A Day at the Arboretum
Last Monday, for our Memorial Day Observed observance, our friend Mike from Baltimore came to visit at lunch time (you know where) and we decided to do a little something. One of our favorite little somethings is to visit the US National Arboretum, which we did. It has several virtues, among them being very close by and easy to get to for us, being of free admission, and being and interesting and informative thing to do. In most seasons there are attractions of note: fern valley, a wooded walk with wildflowers; the hillside display of azaleas and daffodils in spring; the grove of state trees if all else fails.
This time we began with a favorite of ours, the "National Bonsai and Penjing Museum". There are several small buildings linked with oriental-flavored gardens; we're particularly fond of the garden with the "Cryptomeria Walk", a shady, cozy little garden lined with very tall and very stately cryptomeria trees (Cryptomeria japonica). Another part of the garden has a lovely specimen of a flowering quince variety called 'Mandarin' that I'd love to have a sample of — let me know if you happen to have one.
The several small buildings have various displays of bonsai and penjing — there's a virtual tour, which is quite nice. One of the changing displays (in the International Pavilion) had several beautiful specimens of bonsai satsuki azaleas, popular as bonsai specimens and noted for their peculiar habit of producing more than one color of flower. All were beautifully displayed and in full bloom.
After admiring the Satsuki Azaleas we went to see the many inspiring specimens of bonsai in the permanent collection. What extraordinary things they are, too! Some were young and just starting their training; a couple of others were over 100 years old and were startling in their miniature portrayals of large trees. Walking about among them creates a slightly odd sensation. It also scares me some, the idea of keeping these specimens alive for anything like 100 years, because I have a pretty black thumb and wouldn't welcome the responsibility, but it's nice that someone else does. Take the virtual tour if you have the time and bandwidth.
Just across from the bonsai collection was the "National Herb Garden", which comes in two sections, really. One is a giant circle whose perimeter contains several individual herb gardens with different themes: medical herbs, industrial plants, cooking herbs, and the like. The other section is rather like a large cottage garden with lots of varieties of blooming plants put together in very casual arrangements with lots of varieties of antique roses. Happily the rose garden was in full bloom along with most of the companion plants. That was such a delight, for us and for all the bees hovering around.
Often I think that if I could manage to produce a garden effect through planning and horticultural skill, this is the type of garden I'd most like to grow. Perhaps, perhaps someday I'll get close. This was certainly inspiration enough for several gardens, I'd say. It was a lovely way to spend our afternoon with Mike, too.