Enjoying a Fling

Something new for me, I am participating in a convention of sorts, a gathering of bloggers, garden bloggers. Since it's happening in my neck of the woods, I am taking off from my various jobs and getting on a bus everyday to visit a few gardens and fraternize with folks from all over the United States with a few from Canada and England. These are social people, social media people. Represented are "Garden Design Magazine", Harris Seed, and John Magee of "The Native Plant Podcast", just to offer a sampling of participants, and it's intimidating. 

I will be the speaker on Saturday night with a presentation on "Plant Exploration". This is a wonderful lecture which looks at some big players, going back to John Tradescant, Lewis and Clark, John Bartram, and ending with Ernest Henry Wilson and Joseph Rock. Most of my digital images have been acquired through The Arnold Arboretum's library. A search of their library will highlight a specific explorer, at least those that were hired by the arboretum. For example, Ernest Henry Wilson was hired by The Arnold Arboretum (1899) to go to China twice and Japan once. He carried a large format camera with glass plate negatives, these belong to the arboretum and have been scanned, all available for public use.  When I created my 1999 plant catalog for my nursery and highlighted "Men in Horticulture", this was the source. These images are amazing, the first real photographs of people living in remote areas of China. There are 2,500 images from Ernest Henry Wilson and almost that many from Joseph Rock. 

For many months I have been reading over the various publications that were created from their journals. Photographs of large trees almost always had someone standing next to them for scale. A few times they were hugging the tree, a real eye-opener when it came to comprehending size. This photograph shows a ginkgo tree, it measured 19 feet, 6 inches in girth at 3 feet from the ground.

Or this Cryptomeria japonica:

I find the photographs of people so amazing. 

Ernest Henry Wilson was not one to ride in the unsophisticated traveling chair that was supported by strong Chinese carriers, but it became a symbol of power or prestige, so he would allow it. This is a photograph, taken by Wilson.

I have a feeling that it will be an exhausting weekend, in a very good way! More to come....

 

 

Comments

[Laura]

Oh, I wish I knew about this! Hopefully you'll be sharing this talk again? I'll have to go thru my Windy Hill catalog stash... I've still got every one. If you're available on SUN we're having a lecture on honey & native bees followed by a honey tasting @town hall - you're welcome to join!

[Karen Rexrode]

Laura,
I will still be visiting gardens on Sunday, but this lecture will probably be at a location near you. If so, I will let you know when, and where.

[Susan houser]

That cryptomeria was a real eye opener! And I thought I had seen some significant ones.
Have a wonderful time. Looking forward to the follow ups.