A trip to the Memphis Botanic Garden in the winter

On Dec. 23, 2013 I went to the Memphis Botanic Garden on Cherry Road to take pictures of evergreens. I found more than evergreens to see, and I met Nick, the curator of the Japanese Garden. He was working on a Japanese black pine, removing needles from the base of the branches in order to enhance the growth at the ends. There was a Japanese term for this process but my Japanese is non-existent so I do not remember it. He was also inspecting the tips of the branches where there were 3-5 buds growing. In the spring he will remove some buds (often the largest one) to encourage the branching and growth of the other buds. This shapes the tree in the typical Japanese Garden style with flat planes of needles separated by a few inches of open space. (And you thought that was by accident?)  

Tree #26 Japanese black pine

Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii at the Japanese Garden 

Tree #27 Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani 'pendula'

Cedar of Lebanon in the Japanese Garden Dec. 23, 2013

Behind the Japanese black pine on the left side there is a mostly vertical cedar of Lebanon. There is not much width to this tree. It almost seems to be walking with arms in front (right) and a fantastical hat on its head. 

Closeup on the trunk

This tree is very similar to the Blue Atlas Cedar shown later.

Bristly blue needles line the branches in clusters.

One thing notable about trees in the Japanese garden, they all seem to have their own nationality. The next pictures are of Chinafir. 

Tree #28 Chinafir 

A small grove of Chinafir behind the pavilion at the Japanese Garden Dec. 23, 2013

These trees are quite large and do fairly well in the Memphis climate. These are a surrogates for my fondness for another tree the Aurucaria or monkey puzzle tree. I have not found an Aurucaria in Memphis. They grow in Seattle very well but that is an issue of zonal denial set for a later post. 

The view from below shows the size and close camaraderie of these trees

Cones and foliage of the Chinafir, Cunninghamia lanceolata

Tree #29 Chinese juniper

You may recall tree #14 Juniperus chinensis torulosa or Torulosa juniper. Here we see a relative also in the Japanese Garden. 

These two trees are very open and spread out with branches low to the ground or even on the ground. This is quite different from the compact hedges of the Chinese juniper 'torulosa' trees on Humphries Blvd. Both do have the twisted, windblown look.

Closeup of the Chinese juniper cones and foliage, Dec. 23, 2013

Tree #30 Japanese red pine Pinus densiflora 'Oculus Draconis'

Is the yellow color due to winter stress? We hope for a greener healthier look in the spring.

The Oculus Draconis (dragon's eye) name refers to alternating green and yellow bands on each needle. When viewed from the branch end this creates concentric circles of yellow against a green background thus the dragon's eye.

Tree #31 Dwarf Alberta spruce Picea glauca 'conica'

A soft feathery canopy covers this Dwarf Alberta spruce.

A dense thicket of needles is inviting for a touch.

There is a practice in Japan, perhaps in some more remote areas, of forest bathing, running through the trees naked, probably in Japanese cedar forests (see below). The Dwarf Alberta spruce looks like another option for forest bathing. It almost looks like moss.

Tree #32 Hinoki falsecypress Chamaecyparis obtusa 'filicoides'

The dark green needles against the reddish bark and sparse foliage makes this a noticeable tree. It almost seems undressed. The open form is similar to a ginkgo. The filicoides variety is a shrub or small tree to about 20 feet.

Hinoki falsecypress branch against variegated undercover.

Shinto temples in Japan are built from Hinoki cypress. It is tradition to reconstruct all the shrines of the Jingu temple at Ise every 20 years in a ceremony called Shikinensenngu. This requires a forest of 10,000 cypress trees. The old timbers are reused in rebuilding other temple gates and the famous Uji Bridge over the Isuzu River (also rebuilt every 20 years).
The 62nd rebuilding took place in 2013. The first was in 692. There have been periods of interruption. 

Tree #33 white pine?

unidentified pine

Needles about 4-5 inches, 5 per bundle, possibly white pine

You can see the branches are added in rows, typically one per year.

This tree was not identified in the garden. It was to the west of the Japanese Garden wall and entrance. Relatively few pines have five needles per bundle so this may be a white pine.

Confused plants blooming in December

Tree #34 Higan cherry Prunus subhirtela 'autumnalis'

This tree was at the south end of the lake and it had several flowers on it. It looked like a Yoshino cherry that blooms in march along Cherry Road and in the garden.

There was another cherry blooming like this at the entrance to the Japanese Garden and this one was labeled as shown above.

Tree #35 Snow Flurry Camelia

Another atypical bloomer in late Dec.

This fits with a neighbor's purple azalea that has been blooming all fall and up past Thanksgiving. 

Tree #36 Coffin tree Taiwania cryptomerioides

Near Daffodil Hill east of the Japanese Garden

Closeup of the foliage

Taiwania is the tallest Asian tree, now protected from harvesting. It is in the cypress family and is related to the Chinafir shown earlier, the Japanese cedar (next), the giant redwoods of California and the Alaskan cedar (later on this post). This one is only about 8 feet high, and growth is slow.

Tree #37 Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica

Japanese cedars standing guard at the entrance to the Japanese Garden, Dec. 23, 2013

Soft hanging branches of Cryptomeria invite a touch.

Tree #38 Weeping Alaskan cedar Chamaecyparis nootkatensis pendula

From the pacific northwest, this tree is out of its zone, but pendula is a hardy cultivar.

The tree makes an valuable fragrance sesquiterpene called nootkatone. A terpene synthase (valencene synthase) and a cytochrome P450 are involved in this pathway. Patents are sought and secrecy is requested due to the competitive nature of the fragrance industry. A creation story is given for this tree in Hilary Stewart's book "Cedar" and recounted in Wikipedia. The trees were formed from three women tricked by raven to run into the mountains (see the link for more details and the reference). 


Tree #39 Weeping blue Atlas cedar

This spreading tree has been lit for Christmas

Closeup of the weeping blue Atlas cedar

Tree #40 Blue Atlas cedar Cedrus atlantica glauca

In the conifer collection north of the rose garden

A couple of nice blue atlas cedars. These trees suffer in Memphis from ice storms that often break off their top growing leader branch. That is why many around town have a flat top. These trees come from the Atlas Mountains in Africa. I have a favorite blue Atlas cedar tree on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. Just being there under its branches restores the spirit. 

The trunk of the larger tree has sent out many low branches making one tempted to climb up.

Another view of this inspiring tree.

Closeup of the needles, compare to cedar of Lebanon tree #27.

Tree #41 Globe arborvitae

We replaced a holly outside our kitchen window with a globe arborvitae because the holly got so large it blocked out the window. The globe arborvitae did the same thing. Here you can see why.

Tree #42 weeping spruce

At the entrance to the Botanical Garden there are two of these newly planted weeping spruce. These are really northern trees and it remains to be seen if they are able to survive in Memphis. No ID plate is included so the exact name is not known.

Closeup of the weeping spruce.

These trees were gone in spring 2016.