A Horticultural Tour

When I went to Italy last summer with a bunch of people who had some connection with Stanford Univ., we hired a tour-guide to help us understand aspects of Roman life and history. Francesca Caruso, whom Rick Steves recommends as the Rome guide he would choose, was our delightful bi-lingual guide. She knew all the tricks of the trade (e.g., having us stand in the shade at Ostia, the Roman port city, while she stood in the sun, etc.), and her interpretation added immensely to our enjoyment of the trip.

I am at the point in life where I want to spend a lot of time learning, loving, having fun and serving, and often the best way to do the first is to hire someone who knows the field to be your "expert guide." For example, before I went to Italy last summer I hired two Italian tutors--I figured that I would benefit from two different styles. Then, in the past month, I have begun a serious study on all non-animal living things. I spend a lot of time going on self-guided walking tours of trees in various towns. I also have spent more than my share of time hanging out in nurseries (the plant variety) or large home stores which sell flowers, plants, ground covers, shrubs or small trees. I am not only interesting in learning all the names of things I can but in understanding as much as I can about the beauty and mystery of the plant world. Ultimately I think it will affect my speech and writing through my use of illustrations and my ability to understand other, unrelated concepts. So far I am enjoying the challenge of learning, though the learning is quite slow.

Which brings me back to my "tour guide" idea. Last week I decided to place an ad in Craig's List for a "private horticultural guide." I had a sense that no one had ever placed that kind of ad there before (indeed, I had trouble figuring out in which category to place it), but I did so. I got two responses, and I went on my first tour, with Rex, today. After getting to know each other and becoming comfortable with each other's style, we hit it off very well. Here are some of the things I learned.

Going Into The Underbrush

We decided it would be best not to spend time trying to identify trees (I am working on that on my own--actually, there are only about 1000 or so species of trees to learn, so I think I can do that with a little attention on my own) but to look at the things that everyone else avoids--the grasses, weeds and prickly things that normally grow near swamps, water and other forbidding places. Here is a list, with some comment, on things we found.

Three of the "understory" plants or shrubs that grow wild in Oregon are sword ferns, snowberry and Indian plum bushes. The western sword fern, Polystichum munitum, is so called because the fern tapers to a point over the course of its meter-long height. Underneath the "top side" of the fern are a series of tiny dots or "sori," which are a dead giveaway regarding the type of fern one is studying. Indeed, there are dozens of other types of fern in the shadowed world of the Pacific Northwest; two of my other favorite ones are the maidenhair and tassle ferns. The popular Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair) is distinguished by its notched leaves. Here is a page where you can scroll down to get a picture of a tassel fern.

The snowberry is vital to know because it grows so quickly, covers to much territory and is generally just understood as some kind of "bush." Here is a great site on the snowberry, Symphoricarpos oreophilus, with pictures of the distinctive white berries and the small, roundish green leaves. Only the green, and some orange, leaves of the 6-10' tall Indian plum, Oemleria cerasiformis, were visible, though it seemed to grow almost wherever the snowberry appeared. In the Spring the plum shows off some flowers; here is a picture of the leaves and flowers.

Moving Quickly

So, Rex and I went over to the creek that flows through Bush Pasture Park in Salem, OR, where he pointed out things galore. There was the oceanspray, whose beautiful white tiny flowers had by now turned brown, and the elderberry, Sambucus racemosa, also known as the "Sutherland gold leaf." He pointed out some kinds of grass: cheatgrass, ryegrass and the most prevalent, Reed Canary grass. Phalaris arundinacea can grow to nine feet tall--its tassled, fuzzy tips contrast nicely with its hairless stem, tapering blades and multitude of shooting branches. The most prevalent kind of "fruit vine" we discovered was the Himalayan blackberry (Rubus procerus) and the Rubus leucodermis. This web site calls the former one of the "10 Most Un-wanted Pests" in the garden. Well, we were in the wild, and so I didn't mind learning about either of them.

Then I saw some Hogweed, which one web site says is similar to "cow parsnip," only differing in the fact that Hogweed can range up to 15' in height and is topped by dozens of small, white florets. While on "standing things" now, I also ought to mention the bittersweet nightshade, which King County (WA) called its "weed of the month" a few years ago, the swamp buttercup, the Red dock (Rumex crispus) which sticks out in its tortured redness and the scotch broom. Pictures of all of these are online, and I won't provide links at this point.

Finishing Up

While on the side of the creek, we discovered some Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), a kind of mint with purple top, some Canadian thistle, bindweed, equisetum and the broadleaf plantain. Indeed, we paused and talked about many of them, as Rex had stories to tell that interested me. He was helpful to me on my tour, despite the fact that his real passion is mushrooms (he says he can now identify more than 200 varieties of mushrooms in the wild).

Then there were trees (filbert and red alder and hawthorn and willow and Douglas-fir galore) and a wild rose bush, along with clover and "Smith's fairy bells." All in all, I felt as I walked to my office that I had been privileged to enter into a world that has been closed to me for my life. No one has ever suggested even that I learn the weeds or wildflowers or pests in life. But I think I am right in my element. I look forward to my next walk with him next week. It does cost me money, but so does everything else....

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