Our past year saw
some extreme and brutal weather events. For this nurseryman the
seasons can be described thusly:
spring is emerging,
summer is enduring,
autumn is fleeting
and finally
winter hunkers.
So, we're in autumn
now, and though we are rewarded with fantastic foliage colours, I
describe the season as fleeting
because it squeezes itself in between the long, exhausting summer and
the even longer and possibly fatal winter when I consider my business
most vulnerable. Fall
seems the most transitional of the four where summer
continues to linger, while yet a frost in September alerts us to the
frigid days ahead.
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| "Bomb" Cyclone |
Just a week ago we
had visitors, and they reminded us that we work in a most glorious
place. Yes, the warm afternoon sun was brightly and warmly greeting
our guests, and their enthusiasm was infectious, and even grumpy old
Buchholz was able to smile. I was proud to have accumulated a floral
collection that brought joy to others, and I found myself imagining
another forty years of nursery ownership. Ahhh...But then the benign
elements suddenly succumbed to Nature-Bitch mode when a weather
pattern developed into a bomb cyclone
– a new meteorological term – just off the Pacific coast. Strong
wind and heavy rain pelted the nursery for a week and sayonara
to autumn fun, at least for many of our trees.
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| Acer palmatum 'Mon zukushi' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Mon zukushi' |
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| Book of Japanese Kamon Emblems |
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| Kamon Emblems |
Acer palmatum 'Mon
zukushi' was glowing next to our road as my wife Haruko and I drove
past, and while its warm red delighted her I considered the dismal
commercial aspect, namely that it is not a strong seller. But yes,
dear, it is lovely, but I usually keep no more than 20 at the nursery
at any given time. I could sense Haru cringing because her simple
appreciation of the maple would then be compromised by my inevitable
probe into the meaning of the name. According to MrMaple.com its name
translates as “One of the sacred
treasures,” and it was listed in
Japan as early as 1704. When I presented that translation to Haruko
she stared at me in bewildered silence, and when I snapped her back
to the present she admitted that the word “sacred” gave her
pause, wondering if “sacred” had more broad meaning possibilities
than what she knew about. Ok, so what then? Haru sighed.......then
explained that mon
is a “symbol or mark,” like a family crest where each family –
whether the Emperor's, or her maiden Nagamine's – contains a
representative kamon
(ka =
family, mon
= crest) and/or variations. Zukushi
means “filled with” or “so many,” as in a tree where each
leaf is precious looking. After delivering her version, Haru went to
the kitchen to do the dishes, preferring that chore to dealing with
Husband's Inquisitions. I apologize to the reader, and even moreso to
my wife if I have rendered any of this incorrectly, which I probably
have.
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| Acer palmatum 'Inazuma' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Inazuma' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Inazuma' |
At the entrance into
the main road at Flora Farm is an old specimen of Acer palmatum
'Inazuma', commonly known in the literature as the “Thunder maple.”
It is not the most spectacularly red, or purple-red, of the myriad of
upright red Japanese maples, yet in autumn it certainly does present
a thunderous
appearance. Sadly, yet another commercially over-looked cultivar; but
then, what do I care? 'Inazuma' is an old-timer that was known by at
least 1882, or perhaps even before...but not considered much today.
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| Japanese rice plants |
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| Farm Woman - Hirezaki Eiho (1881-1970) |
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| Japanese Farmer and His Wife |
Oh, sorry, I sensed
that Haruko again cringed when I demanded: “What!, What! What does
inazuma
mean? – thunder!,
Right?” Uh...”no,” she responds. “Perhaps
more accurately it is the Lightning maple. “'Inazuma', Talon, is
the 'Lightning maple'.” H knows that
it would be far more simple to automatically agree with me, but
thankfully her Japanese pride compels her to accurately bridge the
gap between her demanding husband and the Flora Wonder readership.
Haruko explains: Ina is the rice plant,
and the Japanese farmers long noticed that it would ripen at the time
of intense autumn weather when lightning was common. Zuma
– maybe the wife of an old farmer – signifies a close
relationship that he also has with his rice plants. He might say “Oh
good, lightning happened, the rice will now develop.” Just thunder
– the sound part – is “kaminari.”
A Thunder Dad is nicknamed “kaminari
oyaji,”
for a father who gets mad quickly.
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| Acer palmatum 'Umegae' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Umegae' |
Near the office is
an old specimen of Acer palmatum 'Umegae', and it was shining
brilliantly orange. Its foliage is plum-red in spring and features
prominent green veins, and our old friend develops light green seed
with increasing shades of red in autumn. The name (oo-may-gah-eh)
contains the obvious ume
for “plum” while the gae
part refers to “the branch of,” so for some reason the “branch
of the plum” seemed fitting to the namer back in the 1880's. As
with 'Inazuma' and 'Mon zukushi' sales have never been strong, except
that any healthy, nicely-shaped maple always does sell. I send David
up the ladder once every two or three years for the best 25-50 scions
at the top. There's no good wood below or I would cut them myself,
but at this point I limit myself to just three steps up the ladder.
David is a grafter and he knows what to cut, and I've learned to
leave a banana at the foot of the tree, so he always makes his way
down.
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| Acer palmatum 'Kamagata' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Kamagata' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Kamagata' |
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| Acer palmatum 'Kamagata' |
Last week's visitors
were demonstrably impressed with Acer palmatum 'Kamagata', an
interesting cultivar that was selected and named by the maple
enthusiast and author J.D. Vertrees of Oregon. He insisted that his
findling was a dwarf, and no doubt the original seedling appeared to
be, but when he writes, “After eight years, a plant at Maplewood
was just over 3' in height,” he doesn't specify if that's the size
of the original – which is on its own
roots – or the size of a grafted
progeny. I find the cultivar to be relatively slow and dense, but our
grafted crops are over twice the size as the Vertrees claim.
'Kamagata' was so named due to the small lobes which are “hooked
or downward-curved at the tip,” as
the Japanese name means “falcate.” Vertrees writes in Japanese
Maples, “This
dwarf type, 'Kamagata', performs and appears quite differently from
any other cultivar with which I am familiar, or can find in the
literature.” For the record I have
found a number of 'Kamagata' types but I didn't name any, and so has
Dick van der Maat of Boskoop, Holland who has named a few (such as
'Diana' and 'Katja'). The first plant purchase of my career, 41 years
ago, was six maples from Vertrees at his retail price, and one of the
plants was 'Kamagata'. I liked his introduction, and besides I
thought my 'Kamagata' purchase might help ingratiate myself to him.
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| Acer shirasawanum 'Mikado' |
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| Acer shirasawanum 'Mikado' |
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| Acer shirasawanum 'Mikado' |
I discovered and
named Acer shirasawanum 'Mikado' about 20 years ago and the original
seedling, probably a hybrid with an Acer palmatum, resides in the
original Display Garden. The foliage color is plum-purple in spring
and summer, changing to orange-red in fall. I wrote in the past: I won't go so far to say that I'm tired
of the deep red-purple foliage of Acer palmatums 'Bloodgood' or 'Red
Dragon', but after a long career of producing them by the thousands,
I've grown to appreciate the plummy hue of 'Mikado'. The only problem
is that the original tree (photo above) is now twice that size in a
space way too small, and I fret about the enormous task to transplant
it. The word Mikado was formerly used for the Emperor of
Japan, from mi for “honorable” and kado for “gate”
or “portal,” and it was first used in 1727. Of course The
Mikado was an operetta by W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan
which premiered at the Savoy in London on March 4, 1885. It was an
instant hit and ran for 672 performances, with fun characters such as
The Mikado for the Emperor, Nanki-Poo, The Mikado's son (disguised as
a wandering minstrel), the maiden Yum-Yum – I married a Yum-Yum too
– and Pooh-Bah, the Lord High of Everything.
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| Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' |
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| Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' |
A photo from a
previous year shows Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' in its autumn
glory, and most maple collectors find the cultivar to color
dependably. This year was different, however, because most of the
leaves turned to orange, then brown, and defoliated soon after our
record-smashing 116F inferno of June 22. I've had to accept the
unsightly mass for the past four months, and I regretted that it was
originally planted along the main road into the nursery. I'll never
remove the tree as long as it's alive, but I could understand if the
next owner wants to get rid of the old, lichenous behemoth. The
botanic name, 'Aconitifolium', is unfortunate for what is commonly
called the “Fern-leaf maple,” as the leaves somewhat resemble
those of the Aconitum genus. I prefer the more poetic Japanese name
of 'Maiku jaku' which means “dancing peacock,” but I don't want
to risk confusing customers if I dropped the old Latin name.
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| Enkianthus campanulatus in Japan |
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| Enkianthus campanulatus 'Hollandia Red' |
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| Enkianthus campanulatus 'Showy Lantern' |
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| Enkianthus campanulatus 'Showy Lantern' |
Not only are the
maples impressive, but so-too another genus, Enkianthus, which is
native from the Himalaya to Japan. The species E. campanulatus was
introduced in 1880 by Charles Maries while he was collecting for the
Veitch Nursery firm of England. I have seen the species in the
Japanese wild in November and the foliage was brilliant. At the
nursery the fall color ranges from yellow to orange to red, as do
many of the maple cultivars depending on where they are sited. The
E.c. 'Hollandia Red' photo was taken yesterday of a bush growing in
shade down by Springhill Creek at the southern edge of the nursery,
while the more-orange 'Showy Lantern' is from a planting in the
Display Garden in full sun. The Enkianthus genus was named for its
flowers, from Greek enkyos
meaning “pregnant” and anthos
meaning “flower,” in reference to the swelling at the base of
each flower. The ericaceous, erect shrub is honored with numerous
plantings in my collection, and though not as gracefully elegant as
many Japanese maples, still they pair well with each other, just as
they do in their Oriental lands.
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| Intern Saori at Heritage Seedlings |
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| Gordlinia grandiflora |
A few days ago
Haruko and I visited Mark and Jolly Krautmann's nursery, Heritage
Seedlings of Salem, Oregon. Fall color was fantastic – our timing
was perfect – and our new Japanese intern Saori was enjoying their
block of Nyssa sylvatica seedlings. One purpose to visit was to keep
my word about supplying Mark with the weeping Stewartia monadelpha
'Fuji shidare' which I obtained years ago from Shibamichi Honten in
Japan. The day was mostly cloudy and rainy, but when we returned to
the nursery in the afternoon the sun broke through for a moment and I
could capture the beautiful color of my original specimen. That was
my reward, I suppose, or my karma
for sharing a plant. It's a good practice to share, and I came home
with two small Gordlinia which were loaded with flower buds.
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| Stewartia monadelpha 'Fuji shidare' October 20th, 2021 |
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| Stewartia monadelpha 'Fuji Shidare' October 29th, 2021 |
Thanks for the
memories, Fleeting Fall, for my 'Fuji shidare' is now mostly bare of
leaves, and so too the other trees in this blog. We will soon enter
into the skeletal winter, and there we will hunker for a few months.
