A Design Perspective from Roger Raiche and David McCrory of Planet Horticulture

From all angles, the Asian Discovery Garden draws the eye, beckoning the visitor to take a closer look. Perched on a steep mound that echoes the city hills in the background, layers of plantings display themselves on the slopes at eye level. A curved path off the main lawn invites the visitor in. An intimate gathering space and stone bench provide a spot in the sun to relax among the plants. More plant treasures await beyond. A secondary loop trail to the crest of the mound offers views from a different perspective. Each bend in the path highlights interesting plant combinations. A stroll into the Asian Discovery Garden reveals choice selections of the old and new in horticulture. No one person could ever know the entire floral richness of Asia, nor one garden display it all, but Strybing has assembled a fascinating mix of plants to stimulate enthusiasm for the botanical and horticultural diversity of Asia.

The seed for this project, as well as for the new Library Terrace Garden, was sown in Tito Patri’s 1995 Master Plan for Strybing, which identified path realignments, a walled garden, and enhanced plant collections in these areas. The seed germinated following the devastating winter storm of December 1995, when a number of Magnolia campbellii selections were crushed by a large pine tree that fell on the south side of the main lawn oval, west of the library building. The silver lining behind this catastrophe was the chance to implement Patri's concept and to develop the Asian Discovery and Library Terrace Gardens as linked and complementary spaces, together expanding the Asian collections. The Plant Collections committee further requested that the Asian Garden offer a peaceful and reflective atmosphere for visitors.

The Asian Discovery project began with evaluating what remained on the site, what Strybing had in its collections and nursery, and what exciting new plants could be obtained. A background thread to this story is the fact that over the last two decades, hundreds of new or rarely seen ornamental and botanically intriguing plants have been collected throughout Asia. These plants were making their way into mainstream horticulture through specialty nurseries and botanical garden sales and releases, yet Strybing had not been able to accommodate much of this material. The new garden offers the opportunity to showcase some of these exciting new plants, thus fulfilling the mission of Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens to display plants suitable for the Bay Area and to educate the public in this regard.

Criteria for selecting plants for the Asian Discovery Garden were manyfold. Unusual species, especially plants with known collection data, provide a scientific backbone to the collection. Each plant has some botanical, ethnobotanical, taxonomic, cultural, or horticultural importance. Many parts of Asia, including China, Japan, India, and Malaysia, have plants represented in this collection. In the warm temperate micro-climate at Strybing, testing some subtropical species for their cold-hardiness is another goal. This garden not only illustrates the diversity and biogeography of plants from Asia, but it also serves as a teaching tool in which to explore both the global and local environment.

A multilayered composition resembling a natural open woodland displays this wide array of plants. Many of the specimens planted in small sizes will grow into sizable trees and shrubs. Colonies of bulbs and mounding sub-shrubs will cover the slopes. A woodland will grow over the understory and create a serene, tranquil site of filtered light and dancing shadows. New effects will come and go as the garden matures. The plants will grow with and through each other. A delicate vine scrambles up a bamboo cane. Discover a new flower or foliage effect every month of every season.

Unusual species and varieties of plants reveal themselves at each turn. Many types of bamboo, often associated with Asia, are found in the new collection. Bamboos are often scorned because the "running" habit of many species, such as Golden Bamboo, presents a maintenance nightmare. The bamboos featured in the new garden are all clumping types and make spectacular garden plants, each one displaying something unique. The seldom-seen clumping timber bamboo, Bambusa textilis, will be among the fastest-growing and largest plants in the garden. The clumps will reach heights of up to 40 feet, with individual culms (or canes) growing to two inches in diameter. The exquisite blue bamboo, Drepanostachium falcatum, develops a powdery blue coat on its narrow, graceful new culms. Represented in the garden are three different clones, which should reveal distinctions as the plants age. Colorful pink-striped bamboo, Drepanostachium hookerianum, develops pink, green, and yellow stripes along the culms. The rare Tibetan princess bamboo, Neomicrocalamus microphyllus, has ferny leaves that rustle in the wind. Even more bamboo species await discovery by visitors. The bamboos give year-round structure and texture to the garden and are good at defining narrow spaces.

Other unusual plants used to give the garden structure are camellias, rhododendrons, palms, and plum yews. The rare yellow-flowered Camellia chrysantha, the delightfully fragrant
C. lutchuensis and C. transnokoensis, and the seldom-seen willow-leafed C. salicifolia are some of the species selected. A large Chinese Rhododendron protistum, formerly growing in the New Zealand area, was moved into prominence at the upper entry. Cephalotaxus harringtoniana is an unusual evergreen conifer with a narrow, vertical growth habit. Its repeated use in the design gives the garden structure and unity. Stout and sculptural windmill palms, Trachycarpus wagnerianus and an unknown Trachycarpus species, anchor the top of the hill. Two important conifers, Cupressus darjeelingensis and Pinus bungeana, will slowly grow to become the dominant overstory trees in the garden. The cypress has delicate blue-gray weeping foliage.
The pine develops an unusual bark and picturesque shape, open enough to allow the sun to shine through.

Plants with weird names like Daphniphyllum macropodum, Disporopsis arisanensis, Melliodendron xylocarpum, Saruma henryi, Titanotrichum oldhamii, and Villebrunea pedunculata all await the explorer’s discovery. All sorts of treats are present, such as the unusual banana relative, Musella lasiocarpa, or the pink-brushed foliage of Actinidia pilosa, or the Dr. Seuss-like flowers on the half-dozen Arisaema species. Many culturally significant plants are there to enjoy as well, including Japanese paper plant, Edgeworthia chrysantha and the magnificent tree peonies, Paeonia suffruticosa.

For the gardener looking for new shrubs for her or his own garden, the Asian Discovery Garden has many rarely seen examples in the genera of Buddleia, Deutzia, Gaultheria, Hydrangea, Paeonia, Philadelphus, Phyllanthus, Syringa, Spiraea, and Viburnum. Little-known species of Angelica, Bletilla, Arisaema, Clematis, Eupatorium, Hibiscus, Aralia, Aster, Incarvillea, and Thalictrum should interest the gardener eager for different herbaceous perennials. This is, in all senses, a garden to be discovered. Visit soon and often to experience the ephemeral seasonal effects and the long-term growth of the new garden.

Drepanostachium falcatum, blue bamboo, develops a powdery blue coat on its narrow, graceful new culms.

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