Gossler Farms Nursery

Frequently on Thursdays I am truant from work, driving off for a hike or to visit gardens and nurseries, usually accompanied by my “grandfather.” One week it's a 3 ½ hour trip north to the Rhododendron Species Foundation, then a 2 ½ hour trip south to Gossler Nursery the next. Every one of these garden excursions leads me to new plant knowledge, and often I come away with the plants themselves.

Roger Gossler in spring 2013

We arrived early on a pleasant spring morning and found Roger Gossler toiling at the back end of a greenhouse. I think he was a bit dismayed to see us so early, for all of the other greenhouses were under water – no, not like a hopeless mortgage – and Roger no doubt had many tasks he hoped to accomplish before we showed up. But he generously dropped them all and proceeded to entertain us with plant identifications, his experiences and stories about the people associated with his bushes.

Hamamelis japonica 'Pendula'

Hamamelis x intermedia 'Bonny Brook'

Hamamelis 'Dishi'

Hamamelis 'Double Gold'

Roger has quite a collection of Hamamelis cultivars, many that I had never seen before. Earlier he had given me a plant of Hamamelis japonica 'Pendula', a “strong weeping witch hazel that will get to 1' tall at most without staking. The flowers are small, but are very fragrant.” (Gossler Farms Nursery 2014-2015 catalog). Hamamelis x intermedia 'Bonny Brook' was new for me, and though it was long out of bloom, I admired that the lush foliage continued to show off its jewel-like irrigation droplets. It is said to bloom with fragrant yellow petals with red at the base. 'Bonny Brook' originated about 1990 at Bonny Brook Nursery in Washington state. Other new cultivars included H. 'Dishy', with orange-red petels in the middle that shade to gold at the tips, and H. 'Double Gold', a plant with leaves variegated with a dark green center and a chartreuse-yellow wide margin. According to Roger it originated in The Netherlands as a sport of H. 'Westerstede'. Perhaps I should schedule a late-winter trip to Gossler Nursery to see his myriad of cultivars in bloom?

Kirengeshoma palmata

I have never grown a Kirengeshoma palmata, a shrub that Roger says forms a 2-3' bush with arching stems. It was especially arching after its recent irrigation. He describes that “this woodlander has yellow flowers in late summer that look like a badminton shuttlecock.” Also known as “yellow wax-bells,” it is in the family Hydrangaceae. It is native to the mountainous areas of Japan and Korea and is hardy to -20 degrees F, USDA zone 5. The generic name certainly sounds exotic, but unfortunately there is no interesting story as it is just a Latinized version of the original Japanese name.

Leiophyllum buxifolium

I instantly recognized Leiophyllum buxifolium, a Rhododendron relative that I saw in the Smokies last spring. Roger calls it a “Sand Myrtle” from the New Jersey Pine Barrons, but in the Smokies it is more appropriately known as the “Mountain Myrtle,” and in fact Myrtle Point on Mt. Le Conte was named for the beautiful shrub. The star-like flowers range from white to pale pink; Roger's was blooming white in the greenhouse, and he said that his 30+-year-old plant is only 18” x 18”. The generic name is from Greek leios meaning “smooth” and phyllon for “leaf,” while the specific name is due to its resemblance to boxwood (Buxus). The plant was first described by Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790-1818), a Prussian botanist, naturalist, cavalryman and pharmacist. His cavalryman resume was due to serving in the Prussian campaign in the Napoleonic Wars, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross. Bergius was encouraged to relocate to Cape Town, South Africa, where he was to work as a pharmacist and collect for the Berlin Museum. Sadly he died in isolation and poverty of tuberculosis at the age of 28.

Magnolia figo

Roger has lived more than twice the years that were allotted to poor Bergius, but he enthusiastically dashed from our company to tend to a (paying) customer. I was left alone to ponder the identity of a shrub with a curious small blossom, but the plant had no label. Roger doesn't need to spend much time on labeling as he pretty much knows all that he grows, but will do so at the point of sale. Eventually he returned and revealed that my tree of interest was Magnolia figo, commonly known as the “Banana shrub.” I don't understand the banana part, and Hillier describes the flowers as small, brown-purple and “strongly scented of pear drops, produced in a long succession during spring and summer.” Originally classified as Liriodendron figo, it was introduced in 1789 from southeast China and initially described by the Portuguese missionary and naturalist Joao de Loureiro. Later it was reclassified by German botanist Curt Polycarp as Michelia figo, and then in 2006 it was decided that all Michelia belonged to the Magnolia genus. The specific name figo is from Old Portuguese figo, and that from Latin ficus for “fig tree” or “fig fruit.” I would like to acquire a Magnolia figo, but I would have to keep it in my warm hobby house because it can withstand cold only to 10 degrees above 0.

Choisya x 'Goldfingers'

Peter Catt's cat

Choisya x 'Goldfingers' was a nice find and I liked the name. It is a hybrid of C. dumosa var. arizonica x C. ternata 'Sundance' and was raised by Hillier Nurseries propagator Peter Moor in 1996. I remember seeing C. 'Sundance' at Peter Catt's Liss Forest Nursery in England; he patented it in 1986, and told me twelve years ago that the royalties brought in more income than the rest of his nursery did. I fondly remember that the widower Catt had a close bond with his cat – Catt's cat – and allowed the feline to sit atop his Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'. Choisya was named for the Swiss botanist Jacques Choisy (1799-1859) who published a number of botanical works, one of which was a Treatise on the families Ternstroemiaceae and Camelliaceae, but botanists now prefer the Theaceae family that consists of Eurya, Camellia, Stewartia, Ternstroemia and Gordonia. Camellia, or Camelia, was named by botanist Linnaeus (1707-1778) for a previous botanist Georg Kamel (1661-1706), while the family name Theaceae is derived from Greek thea for “goddess.” Thea is an abbreviation of names like Althea and Dorothea, while the mythological Thea was the Greek goddess of light, and mother of the sun, moon and dawn. She was the daughter of Ouranos (heaven) and Gaia (earth), the wife of Hyperion (Titan god of light), and mother of Helios (the sun), Eos (the dawn) and Selene (the moon). The next time you encounter a Choisya, Camelia or Stewartia remember the rich etymology of the family name, but I must reveal that her alternate name Euryphaessa has been adopted for a species of Australian leafhopper, Dayus euryphaessa.

Enkianthus campanulatus (white form)

Roger showed us a white-flowered form of Enkianthus campanulatus, but I don't remember where he got it. He is very familiar with the genus, and decidedly ruled out the possibility of it being the perulatus species which also blooms white. Obviously I can't tell you any more about Roger's tree, as what you see in the photo is what you get. I'll mention a few things about the genus though, for it was first described by the same de Loureiro who classified the Magnolia figo that I wrote about earlier. He focused on the flowers and created the genus name from the Greek enkyos for “pregnant” and anthos for “flower.” The specific name campanulatus is due to the bell-shaped flowers, and this species is the most cultivated of the 13-17 recognized species. It was introduced from Japan to England by Charles Maries who was employed by the Veitch Nursery. Enkianthus species and cultivars are scattered throughout the Flora Wonder Arboretum and they pair well with our maples and conifers. Roger's white-flowered form will be in bloom for another couple of weeks and you readers really should make an effort to see it. And buy something for heaven sakes; even if your garden is full you can still shoehorn in another couple of plants.

Berberis replicata

I have visited Gossler Nursery quite a number of times, but for some reason never saw his specimen of Berberis replicata planted along the main entrance. Roger writes in his catalog, “People always see this barberry and ask what it is and want it.” His plant is 8' x 9' after 20 years, and has been hardy to zero degrees F. It is an evergreen with purple new growth contrasting nicely with the older dark-green foliage. It is native to the mountain slopes of Yunnan* – where I have been – but I don't recall seeing it in the wild either. The species is so-named because the leaves are replicate, that is, turned backward. The origin of the generic name Berberis is from Medieval Latin barberis, and that from Arabic barbaris. The classification of Mahonia and Berberis, and their relationship to each other, never seems to be settled, and indeed the two genera are able to hybridize which is known as x Mahoberberis. Furthermore, the dried rhizome and roots of some Mahonia – especially M. aquifolium, the Oregon state flower – contain a number of alkaloides, such as berberine and berberamine. These two spell-alikes are not medicinally close to each other, with berberine known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects. Besides, it can lower cholesterol and help with body fat loss. Berberamine inhibits the growth of liver cancer cells and cancer-initiating cells. I don't know, however, if B. replicata contains any of these properties, so I won't be chewing on any of its leaves.

*Replicata was introduced by George Forrest in 1917 and it received an Award of Merit in 1923.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Morioka Weeping'

The Gossler gardens contain a lot of old trees, and none more majestic than Cercidiphyllum, the “Katsura tree.” C. japonicum 'Morioka Weeping' was of good size with attractively weeping branches. It originated in Japan and was named for the city* where it was found, but technically the name is invalid due to the combination of Japanese and English. Somebody once gave me a 'Morioka' but it didn't weep at all, and later I found out that it had been propagated by tissue culture.

*A city of 300,000 located in northern Honshu Island. The area has been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period, from 50,000 to 30,000 B.C.

Cercidiphyllum magnificum

A wonderful specimen of Cercidiphyllum magnificum graced the lawn, and Roger was very generous with the space he allows for it. If we were back at Buchholz Nursery I would proabably have crammed hundreds of other plants around it. It seems odd that the magnificum epithet was given to the tree that is smaller in stature than the japonicum species. Plant books indicate that C. magnificum rarely exceeds ten meters tall, but Gossler's tree must be that tall now. Magnificum is endemic to central Honshu, and it is dioecious, with separate male and female trees. I didn't check under the leaf to see the sex of Roger's tree.

Argyrocitisus battandieri

Jules Aime Battandier

Cytisus battandieri is listed in Hillier's Manual of Trees and Shrubs in the 5^th edition (1984), but the 2014 edition directs us to Argyrocitisus battandieri. It is described by Hillier as “A tall shrub. Leaves laburnum-like, grey, with a silky sheen. Cone-shaped clusters of bright yellow, pineapple-scented flowers appear in July.” So I was too early for the pineapple experience. It was introduced to England from Morocco in the 1920's, and received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1933. The “Pineapple Broom” was named for the French pharmacist Jules Aime Battandier (1848-1922) who was considered an expert on northwest African plants from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. There are a couple of other plants named for him: Viola battandieri and Ophrys battandieri, the latter being an orchid and the former a violet from Algeria.

Viburnum plicatum 'Pink Beauty'

Viburnum plicatum 'Pink Beauty'

I'm not really a fan of Viburnum – Viburnum when you can mulch them? – but Roger had a beauty that I would like in my garden. V. plicatum 'Pink Beauty' was as exciting as a new girlfriend, and Hillier calls it “A charming selection in which the ray flowers age to a delightful pink.” The plicatum species is native to China, Japan and Taiwan, and was introduced to western horticulture in 1865. It is commonly known as the “Japanese snowball,” and in Japan it is called yabudemari, which for me is unforgettable and fun to say. Yabu de mari.

There were dozens and dozens of additional plants that attracted me, but I don't want to over stay my welcome. Roger's garden and greenhouses were stimulating as usual, but no two visits are ever close to the same...kind of like being married to my wife, with every day an adventure.

Paeonia 'Pastel Splendor'

Cornus kousa 'Tri Splendor'

Robinia frisia

Robinia frisia

Parrotia persica 'Persian Lace'

Asarum maximum

Epimedium rubrum

Epimedium rubrum

Ginkgo biloba 'Snow Cloud'

Rhododendron 'Ken Janek'

Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola'

Polystichum neolobatum

Styrax 'Frosted Emerald'

Epimedium 'Orange Queen'

Sanguisorba obtusa 'Beth Chatto'

Paeonia ludlowii 'Lutea'

Ulmus x vegeta 'Wredei'

Salix candida

Epimedium 'Pierre's Purple'

Gardenia 'Kleim's Hardy'

Old Plant Book

Old Conifers and Rhododendrons by  Hugh Fraser

Today I pulled a book from my crowded shelves, Old Conifers and Rhododendrons by Hugh Fraser, a Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, published in 1875. In the preface he states “There is perhaps no feature of the present age more strikingly obvious, or more hopeful as an evidence of the growing taste and culture of the people, than the almost universal interest now taken in matters connected with Botany and Horticulture.” Wow, an increase in the taste and culture of the people! Perhaps my employees are doubly tasteful and cultured, as they all have learned botanical Latin as well.

Picea abies

Picea abies 'Pendula'

On the cover are three dangling peni – oh wait, maybe they are cones of Picea abies, the “Norway Spruce.” The book does not list Picea abies because back then it was classified as Abies excelsa. Norway spruce was known as white deal due to its white wood which was and still is used “all over the continent.” Fraser lists a number of old selections but refers to them as varieties, not as cultivars*. Thus we read Abies excelsa Var. [sic] inverta, which is now known as Picea abies Pendula, the “weeping Norway spruce.” I recognized some of Fraser's “varieties” such as Var. Clanbrassiliana, Var. Gregoriana, Var. pygmaea and Var. monstrosa, but I had never heard of Var. findonensis, the latter to be of English origin “with the upper shoots tinted with pale yellow.” He suggests that “it might with advantage be planted in parks and extensive pleasure-grounds.”

*The word cultigen is derived from Latin cultus for “cultivated” and gens for “kind,” and is defined as a plant that has been deliberately altered or selected by humans. It was coined in 1918 by Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954), an American horticulturalist and botanist. He also coined the word cultivar, and though he never explained its origin, it has been suggested that it is a contraction of cultigen and variety, or perhaps cultivated variety. Of course a cultivar is not the same as a botanical variety, at least not today, And I sicced you earlier in the paragraph above because Var. is now the lowercase var.

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Joseph D Hooker

You won't find Pseudotsuga menziesii in Fraser's book because it is listed as Abies Menziesii, or the “Menzies' spruce.” He cites it as “being very ornamental,” with needles “bright green on the upper surface and silvery beneath, giving the tree a shining appearance when the branches are agitated by the wind.” He claims that the “Douglas Fir” was discovered* and sent home by Douglas in 1831 from “Northern California,” where it “occurs over a wide area.” I don't think that claim is accurate because Douglas's second trip to North America – to the Pacific Northwest – was from July 1824 to October 1827, and he certainly must have encountered it immediately upon arrival, and the “sent home” date was 1827. Back in England, Douglas's superior – Joseph Dalton Hooker received a letter which suggested “you will begin to think I manufacture pines at my pleasure.” The insecure Douglas – the “victim” of originating from a lower class – was clearly kissing up to the immensely influential Hooker.

*Archibald Menzies discovered it in about 1792, which is why it is scientifically known as Pseudotsuga menziesii.

A pair of Pseudotsuga menziesii at Flora Farm

The tallest tree in Britain used to be Abies grandis – also introduced by Douglas – which was planted as a sapling in 1875, the same year that Fraser's conifer book was published; but currently it is surpassed by a Douglas fir in Reelig Glen Wood near Inverness, Scotland at 66 m. tall (217 feet).* The tallest tree in America was cut down in 1902 at Lynn Valley, near Vancouver, B.C., and reportedly measured at 142 m. (465 feet), over twice the size of the British champion. Indeed new research suggests that P. menziesii could grow to 430 to 476 feet tall before its water supply would fail. Two monsters (see photos above) are on my property and they rival the British champion, and were certainly a motivating factor in my purchase of the farm.

*Hillier, in his 2014 edition of Hillier's Manual of Trees and Shrubs mentions that the tallest Douglas fir was measured in 1999 at Dunans, Argyll, and it was 65 meters tall, “the tallest tree in Britain at the millennium, and probably the tallest since the last ice age.” Could a Limey weigh in please?

Tsuga mertensiana

Tsuga mertensiana

Franz Karl Mertens

When I saw Fraser's listing of Abies Albertiana I was initially puzzled, thinking that he was about to describe the “Alberta spruce,” now known as Picea glauca var. albertiana 'Conica'. But that wasn't possible as our now-common Alberta spruce wasn't discovered until 1904 in the Canadian Rockies by Dr. J.G. Jack and Prof. Alfred Rehder of the Arnold Arboretum. “Abies Albertiana” was an early classification of what we now know as Tsuga mertensiana, with the specific epithet referring to Franz Karl Mertens (1764-1831), a German botanist. Interestingly, Mertens never ventured to the west-coast American mountains, and I doubt that he ever saw a herbarium specimen of the “Mountain Hemlock.” He only studied botany in his spare time, and he specialized in the field of phycology – from Greek phykos for “seaweed” – as well as describing a number of species of algae.

Tsuga x jeffreyi

Tsuga mertensiana is quite different from other hemlocks, and some suppose that it belongs to its own genus. It was once assumed that the “Jeffrey's mountain hemlock” was a naturally occurring cross between T. mertensiana and T. heterophylla, except that there is no verified evidence to support this. For now we are stuck with the cumbersome designation of Tsuga mertensiana subsp. mertensiana var. jeffreyi for “Jeffrey's hemlock.” I have never seen it in the wild, but (maybe) only once at the Gimborn Arboretum (photo above). Needles are supposedly more green than T. mertensiana, and less glaucous above and more pale below. The specimen at Gimborn was growing in shade, and it glittered as if it was a true mertensiana.

Picea smithiana

Morinda is a genus of flowering plants in the madder family, and the generic name is derived from Latin morus for “mulberry” and indica, meaning of India. However that has nothing to do with Fraser's Abies morinda, the “west Himalayan spruce,” as the specific name is due to the Nepalese name for the tree. “Morinda” is a beautiful name – ah, if I could have another daughter... – but the spruce is now known as Picea smithiana, a name which honors the Scottish gardener Smith, as he was the first to grow it in Scotland in the 1820's. I have seen smithiana in the wild, and I was surprised that the trees were tall narrow pillars. In Oregon young trees are quite broad, but then sometimes that is due to leader-death caused by the blasted pine shoot moth,* a bane originally from Europe. I don't grow the species any more due to this problem, but I do have a couple of beautifully-drooping specimens planted near the nursery on property I used to lease.

*Rhyacionia buoliana

Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba 'Majestic Butterfly'

Fraser was enamored with Salisburia Adiantifolia, also known as the “Maidenhair tree.” He relates that “it was first described and named by Linnaeus as Ginkgo biloba, but subsequently changed by Smith and named in compliment to the distinguished English botanist R.A. Salisbury. Sorry Mr. Smith – whoever you are – because you didn't prevail. Fraser claims that Ginkgo has been in cultivation in Britain since 1754, and he even lists two varieties: Var. macrophylla and Var. variegata, the latter described as “a scarce but superb variety, with its leaves more or less striped with a bright gold variegation.” In my experience far less than more, but when cultivars such as 'Majestic Butterfly' are indeed happy with variegation, they are certainly “superb.” Ginkgo* is often mispeled as gingko; but in any case the unique tree is the only exact taxon in the division Ginkgophyta. This Chinese native is known commonly as yinxing, meaning “silver apricot” in reference to its fruit. The Japanese believe that if you eat a few ginkgo fruits it will make you smarter, but if you eat too many it will make you crazy, and they sagely conclude that the Chinese and Koreans eat far too many.

*Engelbert Kaempfer studied the tree in 1690, and in his notes he wrote down the pronunciation as Ginkgo. But that was not quite accurate, and a more precise spelling would have been ginkio or ginkjo. Even the subsequent Linnaeus adopted the “reliable” Kaempfer spelling, as given in Kaempfer's Flora Japonica.

Larix laricina 'Nash Pendula'

Larix laricina

Larix occidentalis

I had to ponder for a while, trying to figure out what tree Fraser had in mind with his Abies canadensis (the Hemlock Spruce).  A few clues helped to solve the puzzle: the vast extent of its range in Canada and the United States, cultivated in England for upwards of 100 years, grows from 30 to 80 feet tall, feathery appearance and bright green needles in spring. Actually the first clue of the “vast extent” should be enough for any plantsman to know that he was describing Larix, although we now recognize three species in North America – laricina, occidentalis, and lyallii. Wouldn't Fraser be astounded if he saw the tallest western larch that dramatically out-tops his 80 foot limit and measures 197 feet tall? Larix lyallii is the “Alpine Larch” which can be found in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta. It occurs at elevations of 5900 feet to 7900 feet, often in thin soil, but when most happy it can reach 80 feet tall. I used to grow lyallii at the nursery, but with my lush soil and generous watering it grew fast and looked like any ordinary larch. An ancient specimen in Kananaskis, Alberta was demonstrated to be 1,917 years old; it would be fun to see it as the species is often dwarfed and misshapen.

Picea polita

Picea polita

Fraser describes Abies polita as the “Corean spruce,” and notes that “the name polita was first given to a plant which afterwards proved identical with Abies morinda...” He then proceeds to correct that notion, for they're as different as cheese and chalk as the late plantsman Harold Hillier used to say. Fraser said “...it promises to be one of the handsomest of our ornamental Firs, quite equal to our climate when planted in a moderately sheltered situation...” Not  to worry Mr. Fraser, for we used to have a Michigan customer who regularly bought the species. Commonly called the “Tigertail spruce,” it is notable for its “viciously sharp” needles (excellently described by Rushforth in Conifers). My 5^th edition of Hillier's Manual of Trees and Shrubs lists the spruce as Picea polita, but the newest edition (2014) lists it as Picea torano. The IUCN Red List notes that torano is the correct name, and sadly that it is now considered vulnerable. I don't know the origin or meaning of torano* but Carlos Torano is famous for some of the most consistently tasty cigars around.

*Chotto matte – “wait a minute” in Japanese – Haruko just returned home, and I consulted with my personal Japanese Department of Information. In Japanese tora means “tiger” and o means “tail.” So great, now I know the etymology of “Tigertail spruce.” ...Ah, the wisdom of the Orient.

Araucaria araucana

Araucaria araucana

Archibald Menzies

Abies imbricata is the “Chile Pine” to Fraser, but since there are no true-pines from Chile, he is obviously referring to Araucaria araucana. He describes “that no animal can climb it or even rub against it without being hurt – hence its native name, Pehuen, or 'Puzzle Monkey'.” Apparently Fraser wasn't paying attention when the monkey puzzle name “was given at a planting ceremony at Pencarrow in Cornwall in 1834 when a guest observed that to climb the tree with its prickly foliage 'would be a puzzle for a monkey.'” (Rushforth). Araucaria araucana was introduced by Menzies when he was on Captain Vancouver's 1795 expedition. I have never seen the species in the wild, but it is on my to-do list, and I better not wait too long.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew accepts 175 species in the Pinus* genus. The word Pinus is thought to have been derived from the Indo-European base pit for “resin” – hence pitch.

*In the past pines were often known as firs, and that derived from Middle English firre. In Old Norse it is fyrre, and in modern times some northern European languages still refer to pines as firs, for example in Dutch “vuren,” German “Fohre,” Norwegian “fura” and Danish “fyr.”

Pinus lambertiana

Harumi Buchholz with cone

David Douglas

Fraser's 1875 book describes the pines as Pinus, one of the few times that he and modern botanists concur. He lists Pinus Lambertiana, a species honoring the British pine expert Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761-1842). “Sugar pines” are so-named due to the sweet resinous sap that exudes from bark wounds, and the famous naturalist John Muir considered the taste better than maple sugar. David Douglas discovered lambertiana (and more than 50 other species of trees) and introduced it to England in 1827. According to Fraser, Douglas found it “near the source of the Multnomah river in 1827,” but that statement is contrary to the fact that there is no Multnomah River in Oregon. Douglas noted Native Americans eating nuts from a species new to him and they agreed to lead him to a sugar pine area. On October 26, 1826 he discovered the amazingly tall trees and he measured a fallen specimen at 215' (40.84 m). The only way he could retrieve viable cones was to shoot them from branches, and after some time he had a nice collection. However, due to the report of his gun, eight hostile-looking Indians from another tribe showed up, with faces painted with red earth and armed with bows, arrows, spears and knives. There was a stand-off for eight-to-ten minutes, with Douglas's cocked rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other. Finally the leader made a sign for Douglas's tobacco, and he agreed if they would get more cones. When they were out of sight Douglas picked up three cones and some twigs and made a quick retreat back to his camp. He spent a fretful night awake, wondering if they would find and murder him. I have four biographies of Douglas by different authors, and they all relish in re-telling the story derived from Douglas's journal.

It is understandable that the Fraser book would contain some strange conjectures and inaccuracies, just as the Flora Wonder blog does, for a lot of our information comes from second-hand sources. Fraser's book was published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. They published other works on gardening, and I may seek out The Six of Spades by the Reverend S. Reynolds Hole, a book recommended by E. Moses.

"Hole E. Moses? Grow up Talon."