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Woodwardia unigemmata |

Styrax japonicus 'Evening Lights'
It is understandable why the first
pioneers in Oregon migrated to the wonderful farmland soils of the
Willamette Valley, and on our trip we passed numerous crops of wheat,
fescue, onions and corn. I don't hate Hostas, but I certainly
wouldn't drive an hour and a half to see them, but it turns out that
Sebright's certifiable plant nerd, Thomas Johnson, has long been in
the process (since 2000) of amassing a world-renowned plant
collection...presented on beautifully-tended grounds. His plants
range from conifers to evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, some
fairly well-known but many oddballs that make you wonder: where did
he get this, or where did he get that? Most of the plants looked
super lush and vigorous, and at first I couldn't identify an
Edgeworthia chrysantha – which I've grown forever – for its
enormous leaves. Also, plants relatively new to horticulture, such as
Styrax japonicus 'Evening Lights' can be seen at a surprisingly large
size.
Let me report on some of the garden
gems that impressed me:
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Wisselink' |
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Wisselink' |
The “variegated horse chestnut,”
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Wisselink' was found by William Wisselink as
a chance seedling near the Dutch village of Aalten. I've only seen it
in two gardens: the Bellevue Botanic Garden near Seattle and today at
Sebright. Surprisingly the beautiful cultivar is not listed in the
Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs (2014), nor in
Krussmann's Manual of Cultivated Broad-Leaved Trees and Shrubs
(1984), nor in Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
(1982), perhaps the three most stalwart of publications for
the horticulturalist and gardener. My visit to Sebright was in mid
June, with overcast skies and a warm drizzle, and the 'Wisselink'
positively lit up the landscape. I would walk on coals to get a start
of this.
Cornus kousa 'Tri-splendor'
Another shiner was Cornus kousa
'Tri-Splendor', and my Grandfather and I both admired it from across
the lawn. Gramps asked if I grew that cultivar and my answer was
“Hell no, it's the competition,” meaning that it and another
variegated kousa, 'Wolf Eyes', compete world-wide in sales with my
'Summer Fun'. My selection is better, though, with larger
leaves...without the wavy margins that turn crisp-colored and roll
upward in hot weather. Nurseries both large and small now produce
thousands of 'Summer Fun', but it doesn't do me any good as the
cultivar is patentless.
By the way the original 'Summer Fun' is
at the nursery and I see it daily from out the office window. It
originated as a mutant branch off of a Cornus kousa var. chinensis
rootstock that was growing in GH14. I don't deserve any credit for
its discovery because how could one miss it? I left a portion of the
green on the seedling for a few years until I was able to
successfully propagate the mutation, and then I boldly cut off all of
the green. It is not surprising that I have grafted plants – on
green kousa rootstock – that are now larger than the original
'Summer Fun'.
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Daphniphyllum teijsmannii 'Variegated' |
A very exciting thing about Sebright
Gardens is that Thomas is expanding the plantings; and he has to
since he keeps gathering more and more, and thankfully some are from
me. In a new bed he showed me a large-size bush of Daphniphyllum
teijsmannii 'Variegated'* that he bought from me the year before. I
don't actually remember the sale – the sell – but I have one left
at my nursery of the same age and size. The origin of this cultivar,
for me, was the return of a favored Japanese intern named Atsuo
Nakada who shoved plants in his shoes, socks and underwear for me
when he visited about ten years ago. Then, he revisited a few years
ago and he did the Japanese Aaaaahaaaa Jump-Back – like he
was having a mock heart attack at the Daphniphyllum's size – which
humored me greatly. Anyway Thomas now has one of the two original
specimens in his new bed, and – as well as the money I made – I
was pleased to see it thriving in a most estimable garden. Thomas and
I each have one, then, and are they the first or largest in America?
*God, the nomenclature from Japan
can be frustrating, because it must have a Japanese cultivar name –
not 'Variegated'!
Firmiana simplex |
A glossy-green sapling greeted me in
one of the newly planted beds. It was Firmiana simplex, the “Chinese
parasol tree,” and though I loved its large shiny leaves Thomas
should know that it can grow up to (and perhaps exceed) 50' tall.
Also it is known as an aggressive species and is considered by some
to be a weed as the self-fertile seeds can spread rapidly where
conditions are favorable. But who am I to spoil his fun? From a
distance it could easily be mistaken for our native Acer
macrophyllum, but instead it is a member of the Malvaceae
family. I guess the Firmiana exemplifies what I've described about
some of the contents in Sebright's collection: though I have never
seen Firmiana grown wholesale nor offered retail, yet somehow Thomas
acquired it for his garden.
Magnolia lotungensis |
It's easy to cheer for Sebright because
they are bold enough to try growing questionably hardy plants; I can
enjoy them, in other words, at their expense. One such is
Magnolia lotungensis (zone 8) which is commonly called the “Eastern
Joy Lotus Tree.” The southeastern China native is also known
botanically as Parakmeria lotungensis and Magnolia nitida var.
lotungensis. It needs considerable room because in the wild it can
attain 100' tall. The tree is evergreen but in Oregon that is not
always an attribute, as battered and discolored leaves persist
throughout winter until new growth pushes them off in spring. The
species is considered Endangered due to logging and
deforestation by the IUCN Red List, and it is estimated that less
than 2,500 mature trees still exist, so it is a good thing that M.
lotungensis is being propagated and grown in the Western world, and
that Sebright has at least one in its garden.
Acer crataegifolium 'Veitchii'
It was fun to see Acer crataegifolium
'Veitchii', a cultivar I used to root, or graft onto any stripe-bark
species. Sales were never great for it though, so I discontinued its
production, content to have just one in the collection. I
transplanted my specimen into the Maple Field at Flora Farm...and it
resented the move. The following spring the green leaves appeared
with virtually no other color. That was the same spring that
Masayoshi Yano, the Japanese maple collector and author, came to
visit. As we were walking through the field he paused silently at the
'Veitchii', glanced down at the label, then back up at the tree, then
down at the label again, then up to me. Through an interpreter I
stuttered that it really was 'Veitchii', and I rummaged through the
bush until I found a leaf with a hint of white. It remained without
variegation for yet another spring, then finally colored normally the
third. On the fourth spring it didn't leaf out at all – it was
dead. The crataegifolium species (“Hawthorne maple”) was
introduced from Japan in 1879 by Charles Maries, and 'Veitchii' was
introduced soon after in 1881. The closeness of these two dates makes
me wonder if Maries brought the variegated selection back from Japan
too, or was it later discovered in England? I have no answer to that
question, except in my research I consulted DeBeaulieu's An
Illustrated Guide to Maples and received his opinion that
'Veitchii' is “quite difficult to propagate.” I never found it
so.

Emmenopterys henryi
I wasn't surprised to find Emmenopterys
henryi in the Sebright garden; it is rare in cultivation, and I only
see it in European and American arboreta. I'm not sure why it's not
more common – perhaps it's a hardiness issue – but when
introduced in 1907 by E.H. “Chinese” Wilson, he called it “one
of the most strikingly beautiful trees of Chinese forests.” I know
that it is slow to flower – it took over 75 years at Wakehurst
Place in England – so collecting seed outside of China would be
problematic. But the young shoots look like the type of wood that
would strike roots under mist in summer, and I wonder if anyone has
tried. Emmenopterys* is a mouthful to pronounce for the lay
gardener, but it means “persistent wings” in reference to the
flower bracts that stay attached to the seed capsules. The specific
epithet honors Augustine Henry (1857-1930) who was an Asian customs
inspector for the British and who made important plant collections in
China. Though now endemic to China, fossils from the Eocene show that
it once grew in western North America and Europe.
*It was described and named by
Professor Daniel Oliver who was Keeper of the Kew Herbarium.
Schefflera rhododendrifolia
Schefflera brevipendunculata |
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Jermyn's House, Hiller Arboretum |

Hydrangea aspera 'Plum Passion'
A group of Hydrangea aspera featured
purple-green foliage, and I knew it was 'Plum Passion', the recent
Dan Hinkley/Monrovia (Lowes Box Store) introduction that was
discovered by Mikinori Ogisu in central China. I'll probably never
grow it as the flowers didn't impress me when I saw them last year.
Besides, I don't care for the cultivar name, which Monrovia also used
for a Nandina a few years ago. Were they in such passion that they
forgot?
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla |
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla |
Also collected in the wild in China by
Mikinori Ogisu is Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla. It is a
shade-lover and thrives in moist soil, and Sebright's was sited
perfectly. We were too early to see the yellow flowers which will
crowd into a central cluster later this summer, but even in June the
evergreen foliage was lush and cheerful. Lysimachia is a member of
the Primulaceae family and is commonly called the “Chinese
loosestrife.” The botanical name is Latinized Greek for “ending
strife,” as well as the common name, but I can't find out how that
came about. Another, more familiar species of Lysimachia is
nummularia* which is commonly known as “Creeping Jenny.”
*The specific epithet comes from the
Greek word nummus for “coin” due to the round leaf-shape; others
say it is because of the color and roundness of the yellow flower.
Carpinus fangiana
Another Chinese plant was Carpinus
fangiana, the “Monkeytail hornbeam.” It is a luxurious-looking
species with very large leaves, and once established it will produce
long ornamental female flowers. C. fangiana was named after Fang Wen
Pei (1899-1983), a famous botanist who collected over 20,000
specimens in western China and who discovered over 100 new species.
Dactylorhiza maculata |
A Dactylorhiza maculata, the “Heath
Spotted orchid” was in flower; it spikes to about 24” above the
ground – “look at me, look at me.” I used to grow this European
(also Iceland) orchid – or rather, I had one plant of it –
but I think mine was poorly sited since they are native to bogs and
moist pastures and mine was in neither. The generic name Dactylorhiza
refers to the terrestrial orchid's 2 tubers which are divided like
fingers, while the specific name maculata refers to the spots
on the leaves.
Pinus uncinata 'Parade Kissen' |
Pinus uncinata 'Pixie' |
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Pinus sylvestris 'Green Penguin' |
There are a number of conifers in the
garden, some new selections, some old standbys like Abies pinsapo
'Glauca', and some interesting little miniatures from Europe. A
couple of teenies were Pinus uncinata 'Parade Kissen' (“Parade
Cushion”) and Pinus uncinata 'Pixie'. An interesting upright
narrowly-compact dwarf pine was Pinus sylvestris 'Green Penguin',
which was selected at J Farms in Oregon about 17 years ago. The tree
produces normal – though short – needles, but in late summer an
additional lighter-green twisted juvenile flush occurs. This
phenomenon is not unique to 'Green Penguin', for it happens with a
few other pines such as Pinus sylvestris 'Globosa Viridis', but
'Green Penguin' is more garden-worthy because of its pillar shape.
Taxodium distichum 'Hursley Park' |
A large Taxodium distichum 'Hursley Park' –
some have it 'Hurly' or 'Hursly) – demonstrates that it is not a
dwarf as frequently stated.

Ginkgo biloba 'Spring Grove'
Another “conifer” that initially
shocked me at its size was Ginkgo biloba 'Spring Grove', for it is
also considered to be dwarf. It originated as a witch's broom
mutation on a male Ginkgo in Spring Grove Cemetery in Ohio. One
explanation for its size is that there was more than one broom
propagated, which begs the question: which witch's broom? We
only grow one of the brooms – 'Spring Grove W.B. 87' – and that
leads me to wonder if there are at least 86 more? In any case my
clone only reaches the size of a basketball in 8-10 years.

Cinnamomum porrectum
En memorandum:
Thomas wasn't so fortunate with his
Cinnamomum porrectum, and I saw that it had been edited from the
landscape due to our cold winter. It had impressed me greatly the
year before with its graceful evergreen leaves that are much more
elegant than your typical Eucalyptus. C. porrectum is commonly known
as “Thep Taro” and is found mainly in southern Thailand. It is an
aromatic tree and is used medicinally as a heart tonic, antioxidant,
antibacterial and for a lot of other problems. The Cinnamomum –
which of course wouldn't be hardy in Oregon – exemplifies the plant
collector's lust for the exotic and a strong case of hardiness-zone
denial. Even though global warming didn't quite work out and
the tree perished, at least Thomas was able to enjoy it for a season
or two. Another way of looking at it is that all gardeners have a
relationship with their trees, some casual and some intense.
In all cases either the tree or the gardener will die, one
before the other, so at best the gardener is only “borrowing” his
tree...or the tree his gardener. I remind myself of that every
December when my family and I go out to cut a Christmas tree: that
we'll only be able to borrow it for three weeks, and God bless the
tree farmer who worked hard to provide a nice one for our home.