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September Heronswood Ramble: Guest Blog by Nick Rhodehamel
The Puget Sound presents an obstacle in getting from Seattle to Kingston where the Heronswood Northwest Research Nursery is located. My trip was uneventful, when I visited the nursery during the last week of September. But instead of taking the ferry as I have done in the past, I drove south from the airport and took the Tacoma Narrows Bridge across the Sound and then north to Kingston.
I wanted to see the Tacoma Narrows because this was the site of the famous “Galloping Gertie” bridge, so called because of its pronounced vibration (swaying) even in light wind; so pronounced was it that some people complained of getting sea sick just driving across. This bridge was one of the longest suspension bridges in the world at the time, and a few months after opening for traffic it fell into the channel below. It was a victim of its construction and simple physical principles—its designers failed to heed aerodynamics and the bridge’s inherent resonance. Resonance is the property (and most objects have it) of vibrating more strongly when exposed to an external force such as wind, water, or sound that is vibrating at the object’s natural frequency. On 7 Nov. 1940, the wind was not light (40 miles/hour or so) and caused an oscillation so strong that it destroyed the bridge. Lots of video clips of this event are available on YouTube and are well worth watching. Now there are two bridges, one going east and the other west. I detected no vibration.
I have a new camera (Canon EOS T2i). One of my intentions in going to Heronswood was to learn to use it. Photos of my trip follow that are intended to give a partial sense of my impressions of the garden. A disclaimer (or apology) may be in order. I brought one lens only, a 60-mm macro that gives crisp, clear images, but viewing the images often may give you the sense of being on hands and knees or as if you’ve just bumped into something.
At the garden, things have changed since I was there 3 month ago in late June. Then it was all a flush of growth and color. There were anemones, geraniums, primulas, mayapples, and various poppies—all in bloom and in virtually every bed. Now there are a few of the geraniums left and a stray poppy or two. Fall is clearly coming to Heronswood. The flowering trees—dogwoods, magnolias, and stewartii—are spent, and the tree rhododendron long ago stopped blooming. The chlorophyll is seeping away from the deciduous plants, and some “fall color” is showing.
Fall-blooming cyclamen are beginning to appear. And in places, the autumn crocus is pushing up through the soil, looking pale and delicate almost without chlorophyll like plants in the genus Monotropa.
The hydrangea, which were in bloom in June, are still making a good showing, and Heronswood has a very good collection of these. Most of the gardens at Heronswood are in the understory of Douglas firs, and the top layers of soil are rich in humus and leaf litter overlying sandy loam. This is ideal for hydrangea, which in their native habitats are woodland, understory plants that grow well in moist, well-drained soils.
The “mophead” flower type plants were mostly looking a little bedraggled, so I concentrated on the “lacecap” type of flower, which to my mind is more elegant than the classic mophead, as probably seen in your grandmother’s garden, or the panicle type. What we think of as the “flower” in the mophead and lacecap types is actually a cluster of flowers called a “corymb”, which is an indeterminant flat- or convex-shaped inflorescence. There are three general forms: Each inflorescence has both sterile and fertile flowers (though entirely sterile cultivars have been developed). The sterile flowers have evolved showy sepals.
Most people who have grown hydrangea know that a gardener can affect flower color by altering the pH of the soil. Hydrangea are tolerant to (and accumulate) aluminum. As the acidity of soil increases, aluminum becomes available to plants, and as this occurs, flower color is affected. In most hydrangea species flowers are white, but some (especially in H. macrophylla species) can be blue, red, pink, or dark blue. Plants growing in acidic soil produce blue flowers, those in neutral soil produce pale cream-colored flowers, and those in alkaline soil have pink or purple flowers. With the addition of lime to neutralize pH or aluminum sulfate to acidify it these colors can be enhanced or moderated.
Heronswood also has a great collection of maples (Acer spp.). One of these is the speckled hedge maple (Acer campestre ‘Pulverulentum’). Some others.
Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) is another handsome tree at Heronswood. It’s not an oak but is a related Fagaceae (beech–oak family) species. It is native to the western USA from Oregon to the transverse ranges of California as far south as Ventura County. It was an important food source to many of the native peoples and the tannin extracted from the nuts was considered superior for leather tanning.
Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) has a soft appearance at a distance and takes on a reddish or purplish hue in fall. It makes a great shading plant. Pictured is one of several trees at Heronswood that will grow to be 50 feet high or so, but smaller cultivars that are more bush like are available. For example, ‘Elegans Nana’ grow to be only about 6 feet high and wide.
Slugs are common inhabitants at Heronswood and appeared to be doing well, as did the bald-faced hornets that were working over the Metapanax flowers. Spiders were everywhere. These spiders I am told are a favored snack of local coyotes. The chief groundskeeper at Heronswood observed a pair trotting along a path early one morning. They did not see him. Every 10 or 15 feet one or the other would veer off the path to snap a spider from its web and then delicately chew and swallow it the way a dog does with a small, prized morsel of food.
I was happy for a little rain while I was at the nursery, and the rain began again the morning I left. I’ve never seen the garden in winter. No doubt there’s less to do and less to see. I’d like to go then anyway, though.
The dates for next year’s “Heronswood West Open Days”, when we will personally escort visitors through our research and display gardens in Kingston, WA will be posted later in the calendar year. Also there will be a set of dates for our “Heronswood East Open Days” in Doylestown, PA. Please stay tuned to our website and blog.
Thank you.
those pictures are simply wonderful.
I do not know what a 60mm lens is
and am sure it would not go on my
Canon Powershot. But those pictures
are just grand.
Thanks, B.L. The lens helps, but you’re right. It would not fit on your PowerShot, which is a great camera, nonetheless.
Thanks for the lovely walk thru your gardens. I hope to one day get to do the same. Keep up the good work Amy
Come to the open houses, Amy, at either Heronswood at Kingston or Fordhook in Pennsylvania.
What a terrific group of pictures and great descriptions, I felt like I was on the ramble and would love to visit this garden. Since I live in VA, it is much more likely that I will visit Doylestown, PA! Thank you for giving me a garden lift on a dark and rainy evening. marjie morris
Thank you, Marjie. We’ll look forward to seeing you at Fordhook.
Thank you – I am sending your photos on to a dear friend who specializes in Hydrangeas. I truly enjoyed this presentation and may bring my son and family to see the gardens – they live in West Seattle.
Dear Jamie, I hope your friend enjoys the photos and that you can make the Heronswood event in spring.
love that the coyotes are being fed by spiders…interesting to me…Heronswood will always have me under its spell…
Dear Mary, I thought it interesting too. I once followed the trail of a fox on a dune along the shore of Lake Superior. I broke open scat when I found it and finally figured out what he had been eating—June bugs. Come to the Heronswood event.
Beautiful Photos
Hope the camera meets your expectations.
Thanks for sharing the images
dennis
Thanks, Dennis. Great camera and lens; no complaints.
These are some of the most breathtaking pictures of flowers and trees, bushes and all else that I have ever seen. They make you feel like you are really there looking at them-how I wish I could take that journey through nature!
I am happy that you enjoyed them, Janet.
You mentioned slugs, how do you slow them down? I have them and one night I went out to “pluck” them off and there were so many I couldn’t so I went and got a bucket of fireplace ashes and threw them over the top of the hosta leaves and there was a breeze that night which helped. The next morning I went out and they were all right where the ashes hit them!! I sprayed the ashes and slugs off. I then put ashes under the hostas. I hope I wil be able to control them next summer. I cleaned out under my rocks thinking that would help but they were worse than ever this summer, maybe all the rain and warmth we had this summer in southwest Minnesota had something to do with it.
I also was wondering what that bottom picture was about and I bet others were wondering too!!
Love your site.
Sincerely,
Yvonne
Dear Yvonne, It sounds as though you’ve got a pretty good handle on the slugs, but I found a site on the internet that has some more ideas (including your ash solution):
http://perfectperennials.tripod.com/id7.html
The last picture is of a small pond covered with duckweed that is surrounding a decomposing maple leaf. I thought it looked interesting.
Your pictures are amazing!!!!
Glad you enjoyed them, Emily.
Hi, I live in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
I loved looking at your photos and made me wish I had taken one of a very dried out bouquet I composted this morning. They were late summer/early fall choices-sunflowers, mums, leaves, an orange fuzzy sort of flower I have no idea what the name of it is, and other assorted
oranges, reds, browns. Colors I love. I had been enjoying looking at them which is why it stayed in my home long enough to completely dry out.
Also wanted to tell you I think my favorite photo
is the last one. The artistry in nature is really
wonderful.
Pat
Thanks, Pat, see my comment to Yvonne.
Thanks for the lovely photos of Heronswood in the Fall. Living in Southern California, they were a treat to see. Hard to believe but the cyclamen, lace cap hydrangeas and many of the other featured plants do quite well in our seaside climate. I hope to see Heronswood during your open house later this year..certainly worth the trip up.
Dear Julia, One of the beauties of California is that you can successfully grow so many different plants. Hope you can make the open house in spring.
LOVELY photographs! Thank You for the “tour” and for sharing some exquisite scenes. I would very much enjoy seeing the Kingston gardens in person, but for the time being, these photos sow my imagination with ideas for my own gardens.
Dear Diane, Thanks for your kind praise. Good luck with your garden.
I cn’t wait for the opening of the garden at Kingston. I live on the olympic peninsula less than an hour from Heronswood and we miss having access to the garden . Thanks for the article and pics.
Dear Ladybug, It’s a shame the garden cannot be open as it was when it was a retail nursery, but by all means come to the open house in the spring.
Fantastic tour. Loved it. Thank you for this posting.
My pleasure, Mary.
Thanks for the beautiful photos and interesting commentary. I have never been to the Northwest but appreciate its unique beauty.
Lovely photos. I wish I could been there.
Beautiful collection of pictures of the nursery. We visited it some years ago and enjoyed it immensely. We were visiting relatives in Everett and Marysville,WA., and this was a day trip for us. Would love to go back…
Thanks for sharing…
My friend is headed back to Senegal with the Peace Corp and is looking for VERY clean cultivars of fruit trees. He wants to ensure not introducing any new predators. They have very few bugs that cause damage to crops. They grow things like apples and oranges, but the varieties are generally low quality and low producing. Any suggestions? Thank you:-)
Dear Tiffany,
Senegal as you probably know is agriculturally rich. It’s part of the Sahel region of Africa that borders the Sahara and is frequently subject drought. Not much of the land is irrigated, so water efficiency and a host of other issue in addition to phytosanitation need to be considered when introducing new crops. No doubt the Peace Corps has lots of resources of its own. If though your friend needs advice from people who have lived and worked in Senegal, there are lots of American agronomists and other agricultural professionals that your friend could contact through such organizations as American Society of Agronomy. They have members working all over the world and could link your friend to one of their members with expertise in Senegal.
The photos are beautiful! I love the cyclamen, and the perspective makes them interesting. I also love the clarity of the foreground and softness of the background:-) Enjoy the new camera! You are fortunate to have such spectacular subject matter!
Good day!This was a really fabulous Topics!
I come from milan, I was fortunate to find your blog in bing
Also I learn a lot in your website really thank your very much i will come every day
Dear BET365, Thanks for writing. Glad you enjoy the site.
Thanks for the camera tour : ) Brought back nice memories of my visit 2 years ago…..
Dear Karen, Come see the garden at the spring opening if you can.
Thank you for the wonderful articles on this blog and for sharing your experiences, as well as the lovely photographs.
My pleasure. Thank you for your kind words.
What a thoughtful gift of your photos of some of the many delights there are at your gardens. Your groundskeeper is very lucky to have watched the two coyotes feeding on spiders and being able to observe them without bothering them! Working there must be like being in heaven! Thanks for sharing.
Forgot to ask about the last picture – is that living slime over an oak leaf? Can you let us know/explain? Regards,
Dear Georgie, I agree. I would have liked to have seen the coyotes too. See my comment to Yvonne. The small “bean” shaped things are individual plants—duckweed. I don’t know where you’re located, but duckweed can be found on most ponds in North America anyway. I believe that it’s a relatively nutrient food source for water fowl. I no next to nothing about it botanically.
Thank you for the lovely autumn tour of your gardens in Washington state. I have been buying from them way before your purchase. My son, who has a OH degree from DelVal made sure he introduced me to the finest of the plant world and now I am so happy not to have to pay the huge shipping charges of yesteryear.
Thanks also for clarifing the correct name of the bald face hornet. I call them white a.. hornet and they are so aggresive when one does not pay attention to where they have taken up residence! I can hardly wait for your open house in Pa. Happy Fall. Nancy
Happy fall to you also, Nancy. I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures. Please come to the open houses in Doylestown at Fordhook. I agree about the hornets; I give them a wide berth when I can, but I usually end up being stung once or twice a year anyway.