Summer Movies 2016: Around the World in 80 Gardens – Australia and New Zealand

This summer I’m heading to the movies to enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful gardens. My travel partner and guide is Monty Don, and the movies are his horticultural travelogues from the BBC series "Around the World in 80 Gardens". I've picked three continents of special interests, all of which include Mediterranean climates. I'm hoping to have some fun, and learn more about the movie star plants and gardens from these regions. Grab your sun screen, and join us for some summer travelling!

Australia and New Zealand (Season 1, Episode 2)

Monty first visits the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia. The garden is beautifully situated, very near where Captain James Cook landed with his crew 200 years ago, and where botanist Jonathan Banks and his team collected many plant specimens on the shores of Stingray Bay (later renamed Botany Bay). Eighteen years later settlers began to arrive. They struggled to survive, learning how to obtain food and water  in the strange new land. Monty visits several other gardens near Sydney, and notes that early public and private gardens were made by homesick settlers who attempted to recreate the water-loving English country gardens of their homeland in a harsh, dry land.

Later Monty visits several gardens that celebrate native plants and environment. Landscape architect Vladimir Sitta’s personal garden uses red rock quarried from the interior of Australia, and drought resistant succulents. The Alice Springs Dessert Park in the interior is styled on the ecosystems in the outback, including a salt pan and streams that flow under the sand. Monty meets with Doug Taylor, a park ranger to learn about the park and how indigenous people lived in harmony with the environment, working with the land and using the native plants to survive.

On to Melbourne, Australia where Monty visits Cruden Farm and The Garden Vineyard, both of which are a hybrid of exotic and native plants, but with a strong sense of place and identity. He speculates whether this represents the evolution of gardening in Australia.

Monty ends his tour in New Zealand, visiting Ayrlies Garden in Auckland, and a private garden in New Plymouth. Both gardens fully embrace the plants and environment of New Zealand. At Te Kainga Marire (Maori for peaceful encampment) in New Plymouth, native plants and birds flourish. Owner and creator Valda Poletti observes that young people especially no longer see the garden as a flower garden, and instead embrace gardening with native flora and fauna.

I have watched several of the episodes of “Around the World in 80 Gardens”, and really appreciate Monty Don’s commentary. I like his quest for what really embodies the Australian and New Zealand garden, and his observations about the evolution of gardens for homesick settlers, to gardens that fully embrace the land and its amazing plants. Penelope Hobhouse is listed in the credits as a consultant, so the series is a collaboration of two of my favorite gardeners! Thank you for joining me on this tour: https://youtu.be/fyxgZT1j_6A

Japanese Tea Garden

The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park is a great place to spend a few hours, and ponder the elements of the Japanese garden. Nearby is the San Francisco Botanical Garden and the Conservancy of Flowers, so those with enough stamina could spend the whole day in beautiful gardens! The “Japanese Village” was originally one acre and created for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. It was later developed into five acres by landscape architect Makoto Hagiwara. The Hagiwara family resided on the property and maintained the garden for many years, until they were interned in 1942 with many other Japanese Americans, and never allowed to return.

Teahouse and gift shop

The Japanese Teahouse and gift shop are near the entry (this clickable map of the grounds is useful). Tea is served along with light sandwiches, snacks, and sweets (reservations are recommended). I did not visit the teahouse, but hope to do so on another visit. I love this description of the Japanese tea ceremony in the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: Japan (the ceremony is as much about slowing down and living in the moment, as it is about tea).

The Way of Tea. The tea ceremony is a well-orchestrated series of events. The ritual involves meeting your fellow guests, walking through the grounds of the teahouse, performing ablutions, entering a cell-like room, meeting your host, admiring the features of the room and tea utensils, watching the tea being prepared, bowing, and consuming the food and tea. Each part of the ritual is symbolic; ultimately it is your appreciation of the moment that counts (page 163).

Shady and meandering paths through the garden

Pagoda

Several paths twist and turn through the landscape, giving the garden a feeling of space, even on a busy day. I visited in summer, so missed the cherry blossoms, but the groves of trees in shades of green and reds were restful, and provided cool shade and relief from the hot afternoon sun. It is understandable that the Japanese Tea Garden was one of the sites used to film Memoirs of a Geisha.

Dry Zen garden in dappled shade

The garden includes many lovely features such as the sunken garden, the Zen garden, and the pagoda. The Zen garden was designed in 1953 by Japanese landscape architect Nagao Sukurai (who also designed the Japanese style gardens for the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition). Dry landscapes (kare sansu in Japanese) originated in China, and gained popularity in Japan during the Muromachi period (1338-1573). The dry garden uses rocks and stone, and raked gravel to represent scenes from nature, and harmony between humankind and nature. (This is another alternative gardening style to consider for those of us in the dry Western United States).

The Drum Bridge is a popular photo opportunity

The garden also includes a series of ponds and bridges. The combination of water, plantings, and shade were welcome on the hot day I visited, and the koi, flowers, lanterns, and sculptures provide the characteristic elements of the Japanese garden. The Drum Bridge drew a large crowd, and was a popular photo op. I recommend the garden for anyone interested in Japanese gardens and hardscaping, or anyone with a few hours to spend in a setting of beauty, history, and human interest.

The main pond	Peaceful Koi
Iris planting	The sunken garden

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Learn More:

• DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: San Francisco & Northern California. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. (New York and London, 2002). Japanese Tea Garden, page 145.
• DK Eyewitness Travel Guides: Japan. Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. (London, 1995). The Tea Ceremony, page 163.
• Japan A Short History. Supervised by John Gillespie. ICG Muse, Inc. (New York and Tokyo, 2001).
• A Traveller’s History of Japan. Richard Tames, line drawings by Scott Hall. Interlink Books (New York, 2002).

Birds and Bees Seed Germination

A seed can lay dormant for months, years, or centuries (sometimes even longer), protected by its seed coat. It waits for the right environmental conditions needed to germinate. Germination refers to the beginning of growth, in this case from a seed. The ideal environmental conditions for germination include temperature, growing medium, and moisture.

Seed germination in monocots and dicots - © Merriam-Webster Inc. (2006)

Within the seed is the plant embryo—the immature plant. The embryo has all the characteristics of the plant it will become—root, stem, and leaves—in miniature. During germination the radicle, or root, emerges and pushes its way downward, using gravity, and grows and branches into the soil. The stem pushes upward, toward the light, and its cells grow and elongate. The germination process can be amazingly fast, taking place in a matter of hours, days, or weeks, depending on the seed type.

Dissecting a Joshua Tree seed (Yucca brevifolia)

Joshua Tree seed embryo (photos by Al Harris)

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The cotyledon, or seed leaves, emerge and provide nourishment for the seedling (the endosperm provides a food source in monocots). The seed leaves wither or drop off as the nourishment is consumed, until the first leaves emerge and begin photosynthesis. At that point the seedling is on its way to growing into a mature, self-sustaining plant.

Learn More:

• Botany for Gardeners, by Brian Capon (Timber Press 2005). See Part I Growth, Chapter 1, “Cells and Seeds: Basics and Beginnings”.
• Pollination and Fertilization, derived from Pollination and Fertilization, by Robert Bear and David Rintoul, for Open Stax, Rice University (Creative Commons).