistic setting, it is not, strictly speaking, a garden. The Japanese Garden, on the other hand, focuses on and expresses design principles. Though it contains many plants native to Japan and typical of Japanese gardens, it is not these plants that make it what it is. It is a Japanese garden because it is designed according to principles that evolved over centuries in Japan. At its heart, a Japanese garden expresses a culturally derived belief about the relation- Summer 2009 21 ship between humans and nature that differs greatly from that of western gardens. According to Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion, spirits reside in objects in nature. A magnificent stone, a monumental tree or a beautiful water¬ fall — each is revered as the abode of spirits or kami. Some of the earliest precursors of gardens in Japan were created when spaces around such objects were cleared, marked and cared for as sacred sites. Many other factors, of course, entered into the picture over the centuries, but the underlying reverence for nature remains. An Ancient Gardening Text This attitude is clearly expressed in the opening statements of the “Sakuteiki,” a treatise almost 1000 years old and possibly the earliest work on gardening as an aesthetic expression. It opens with a listing of three basic concepts: The first advises the garden builder to “Select several places within the property according to the shape of the land and the ponds, and create a subtle atmosphere, reflecting again and again on one’s memories of wild nature.” (Emphasis added.) The lay of the land dictates how the garden develops; the garden exists not as a shape imposed on nature, but as a form that flows from the contours and charac¬ teristics of the site and results from the cooperation of humans and nature, with nature as the guide and teacher. Our own Japanese Garden, for example, rests in a natural basin with the pond occupying the lowest level, as would occur in nature. Clearly, according to the “Sakuteiki,” a garden exists as a repre¬ sentation of nature, or, more fully, as an expression of what we learn from nature — what we feel to be its essence. So here we see plants grouped informally, usually in odd numbers rather than in symmetrical composi¬ tions and even numbers, as is often the case in Western gardens. The treatise goes on to add other princi¬ ples, which are also as relevant today as when it was written: “When creating a garden, let the exceptional work of past master gardeners be your guide. Heed the desires of the master of the house, yet heed as well one’s own taste,” a suggestion as helpful now as then, and “Visualize the famous landscapes of our country and come to understand their most interesting points. Re-create the essence of those scenes in the garden, but do so inter- pretively, not strictly.” Our garden, for example, contains a beautiful stone peninsula, exactly like one in the imperial garden of Katsura in Kyoto, complete with an identical stone lantern at the end. This is not simply an unimagina¬ tive copying of the ideas of others. Remember that until very recently in history people did not travel as we do, and such replicas were sometimes the only way to remember or even to experience the beautiful scenes of other places. They were to citizens of the day what postcards or videos are to us — mementos of beautiful places and inspiring scenes. Even though a garden might contain an almost exact replica of a scene from far away, more frequently the strategy is to interpret what we have learned from other gardens, and especially from wild nature, in our landscapes. So at the Japanese Garden, you will find ferns in shaded woodland areas and pines in sunny spots, often near the water. This not only makes aesthetic sense; it also leads to placing plants in spots where they will do well. In wild nature, plants fend for themselves; no human gardener comes around to mulch, fertilize, water and in general pamper them into surviving in their spot. Plants grow best in spots that meet their cultural needs, and the rule that one must put the right plant in the right place is one of nature’s most important lessons. I think some of the serenity we experi¬ ence in Japanese gardens results from this sense of “rightness” — of things being as they are in nature and of ourselves belonging to it. People often speak of Japanese gardens as if they are all alike, but there are a number of different types of traditional Japanese gardens. The earliest ones appeared in the 22 v«n Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin ninth century C.E., during the Heian period; they derived from Chinese models and had large sand or gravel areas extending in front of residence audience halls. From either end of such halls, covered walkways jutted outward, flanking the sandy area and leading to pavilions from which one could view adjoining ponds and islands. The tsubo, or courtyard garden fits into small areas between buildings in a residential complex or even in a niche within a house. Because of the small space occupied, a tsubo contains only a few plants and perhaps a stone or a simple water feature. Some contain just a stone composition and no plants at all — very much like tiny Zen gardens (see below). In these gardens, less truly is more. The tea garden surrounds the teahouse; as visitors travel through the stages of that garden, from the outer to the inner areas, they symbol¬ ically move farther away from the outside world and more deeply into the inner world of the spirit. Our own tea garden has an outer garden with a covered structure where guests sit and wait to be summoned for the ceremony. Stepping-stones lead to a gate in the inner garden that contains the teahouse. Sitting in the outer garden, the guest begins to leave the outer world behind; moving through the simple bamboo gate, the guest symbolically leaves the outer world for the world of the tea ceremony. Both inner and outer tea gardens are very simple and evoke the image of remote woodlands deep in the heart of nature, far away from the bustle of humans. The Zen garden’s austere compositions of stone and gravel support meditation devel¬ oped during a time when Japan was ailed by the warrior class. The Zen concepts of inner control and serenity held special appeal for those in power. The ability, fostered by medita¬ tion, to detach oneself from the stresses at hand could prove invaluable in combat. The lack of embellishment in these gardens reflected the strong and austere spirit of the warrior. One can hardly imagine a Japanese garden without stone, and in the Zen garden, where stone often represents water and islands, the stone garden finds its purest form. The Advent of Strolling Gardens Our Japanese Garden is a stroll garden, of the type that arose during the Momoyama period in Japan (1568-1600). These were large gardens that developed on the estates of the landed gentry. This period of Japanese history was one of relative peace, with the result that estates were passed from one generation to the next without the destruction that accom¬ panies warfare. Gardens were built and enlarged, and neighboring lands were annexed, resulting in gardens much greater in size than in previous eras. Until that time, gardens were built for viewing from within the residence or from porches that overlooked them. For instance, one enters the Zen garden only for maintenance — to clean and rake gravel, a simple and repetitive task that can, in itself, be meditative. The small tsubo gardens are viewed primarily from various rooms of the house, or from covered walkways joining different buildings. One did pass through a tea garden, using a stone pathway, but only as a symbolic journey away from the cares of the outside world and into the world of tea. But as estates — and the gardens they contained — grew larger, the garden became a place to enter. One strolled through it on meandering pathways, and often, upon rounding a turn or passing through a gate, experienced new and unexpected vistas. Different parts of the garden represented different areas in nature, and a visit to the garden symbolized a journey. Overall, the stroll garden owes much of its design aesthetic to the tea garden, and stroll gardens often contain one or more teahouses with their associated gardens. At the main gate to our Japanese Garden, you first enter the “forest.” As you walk along the path, rhododendrons, maples and other trees rise above you. On the right is a kare Summer 2009 23 san sui , or diy stream bed — a feature reminiscent of stone and gravel Zen gardens in that it evokes a water scene without actually using water. (Though this stream was constructed as a dry garden, it is placed at the lowest level in its area, so that in times of heavy rain and occasional flooding it becomes an actual stream, emptying into the garden’s pond — a bit of proof that the original designers did well their job of imitating nature.) At the fork in the path, moving to the left leads to the “mountain” area, a hill containing the largest stone in the garden placed next to the highest water¬ fall. Water cascades down the hillside and into the pond. The right fork of the path leads along the east side of the garden through the “forest” and finally opens up to a view of the pond that represents the sea. On the left you see the stone peninsula that represents the one at Katsura imperial villa, described earlier, and across the water, the teahouse, the orchard and the moon-viewing platform. Far across the pond, tucked beneath trees on a hillside near the west boundary of the garden, is a small rustic structure, the ayzumaya. Many stroll gardens include such primitive structures, where one can rest and view the garden. Most consist of a simple roof protecting a bench and are constructed using unpolished, rustic materials. In our structure, the construction of the roof is revealed, the posts are made of cedar trunks stripped of bark, and the sides are open to views in all directions. From the ayzumaya , one looks over the pond and sees the eastern gate and the hillside of the Arboretum beyond. This is a classic example of shakkei, or “borrowed scenery” — a Japanese technique for enlarging the sense of the garden, and an approach often used in Northwest gardens to incorpo¬ rate views of surrounding mountains and lakes. As you continue along the eastern pathway, you reach the eastern gate. Located at roughly the center of the pond on the eastern boundary of the garden, this gate was actually planned to be the garden’s main entrance, but lack of space for a ticket booth or parking led to the decision to move the entrance to its present location at the south end. Entering from the eastern gate, the visitor would first see formal, upright pine trees and two bridges leading across the lake to the west side of the garden, with the teahouse and its garden on the far left. Farther from the gate, the forms of the pine trees change to informal, irregularly twisted shapes. Typically, in Japanese garden designs, formal plantings are placed near areas of human use and habitation; as one moves farther away from human-dominated space, the plantings and design become increasingly naturalistic and informal in style. To the north of the bridges is Turtle Island, named for a traditional style of island in Japanese gardens, not for the turtles which are usually seen sunning themselves on the stones at the island’s edges. Near Turtle Island, a tall lantern stands in the water to mark the entrance to the areas that evoke a harbor and 24 Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin a village at the north end of the garden. The stones at the pond’s edge change at this point — from naturally shaped stones laid in irregular lines to dressed stones in straight lines, indicating that one has left the world of nature and entered the world of humans. The original plans for the Japanese Garden called for a pavilion at the top of the hill at the north end, commanding a panoramic view of the garden and the teahouse.* In a tradi¬ tional Japanese estate, this would have been the site of the family’s residential complex, commanding the best view of the gardens; in a village, it would be the spot occupied by the local ruler. A Japanese stroll garden is meant to be experienced at leisure. It offers the opportu¬ nity to enter nature, to move slowly, pause, leave the outer world and enter the garden. So, by all means, come to the Arboretum’s Japanese Garden to stroll and see the rhodo¬ dendrons and azaleas in the spring, the wisteria in early summer and the maples in fall. But come also to step into another world, another time, another place. Experience the world of the garden as a place where spirits abide. Barb Engram received a degree in landscape design from Edmonds Community College and attended seminars on Japanese garden design in Kyoto. She has volunteered at the Arboretum for 15 years, both as a guide and as a leader of workshops on pruning maples and pines. She works as a landscape designer, consultant and project manager. * Steve Garber, chair of the Japanese Garden Advisory Council notes: 'The pavilion is the sole remaining part of the original garden plan that remains unbuilt, but it is the Advisory Council's goal to realize its construction in the years ahead." w)here hardeners Sroa> 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 Summer 2009 25 The Architect, the Landscape Architect and the Arboretum By Joan Hockaday