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1000+ Years of Art in Horticulture
As a horticulturist and a nursery owner, this is the time of year to reflect. Not yet actively planning for next year but, really going over the successes and failures of the past year. Our industry has made a lot of strides towards ecological wellness and I am grateful to be a part of that. I am also grateful for the slowing of the strides so that we can rationally review them and plan for our future efforts to keep the Earth whole.
The best place for reflection is my own gardens. As I walk, I can enjoy a riot of color among all the specimen trees and plant collections that I have spent many decades amassing. As I see each one such as the Korean Dogwood that is backlit by a Gingko that is very high in chroma, I look behind and see handsome but muddy colored Oaks. I can observe the vivid color of the Persian Ironwood leaves with its dark red inflorescence just emerging. It looks brilliant. A virtual kaleidoscope of hand-picked trees and shrubs from around this great world of ours that I selected specifically for the design I had in mind when I chose this Maryland farm. This year, my collection really has a chance to shine. The long wet summer and fall has left the native trees a bit lack-luster, a little bare and a bland array of drab gray to dull coppery-brown.
My reflection brought me to the simple truth that horticulturists have spent their lives (over the last 1000 years or more) bringing to light every specimen, every selection, every tree, plant or shrub that holds beauty from every corner of the Earth. Commercial nurserymen such as myself and some of my revered colleagues have done the same and brought them to market and convenient availability for the landscape industry. Not everyone can visit Japan but they can bask in the fragrance and color of the Cercidiphyllum japonicum in their suburban landscape.
Lately, almost everything that I read from commercial advertisement or for purposes of education insists that we "go native." I appreciate the idea of it and what's more I have offered hundreds of native ornamental grasses, perennials, and ferns for integration into the planned landscape design for over 50 years now. Natives are easy to grow and they are good for habitat restoration. They certainly have their place and value in the garden. But, why must it be one-or-the-other? No Katsura tree for the Joneses since they are in Atlanta and not in the Kyoto Prefecture?
1000 years of artful, passionate collections of non-native, hybridized plants must make way for native plantings? Some articles suggested ripping everything out and replacing your specimens with natives because it's "the right thing to do for the environment."
If it were not for the collection of exotic trees and shrubs that I have so carefully selected over the years for my own landscape, the vista of my landscape would be less than inspiring and likely leave me maudlin. It happens with lots of people this time of year anyway and a punch of energy and inspiration from the landscape is exactly what I need in November. I appreciate any time of year but in the Fall and early Spring is where good design can really pay-off. 50 years of proof-positive planning has made certain that my garden brings 365 days of visual joy from one location or another. There is not chance of a monotonous pallet because I have integrated my collection with beauty and no concern for national borders, political environmental lines, or global calling to "stick to your own". The world itself is a beautiful array of diversity and it is no less reflected in my garden.
As caretakers of the Earth we are responsible to feed the souls of the people of the world. The art of our work is so significant in people's lives whether they are really conscious of it or not. We have the power to change moods, transport people to another place or time, and even heal the sick and mend the soul. In the middle of a suburban neighborhood we have created an oasis for homeowners. Hospitals have gardens for families to reflect and for patients to focus on their health in a healthful environment. With all this power that we wield, we must offer horticultural variety and celebrate plant diversity. There is a place for natives. Of course there is. Integrated within 1000 years of artful selection by the forefathers (and mothers) of our field.
The recent awareness and disdain of genetically modified and hormone induced plants in our food system is one thing, but the cry for native exclusivity is poor planning for landscape design.
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