Dawn of the dead

A lethal night gave way to the dawn of the dead.

That could be the byline for a horror movie starring cold-sensitive plants, and that’s exactly what happened last night.

Typically, when we have frost, it’s for a few hours around dawn. But last night we hit the 32°F mark at 11p.m. and we were below freezing until 9 a.m. this morning (the low was 26.7°F according to Weather Underground.) That’s 10 hours of frost, and that’s bad news for many of our tender plants, not to mention our citrus crop. It’ll take a few days to get a definitive picture of what is damaged, but one thing is clear already: This was the most brutal night of this winter. (Yes, I know we’re all “sensitive petals”, as our Australian friend Bill would say, but we can’t help it.)

The succulents I’d covered with a frost blanket appear to be OK, as are the potted plants on our front porch. But there are still casualties; with any luck they will recover in time.

Variegated Eureka lemon in the front, yellow lotus banana behind it. Some of the leaves on the Eureka lemon don’t look good, especially the tender new growth. There are quite a few flower buds as well. Not sure what will happen to them.

Yellow lotus banana (Musella lasiocarpa). It looks terrible but it’s actually hardy to 10°F. It will grow new leaves as soon as we have consistently warm weather.

Giant elephant ear (Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Borneo Giant'). The leaves are toast. I’m frankly surprised they lasted as long as they did. The tubers are hardy to zone 8 and will produce new leaves in the summer as soon as the soil temperature is consistently above ~60°F.

Euphorbia ‘Helena’s Blush’ (Euphorbia amygdaloides hybrid). It is supposed to be hardy to 0°F. No clue why it collapsed like it did.

Our calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) look very droopy. Last year I covered them up but still lost about half of the leaves. They’ll bounce back fairly quickly once it gets a little warmer.

Large Agave chiapensis with frost damage (dark spots). Hardy to 28°F. I should have covered this one up; that’s what I did last winter and it sustained no damage. This is just cosmetic damage, but agaves don’t exactly grow fast so the plant will be disfigured for a while.

Agave celsii, supposedly hardy to 20-25°F. This one is in a pot in an exposed spot on our front porch. All I had to do is move the plant to a more sheltered position to protect it…but I didn’t. The dark spots are damaged tissue. This isn’t lethal but the leaves will be pock-marked.

Tower of jewels (Echium wildprettii). Endemic to the Canary Islands and supposedly hardy to 20°F. Too soon to say if there’s any real damage. I lost one of these stunning plants last fall for no apparent reason.

Our bamboos are OK even though these two sub-tropical Bambusas had quite of a bit of frost on their leaves.

Baby blue bamboo (Bambusa chungii ‘Barbelatta). Hardy to 21°F. Some leaves have had a yellowish cast for a few weeks now and may fall off soon. No cause for worry, the plant itself it fine and will grow new leaves in the spring. The culms are unharmed.

Giant clumping timber bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii). Hardy to 21°F as well. No damage here, but this is the first time I’ve seen this much frost on its leaves.

Most perennials in our garden aren’t fazed by a low of 27°F. They keep on trucking as if nothing had happened. In fact, frost makes their leaves extra beautiful, especially since it’s so fleeting.

 

 

Citrus trees and fruit are fairly sensitive to frost. I checked our Washington navel orange tree, which is full of fruit, and it looks unharmed. I picked a couple of oranges and they tasted fine, but that doesn’t mean much at this stage. It’ll be a few days before frost-damaged fruit begins to turn mushy and lose its flavor (that happened last year).

Some experts recommend picking frost-damaged fruit as quickly as possible and juicing it right away in order to preserve the flavor. I’m not sure yet what we’ll do; the optimist in me hopes that most of our fruit had enough protection from overhanging branches and is OK. We’ll reassess tomorrow.

Readers in the citrus belt: Farmer Fred, a well-known Sacramento-area master gardener with a weekly radio show, has some useful information about citrus protection on his website. Read this and this.

Great finds at Lowe’s

The other day I stopped at Lowe’s* and happened to walk by the clearance rack in the garden center. Usually you see a few sad-looking annuals that are past their prime, but this time the clearance rack was a veritable cornucopia.

There were quite a few ornamental grasses that looked dead but are really just dormant, so I snapped up some Heavy Metal switch grass (Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'), purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum’) and deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens). The price sure was right: $1 per 1-gallon plant. I passed on the Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra'), which, while beautiful, is quite invasive in our climate. Plus, I already have one in a container.

Even though Christmas is over, the holiday spirit must still be in the air, because I felt compelled to buy a 1-gallon size holly for $1.50. It looked so festive with its glossy dark-green foliage and red berries. Usually you need a female plant and a male plant nearby to get berries, but the container I bought actually contains a female (Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Princess') and a male (Ilex x meserveae 'Blue Prince'). The label aptly calls this arrangement ‘Royal Court’. I have no idea what I will do with it, but for now I’m enjoying how nice it looks. Maybe eventually my in-laws want to plant it at their place. It is supposed to grow to 15 ft., and we certainly don’t have the room for that.

However, the find of the day was this beauty. It’s an absolutely perfect golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii). It’s in a 7 gallon container and is a full 13 inches across. The price was $25, marked down from $67. This is the largest golden barrel I’ve ever seen in a box store, and certainly the best bargain. I imagine that a specimen this large would cost in the neighborhood of $100 in a succulent nursery.

This native of Mexico can grow to 3 ft. tall and 3 ft. wide. According to succulent expert Debra Lee Baldwin, the typical growth rate is about 1 inch per year, so mine is in its early teens.

A mature golden barrel typically blooms in March and April. Judging from the old seed pods on the top, this one bloomed last year so hopefully it will bloom again this spring.

Golden barrels are hardy to 14°F for short periods. That’s much colder than it gets here so winter temperatures are not an issue. The biggest problem is keeping the cactus relatively dry in the winter. Even though golden barrels tolerate more water than many other cacti, rot is a real danger in a wet winter like the one we’re experiencing this year. I will probably plant my golden barrel in a decorative pot so I can move it to a dry spot in the winter.

The point of today’s post is this: Remember to check the clearance corner the next time you’re at your local nursery or garden center. You never know what you might find!

* For non-U.S. readers: Lowe’s is the 2nd largest home improvement warehouse chain in the U.S.

Portland Japanese Garden: Ornaments

While plants form the natural backbone of a Japanese garden, ornaments provide the human element. Professor Tono, the designer of the Portland Japanese Garden, felt that “among the garden ornaments, probably there is nothing so impressive as the stone lantern” and that stone lanterns “do much to humanize the landscape”.

Lanterns are founds in very specific locations—places where traditionally their light would have shown visitors the way, such as at the junction of two trails or next to a water basin or well. Beyond that, they are found in spots where they lend drama or balance to a view; there their purpose is symbolic instead of functional.

The Portland Japanese Garden has more than 20 stone lanterns, many of them donated by individuals and organizations in the U.S. and Japan. Other ornaments, such as water basins, an ancient mileage marker, a religious figure and an inscribed stone, are additional humanizing influences amid the highly idealized natural environment.

Mileage marker originally used on the ancient road from Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo). This marker is located inside the Antique Gate at the beginning of the steep trail that goes from the parking lot to the main entrance.

Water basin in the shape of a lotus flower inside the Antique Gate near the parking lot. Each entrance typically has a basin for the symbolic act of cleansing, which serves to calm the visitor’s senses as (s)he leaves the outside world behind upon entry to the garden. Basins are surrounded by stones with specific functions.

Water basin inside the main entry gate.

This small stone tablet with a bas-relief figure was left at the Portland Japanese Garden by an anonymous donor. It is now found at the bottom of a mossy slope in the Natural Garden. It shows a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who has delayed entering nirvana in order to help others reach enlightenment.

Harp tuner lantern (kotoji doro) at the stream that connects the Upper and Lower Pond in the Strolling Pond Garden. One leg of the lantern is in the water, the other is on land, symbolizing the interconnectedness between the two.

Snow viewing lantern (yukimi doro) at the Lower Pond in the Strolling Pond Garden. This magic site used to be the bear grotto in the old zoo—almost impossible to imagine now.

Pedestal lantern in the Natural Garden. Everything in this section of the garden is covered with moss, evoking the feeling of an ancient landscape.

The 18 ft. Sapporo pagoda lantern was a gift from Portland’s sister city Sapporo in 1963. This two-ton stone pagoda has five tiers representing the five elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space or ether); the nine rings on top represent the Buddhist concept of nine heavens; and the lotus blossom on the very top represents Buddha.

Stag lantern in Flat Garden. This is a classic pedestal lantern named after the Kasuga shrine where this type of lantern was first used. The design dates back to the 8th century.

Olympic lantern in the Flat Garden. The Olympic rings are clearly visible at the top. This Kasuga-style lantern was carved in Sapporo and donated to the garden in 1979.

Kanjuji lantern in the Flat Garden, named after the Kaju-ji Temple in Kyoto. This is a less ornate lantern style that is particularly popular in more contemporary Japanese gardens.

Metal lantern at the raised pavilion in the Flat Garden

Poetry Stone in the Flat Garden. The inscription translates as
“Here I saw the same soft spring as in Japan”.

Sources:

• Website of the Portland Japanese Garden
• Hamilton, Bruce Taylor. Human Nature: The Japanese Garden of Portland, Oregon. Portland: The Japanese Garden Society of Oregon, 1996.

Related posts:

• Portland Japanese Garden: Design
• Portland Japanese Garden: Plants 
• Portland Japanese Garden: Ornaments (this post)

• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 1 
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 2
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 3

Portland Japanese Garden: Plants

“A garden is the medium to give people a moment to lift them up, giving themselves something they did not have before. It is … a moment to feel a revolution.”

—Hoichi Kurisu, former landscape director of the Portland Japanese Garden,
as quoted in Human Nature by Bruce Taylor Hamilton

A Japanese garden, like any garden, would be incomplete without plants. No matter how minimalistic it is, it needs living, growing things, even if they are just mosses. In a more metaphorical sense, plants function as the “garments” of the garden, changing as the seasons change, underscoring the concept of life in constant flux.

In a Japanese garden, plants are placed in very specific ways in order to create balance. This balance comes from how plants harmonize—or contrast—with each other. Evergreens are juxtaposed with deciduous plants; coarser-textured pines with soft maples; tall bamboos with low-growing mosses.

Similar plants are typically grouped in uneven numbers; plantings of three or five are considered particularly pleasing and in keeping with the Japanese sense of proportion.

In order to create an idealized rendition of nature, plants are shaped to be either symmetrical or asymmetrical as needed or desired. In this way, a balance is achieved between the uncontrolled power of nature and the controlling influence of man.

Masayuki Mizuno, a former landscape director at the Portland Japanese Garden, summarized the Japanese gardening philosophy in these basic terms: “The essence of the garden is the spirit of the earth. [Gardening is simply] taking care of the earth.”

This stewardship of the earth, of nature, is taken to an even higher level at the Portland Japanese Garden. Many plants were originally donated by local nurseries, garden clubs and private citizens or moved from sites where they would have been destroyed because of impending public works projects. The reuse and recycling of plant material on such a grand scale is, in fact, one of the strengths of the Portland Japanese Garden.

 

Lace-leaf maple showing a highly intricate branching pattern created through controlled pruning and shaping. Japanese maples are a symbol of grace and represent balance.

Weeping cherry in the Flat Garden, salvaged during the construction of a local freeway. This tree, like all others, is carefully shaped so it can play its assigned role as effectively as possible.

Amazing shadow cast by weeping cherry

Pine tree with traditional bamboo horizontal brace (soedake) designed to straighten limbs. This is one of many techniques used in a Japanese garden to create an idealized rendition of nature.

Coast pine (Pinus contorta) at entry gate. Black pines are revered in Japanese culture as symbols of courage.

Big leaf maple near gift shop

Moss-covered slope in the Natural Garden. Mosses are an important element in a naturalistic Japanese garden because they give the impression of old age, making the garden look like it has been there for a very long time.

Birch tree canopy. The shape of a tree and the color of its trunk and foliage are important aspects.

Ground-cover bamboo near the Upper Pond in the Strolling Pond Garden

Hostas and liriope along the shore of the Upper Pond in the Strolling Pond Garden. Both of these plant genera are native to eastern Asia and frequently found in Japanese gardens.

Bamboo is using very sparingly at the Portland Japanese Garden. I don’t quite know why considering that bamboo has such a strong association with Japanese culture. The only place I saw taller bamboo was at the Sand and Stone Garden.

Golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) outside the wall that surrounds the Sand and Stone Garden.

Related posts:

• Portland Japanese Garden: Design
• Portland Japanese Garden: Plants (this post)
• Portland Japanese Garden: Ornaments
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 1 
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 2
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 3

Portland Japanese Garden: Design

“In Japan, when a man comes home from work, no matter how small his garden, he should take off his business jacket and put on his Japanese coat, pour a cup of sake and walk in his garden and relax and contemplate. Only then should he join his family.”

—Professor Takuma Tono, designer of the Portland Japanese Garden,
as quoted in Human Nature by Bruce Taylor Hamilton

The Portland Japanese Garden is located in Washington Park on a 5.5 acre site that was the home of the Oregon Zoo before it moved to its current location in 1959. The garden was designed by Professor Takuma Tono, considered one of the leading Japanese landscape architects of his time, and opened to the public in 1967. Tono’s design, and the work of successive generations of landscape directors from Japan, was so successful that the Portland Japanese Garden has been called “one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan” and “the most beautiful Japanese garden, not only in the United States, but in the world outside of Japan”. Thanks to the hard work and dedication not just of the garden staff but also of the many hundreds of volunteers, this was achieved in just a few years when traditional Japanese gardens take decades to mature.

Much of the original plant material came from local sources in the Portland area. Some of it was donated by private individuals, including decades-old maples and pines, and some of it came from public sites that underwent major transformations, for example to make way for new public buildings or freeways. Most of the more than 20 stone lanterns in the garden were donations or gifts from American and Japanese individuals and organizations. The generosity, vision and dedication of so many people made it possible to create a world-class Japanese garden that combines traditional Japanese values with American ingenuity.

The Portland Japanese Garden encompasses five distinct areas, each of which corresponds to a specific garden style: Strolling Pond Garden, Natural Garden, Sand and Stone Garden, Flat Garden, and Tea Garden. Each style has a unique purpose, but they all are living reflections of Japanese history and culture and allow us to connect with nature as an active participant rather than as a passive bystander. Nature in this context isn’t the untamed wilderness traditionally extolled by American philosophers, but a carefully controlled naturalistic environment where simplicity, serenity, subtlety and stillness are paramount. As abstract as that may seem, Japanese gardens are meant to provide a refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and ultimately enhance our quality of life and well-being.

Each Japanese garden incorporates three fundamental elements: stones, water, and plants. Stones represent endurance and strength; water represents renewal, calm and continuity, in this life and thereafter; and plants express emotions. Harmony between these three basic elements is essential for a Japanese garden to truly become a retreat. Other elements, such as stone lanterns and basins, bridges and arbors, may or may not be present in a Japanese garden. In Portland they are, and they play an important role in introducing a human element to the landscape.

I visited the Portland Japanese Garden last July and was struck by the serenity and tranquility that existed even on a busy day. The use of traditional Japanese landscaping principles such as “hide and reveal” ensures that garden features show themselves to us gradually and almost reticently, instead of all at once the way they would in a western garden. A welcome side effect of this technique is that other garden visitors often disappear around a bend in the path or behind a hill, increasing the sense of peacefulness and quiet.

I took several hundred photos during my visit. When reviewing them for this article, I realized that I didn’t take any that show grand vistas. Instead most of them focus on smaller elements of the garden—landscape features, plants and ornaments. This reflects my current interest in incorporating specific elements of a Japanese garden into our own garden. Since I’m not Japanese and am not rooted in Japanese culture, my goal is simply to borrow features that appeal to me on an aesthetic—rather than philosophical—level.

I’m diving this article into three parts:

• Part 1: Design (this post)
• Part 2: Plants
• Part 3: Ornaments

Each part will have about a dozen photos to illustrate the features I found most interesting.

The photos I decided to include in this post illustrate the materials used in creating specific design features in the Portland Japanese Garden. I was particularly fascinated by the way stone, bamboo and other natural materials are incorporated in a completely holistic way. After doing some research, I realized that many materials originally came from other locations and were reused in keeping with the Japanese concept of mitate, or “re-envisioning”. In fact, the Portland Japanese garden itself is an example of mitate since it is built on—and completely transforms—the site of the former Oregon Zoo, from all accounts a wretched and squalid place in its day.

The idea of creatively repurposing and adapting old materials is a very powerful one. On an environmental level, it’s about reusing stuff that might otherwise get thrown away. On a more spiritual level, it’s about establishing a link to the past by adopting materials that are imbued with our own history. It has taken Western countries a long time to discover this disarmingly simple philosophy.

Gate between the inner and outer section of the Tea Garden

Granite walkway in Tea Garden. The granite
came from the entry steps to the Portland Civic Auditorium which were removed as part of a renovation project.

Close-up of granite walkway, edged with pebbles and upended roof tiles. In Japanese gardens, old roof tiles often find a new life as border material.

The same granite slabs repurposed as steps in the Natural Garden

Juxtaposition of granite, wood and living tree: nature precisely controlled to provide a place of rest and reflection

Reused stones and granite slabs in Natural Garden

Willow fascine (yanagi soda) in the Natural Garden, designed to hold back rocks and soil that might erode from the hillside above

Large stone between a pine and Japanese maple. Each stone was carefully selected for its shape and size and placed where it fits most harmoniously.

Stone overgrown with moss. Stones represent the eternal in nature. Their placement is very precise and should look as if it happened naturally instead of by the hand of man.

Moss islands in the Flat Garden. The sand was originally fine gravel from Japan called shirakawa sand, but more recently the garden has been using Canadian sand obtained from a local supplier.

Gardeners rake the sand in the Flat Garden at least once a month. They choose their own pattern which reflects their current mood. 

Antique Gate and stucco wall. The Antique Gate is the located at far end of the parking lot at the base of the hill. It was shipped from Japan and, after sitting in boxes for years, finally reassembled in 1976. Most visitors make the short but steep hike on the 500-ft. footpath to the main entrance at the top.

Bamboo fence in the ryôanji-gaki style

Close-up of solid fence made of bamboo poles lashed together with traditional black twine

The creative forces behind the Japanese Garden have integrated these elements in such a cohesive and fluid way that they function as an extension of the natural world. Even though, as I said above, I have no intention of creating an authentic Japanese garden, I draw inspiration from what I have seen in Portland and continue to explore ways of incorporating some of these concepts into our own garden.

Related posts:

• Portland Japanese Garden: Design (this post)
• Portland Japanese Garden: Plants
• Portland Japanese Garden: Ornaments
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 1 
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 2
• Portland Japanese Garden in the fall: Part 3