Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California California Horticulture Oral History Series Edward S. Carman PACIFIC COAST NURSERYMAN, AWARD-WINNING HORTICULTURALIST, AND HISTORIAN With an Introduction by Angel Guerzon Interviews Conducted by Suzanne B. Riess in 1997 Copyright 1998 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Edward S. Carman dated March 21, 1997. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley and to the Sierra Club. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Edward S. Carman requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Edward S. Carman, "Pacific Coast Nurseryman, Award-Winning Horticulturalist, and Historian," an oral history conducted in 1997 by Suzanne B. Riess, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1998. Copy no. Ed Carman, photographed in his nursery by Suzanne B. Riess, 1997. 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(b. 1922) Nurseryman Pacific Coast Nurseryman, Award-Winning Horticulturist, and Historian, 1998, vi, 195 pp. Carman history in the Los Gatos area, founding Carman's Nursery in 1937; Peninsula nursery history, businesses, impact of WWII; Ed and Jean Carman's nursery since 1946, the role of the family; successful introduction of the kiwi vine from New Zealand, 1968: Trevor Davies, shipping arrangements, the market, other imports, Rhodohypoxis ; travel, photography, and English connections; wisteria, and Toichi Domoto; Victor Reiter and other northern California plantsmen, plant propagators; horticultural society affiliations: American Rock Garden Society, Western Horticultural Society, California Horticultural Society, Saratoga Horticultural Foundation, and others; California Association of Nurserymen, awards and honors; active role in Los Gatos community; aspects of running a thriving nursery business and plant inventory. Introduction by Angel Guerzon, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. Interviewed 1997 by Suzanne B. Riess for the California Horticulture Oral History Series. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Bancroft Library, on behalf of future researchers, wishes to thank the following persons and organizations whose contributions made possible this oral history of Ed Carman. American Rock Garden Society, Western Chapter California Association of Nurserymen, Peninsula Chapter Western Horticultural Society Toichi Domoto Horticultural Oral History Fund Wayne Roderick TABLE OF CONTENTS--Edward S. Carman INTRODUCTION by Angel Guerzon i INTERVIEW HISTORY BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION vi I CARMAN FAMILY HISTORY, LOS GATOS AND EARLIER 1 II CARMAN'S NURSERY, 1937-WARTIME Peninsula Nursery History 6 Wartime, Tomatoes 8 Cans, Pots, Stone Sinks 10 Advisors, Organizations, Customers 12 III ED'S MOTHER, AND ED'S EDUCATION 15 Childhood Memories of Hayward 16 Lexington School, and Time out for Fishing 17 Los Gatos High School 20 IV WORLD WAR II 80th Division Headquarters 22 Photographing War's Destruction 24 V CARMAN'S NURSERY, 1946-1970 In Boom Times, and Since 27 Specialization, Kiwi Vines 31 Fungicides, Labor 33 Ethnicity in the Nursery Business 35 C.A.N. 37 VI KIWI AND OTHER INTRODUCTIONS 41 Trevor Davies, New Zealand 41 Shipping Arrangements 44 Creating a Market 45 First Kiwi Shipment, 1968 47 Into Production, 1970s 51 A Trip to New Zealand in 1972, and Returning with Rhodohypoxis 55 Other Imports 58 English Connections, and Further Afield, 1975 61 VII THOUGHTS ON SEVERAL SUBJECTS Plantsmen and Businessmen 66 The Unusual, Micropropagation, "Disposability" 68 Catalogs, Perennials, Cycles 69 Wisteria Mysteries 71 VIII HORTICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND PEOPLE Western Horticultural Society 78 Times Change 80 Promoting New Plant Materials 81 Saratoga Horticultural Foundation 83 UC Davis 85 Cal Hort, Awards, Journal 87 Lester Hawkins 89 Rock Garden Society, Bonsai 90 Kiwi Growers' Association, and Photographing Plants 93 Royal Horticultural Society, and English Gardens 95 Saratoga Horticultural Foundation Directors 96 International Plant Propagators Society 98 Santa Cruz Arboretum 98 Alpine Garden Society 100 The Herb Society, the NCCP in England, Gene Pools 102 A Review of the Route from Grower to Retailer 103 Conserving Gardens 106 Victor Reiter 107 "You Can't Control Things After You're Gone" 109 IX THE VIEW FROM LOS GATOS Jean Carman 111 Staying on in Los Gatos 112 The Other Fellows in the Business 114 The Vanishing Experts 115 Community Volunteer Since 1946 116 School Board 118 Moving Houses Around 119 More on Writing the Peninsula C.A.N. History 121 The Future of Small Nurseries 122 Continuous Arrival of New Plants 123 "Choose Horticulture"? 124 Victor Reiter 's Rule of Three 126 Fanatics and Novices 127 X WALKING THROUGH THE NURSERY WITH ED CARMAN 129 TAPE GUIDE 142 APPENDIX A Biographical sheet provided by Ed Carman 143 B "Carman's Nursery", by Marshall Olbrich, Pacific Horticulture, Winter 1991 148 C "Perennials for Western Gardens", by Ed Carman, Pacific Horticulture, Summer 1994 152 D "Ed Carman's award caps 49 years in nursery trade", by Joan Jackson, San Jose Mercury News, September 21, 1995 156 E "The First 25 Years, 1950-1975," by Charles Burr, Peninsula Chapter, California Association of Nurserymen 158 F "2nd Time Around, 1950-1986," by Charles Burr, Peninsula Chapter, California Association of Nurserymen 171 HORTICULTURE, BOTANY, AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN ORAL HISTORY SERIES LIST 188 INDEX 192 INTRODUCTION by Angel Guerzon I first encountered Ed Carman sometime in the late sixties while I was at San Jose State. I was looking for an elusive herb requested by the mother of a close friend. An acquaintance working the reference desk at the college library suggested that I try Carman's Nursery in Campbell. I remember walking in out of the parking lot, and the first thing I saw was a small table holding some little pots of Armeria maritima, Arabis sturri and Erodium reichardii. I asked a very serious man if he had any comfrey, and he showed me where and what it was. I bought a plant and left. Mrs. Blake was very pleased to get it. But I was doomed. I went back the following week and bought some of those little plants on the table. I went to Carman's almost once a week thereafter. Eventually I got to know Ed Carman better. He was and still is a quiet, reserved and shrewd man. He is an observant and assessing individual who prefers not to waste his time and attention on anything he deems unimportant. What is important to Ed are his wife, Jean, their three children and his plants. Ed has become legendary amongst his customers for not selling plants to them. Here and there (often but not always near the NOT FOR SALE sign) are some one and onlys, perhaps the last of a batch needed to reproduce the next crop, or some pet plant that hasn't yet rooted permanently into the ground.