My 15-year-old daughter just returned
home from a six-week intensive program with the Houston Ballet. Wife
Haruko flew down to watch the final performance but she made it into
a “business” trip by visiting nearby Peckerwood Gardens. Then due
to a screw-up by Southwest Airlines they were stranded for a day in
Dallas, but put that to good use by visiting the Dallas Arboretum.
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Acer palmatum 'Purple Ghost' and 'Amber Ghost' |
I've never been to Peckerwood but I was
invited to speak at the Dallas Arboretum almost 6 years ago, and the
year before they purchased quite a few specimen maples from me for a
newly installed Maple Rill. I had never heard of the term rill
before my visit, but it means a small brook. Apparently money flows
in Dallas because I think the rill project cost a couple million with
huge stones, imported topsoil and my expensive maples. Haruko
reported that the plants appeared in excellent condition and were
expertly pruned, with our introductions of Acer palmatum 'Purple
Ghost' and 'Amber Ghost' showing off wonderfully.
Both Houston and Dallas are ugly brown
cities where the flora is boring to this Oregon plantsman. That's
what makes the plant collections appear like an oasis of fantasy. If
you know what you're doing – and I wouldn't – there is quite an
array of plants that can thrive in the two hell-holes. Let's take a
look at what Haruko saw that allowed her Texas-two-step to qualify as
a “business trip,” and note that she took most of the photos in
this blog.
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Texas Woodpecker |
Peckerwood is a funny word,
especially coming from my wife with her Japanese accent. It is used
for a woodpecker, but also used as a derogatory term for white
people, especially those rustic or poor. To African-Americans in the
1920's, the woodpecker symbolically represented white people, while
the blackbird represented black people. Anyway it's a curious name
for a garden – but apparently founder John Fairey named his
property after the plantation in the 1955 movie, Auntie Mame
and for the woodpeckers that frequented the garden.
Peckerwood is well-known for its oak
collection, with many species coming from Mexico. Quercus tarahumara
– say it again, what a beautiful name – is a species from the
Sierra Madre Occidentale that was named for the Tarahumara People, an
indigenous group known for long-distance running. It is commonly
known as the “hand basin oak,” for the large leaves when inverted
resemble a sink. I don't think it would be hardy in Oregon, but it
would be fun to try anyway if I could find one.
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Quercus crassifolia |
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Alexander von Humboldt |
Quercus crassifolia is another Mexican
species with a range that extends south to Guatemala. It is a large
shrub or small tree with toothed, thick black-green leaves, and its
specific name – from Latin crassus – means “solid, thick
or coarse.” It was first collected by Alexander von Humboldt and
Aime Bonpland on their five-year journey of scientific discovery in
the Americas. Its common name in Spanish is “Encino chicharron”
which means that the oak's leaf looks like “fried pork rinds.”
One of the ornamental features of the evergreen/deciduous oak is that
the young spring leaves display a hairy purple-red color before
turning to green.
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Quercus polymorpha |
Photography was brutal for Haruko due
to the harsh light, and it was over 100 degrees at the time of her
visit. Nevertheless she knew I would be impressed with the bark of
Quercus polymorpha, yet another Mexican oak with a small population
also in Texas. It is a semi-evergreen species commonly called the
“Mexican white oak,” and according to the Texas A&M Forest
Service it is now widely planted as a landscape tree.
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Weeping Quercus species |
Curator Adam Black led the tour that
Haruko was on, since one is not allowed unrestricted access to the
garden. In any case Black was pleased to show off a weeping oak
specimen that does not come true from seed. It originated from
seed collected in Mexico, but to propagate further it must be
grafted. There is question about its specific identity as well as its
hardiness, and finding out is one of the purposes of Peckerwood
Garden, as it now transitions into Garden Conservancy status.
Judging from the photo I don't think I would want the tree in my
collection, but it seems to fit into the scrappiness of this Texas
garden.
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Mahonia chochoco |
The label said Mahonia chochoco,
a plant that I have never seen or heard of before, but then some
taxonomists insist that it is actually a Berberis. Either way
the evergreen is in the Berberidaceae family and it comes from the
mountains of northeastern Mexico. I think it's funny that botanists
have long argued over Mahonia/Berberis classification and there may
never be consensus. Plants, like people, don't always neatly fit into
cubbyholes. Birds, butterflies and poets still make use of them even
though the confusion unnerves the scientist.
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Clematis texensis |
Clematis texensis was attractive in
seed, but too bad that Haruko missed the “Scarlet Leather flower”
in bloom. It is native to the Edwards Plateau in Texas where it grows
on rocky limestone cliffs and stream sides. Texensis is more showy
when crossed with other Clematis species, and cultivars such as
'Princess Diana', 'Duchess of Albany' and 'Etoile Rose' have been
developed.
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Pinus taeda |
Haruko was impressed with the trunk of
Pinus taeda, commonly known as the “Loblolly Pine,” a species
native to Texas and the southeastern United States. It is considered
a “yellow pine” and according to the US Forest Service it is the
second-most common tree in the USA after Acer rubrum. The species
doesn't offer much as a garden tree, but scientifically it is
interesting because as of 2014* it had the largest genome size of any
organism on earth, with 22 billion base pairs (7 times larger than
that of humans). P. taeda is commonly known as the “Loblolly pine,”
a southern reference to a “mud hole” or “mire” as the pine
can often be found in lowlands and swampy areas. The specific name
taeda can mean “pine wood, a wooden board or a torch.”
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Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) |
*As of 2018 the current genome
champion is Axolotl, the “Mexican Walking fish” (a salamander).
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Taxus wallichiana var. chinensis |
Not all of the plants at Peckerwood are
native to Texas or from Mexico, and there were a number of specimens
from Asia as well. Again, the garden's theme is to grow and analyze
plants that can thrive in harsh environments wherever they may be.
Taxus wallichiana is a successful example, and the var. chinensis was
thriving in the miserable Southern heat. The evergreen species is
dioecious with male and female cones on separate plants. Actually, to
call the female fruit a “cone” is not accurate because it is more
berry-like, and it contains a single dark brown seed. Again, the
taxonomists crab over the yew, whether it should be Taxus wallichiana
or Taxus wallichiana var. chinensis or Taxus chinensis or even a form
of Taxus baccata. In any case the species has been exploited for its
leaves and bark across most of its range and it is currently
classified as endangered by the IUCN. Besides being used as a
fuelwood it is prescribed for some types of cancer, and for making
tea by the Bhotiya tribe of the Garhwal* Himalaya.
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Nanda Devi |
*Home to the beautiful mountain
Nanda Devi (25,643', 7,816m), the second-highest mountain in India.

Acer coriaceifolium
There are probably a number of maple
species that would do well at Peckerwood, such as Acer truncatum,
Acer griseum, Acer coriaceum and others, but the only species that
Haruko recalled seeing was A. coriaceifolium, a Chinese species that
should not be confused with southern Europe's A. coriaceum. Both were
named from Latin coriaceus, referring to leathery leaves. For
some reason De Beaulieu in An Illustrated Guide to Maples does
not list A. coriaceifolium, while Oregon State University says that
it is sometimes known as A. cinnamomifolium (not listed by B. either)
or as a variety of A. oblongum. Whatever, the Peckerwood tree is a
semi-evergreen shrub or tree but it is only hardy to 10 degrees F,
USDA zone 8.
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Keteleeria davidiana |
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Pere David |
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Augustine Henry |
I was surprised that Haruko encountered
a Keteleeria davidiana, not out of a winter hardiness issue, but that
the Peckerwood soil might not be to the Chinese conifer's liking. I
had the species once but it croaked in a hard winter, but on the
other hand I saw a happy specimen at Plant Delights Nursery in North
Carolina and their winters are pretty much like ours. The first time
I encountered Keteleeria was in Hong Kong, but at the time I was
still wet behind the horticultural ears. It looked like an Abies with
the erect cones but the foliage wasn't exactly fir-like. Now I assume
that it is not native to Hong Kong and a landscaper must have planted
the tree. K. was discovered by Pere David in 1869 and introduced by
Augustine Henry in 1888, and was named for J.B. Keteleer, a French
nurseryman. He was also “honored” with a cultivar of Juniperus
chinensis 'Keteleeri', a boring female tree with a pyramidal habit
that the bankrupt neighboring nursery used to grow.
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Taxodium species |
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Taxodium species |
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Taxodium mucronatum in Tule, Oaxaca |
A creek (rill) runs through Peckerwood
and Taxodium with protruding knees impressed Haruko. When I saw her
photos I asked her what was the species of Taxodium and she returned
with a blank stare. Since Peckerwood is so fond of Mexican plants I
wonder if some or all of the specimens might be T. mucronatum.
According to The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (2014),
the Mexican cypress is “A small to medium sized tree, closely
resembling T. distichum, but with leaves semi-persistent in warm
areas.” Oddly, after calling it a small to medium sized tree,
Hillier mentions the famous specimen in the town of Tule, Oaxaca,
Mexico, which is thought to have the largest girth of any tree
in the world with a circumference of 42 m (138 feet). I have seen the
behemoth, and though it was far off the beaten path – out in the
“tules” – it was one of the greatest thing I have ever seen.
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Agave nickelsiae |
Naturally the Peckerwood landscape
featured Agaves. They are in the Asparagaceae family and the genus
name is New Latin, borrowed from Greek agaue, feminine of
agauos for “admirable, illustrious, brilliant,” and
certainly I find them so. A. nickelsiae is the “King Ferdinand
Agave,” and was previously named A. ferdinandi-regis. The gardener
must be patient because it can take from a dozen to one hundred years
to flower, but when it does the stalk can shoot up to 15' and produce
clusters of yellowish-red blossoms. I like the blue-green evergreen
foliage that has white markings, and that each blade terminates with
a black point. A. nickelsiae is probably hardy enough to overwinter
in Oregon, but the problem is that we are too wet, so I keep my few
Agaves in pots and overwinter them in a dry greenhouse. Various
species of Agave can be made into a powder with a mildly sweet flavor
that can substitute for sugar. More famously, Agave is also used in
the production of tequila.
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Agave protamericana 'Miquihuana Silver' |
Agave americana contains the subspecies
protamericana which comes from the Sierra Madre Orientale in
Mexico, and also from Texas. The cultivar 'Miquihuana Silver',
according to the Peckerwood Garden, is still an unidentified species.
John Fairey collected it near Miquihuana, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Their
website states, “At first glance, young plants might resemble just
another common silvery blue agave abundant in the area's landscapes.
However, once this plant gains some size, it is a real standout with
an elegant form to the 6 feet long leaves, most of which point
straight up, creating a vase-like shape. Unlike the more common
silver species, this great selection maintains a clean matte
coloration free of blemishes.”
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John Fairey |
Peckerwood is a collection of over
3,000 plants, and John Fairey says, “It is a garden that looks to
the future, not to the past. Yet, most essential, it is my studio, a
place where artistic and horticultural research are fused to create
an environment that stimulates all of the senses, including the most
elusive of all, our sense of time.”
That's probably enough of Peckerwood,
and certainly Haruko needed to get out of the heat. My 15-year-old
was ready to go also, and she summed up the experience (unfairly) by
stating, “Well, I like my Papa's garden better.”
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Lagerstroemia arch |
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Dallas Arboretum flower garden |
The next day at the Dallas Arboretum
was also hellishly hot, but Haruko and daughter dutifully fulfilled
their “business” mission. I'm sure that 95% of visitors to both
gardens would prefer the Dallas Arb. because of the green lawns and
well-tended flower beds. It is more touristy with abundant color
versus the drab laboratory of Peckerwood. I would be more interested
in the latter garden I suppose, but I am proud to have supplied
maples to Dallas.
I was happy to have my girls back home,
and my daughter certainly matured after her six week absence. I
cannot use her name because she doesn't want creeps to google her,
but if you care about dance, you can google Houston Ballet Summer
Intensive Performance and see the show. However, I must keep working
so I can pay for it all.
Oops...sorry, the performance post has
been removed. Too bad.
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