Plantsmannative00roberich.Pdf
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of California Berkeley of California Oral History Office University Regional California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Horticulture Oral History Series Wayne Roderick CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTSMAN: UC BERKELEY BOTANICAL GARDEN, TILDEN BOTANIC GARDEN With an Introduction by Walter Knight Interviews Conducted by Suzanne B. Riess in 1990 The of the University of California Copyright (T) 1991 by Regents 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 modern research technique involving an interviewee and an informed interviewer in spontaneous conversation. The taped record is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The resulting manuscript is typed in final form, indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and 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 Wayne Roderick dated June 13, 1990. 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. 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 Wayne Roderick 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: Wayne Roderick, "California Native Plantsman: UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, Tilden Botanic Garden," an oral history conducted in 1990 by Suzanne B. Riess, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1991. Copy no. JL Wayne Roderick, 1991 Photographed in U.C, Botanical Garden by Suzanne B. Riess Cataloging Information RODERICK, Wayne (b. 1920) Plantsman California Native Plantsman: UC Botanical Garden. Tilden Botanic Garden. 1991, ix, 166 pp. Petaluma CA childhood: chicken ranching, mother's garden, Roderick family nursery, 1945-1959; UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, California native area, 1960-1976: management and staff, collecting botanical material for class use, developing the garden; Tilden Park Botanic Garden, 1976-1982: supporters, California Native Plant Society, Jim Roof, objectives of garden; comments on rare and endangered species inventory, Native Plant Study Group, plant collecting policies, botanists and taxonomists, English horticulturists. Appended articles by Roderick. Introduction by Walter Knight, Field Associate, California Academy of Sciences Botany Department. Interviewed 1990 by Suzanne B. Riess for the California Horticulture Oral History Series. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Donors to the Wayne Roderick Oral History Project The Bancroft Library, on behalf of future researchers, wishes to thank the following persons whose contributions made possible this oral history project. David and Evelyne Lennette American Rock Garden Society, Western Chapter Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust Ann Witter Gillette TABLE OF CONTENTS --Wayne Roderick INTRODUCTION by Walter Knight i INTERVIEW HISTORY v BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION viii I FAMILY AND EARLY YEARS, 1920-1945 1 Family Origins 1 A Petaluma Chicken Ranch in the 1930s 3 A "Plant Happy" Family 6 Japanese Nurseries and the War 9 From Weeds to Orchids 11 The Oakland Spring Garden Show 13 at Rock Gardens Native Gardens Early Attempts , 14 Mother's Blue Ribbon Garden in Petaluma 15 War Experience, College Experience 19 Learning Plants 22 II NURSERY BUSINESS, 1945-1959 24 Hard Work: Propagating, Dealing with Customers, Staying Ahead 24 Fellow Nurserymen: Victor Reiter, Toichi Domoto 26 Protecting Stock, in the Nursery and in the Wild 28 Sunset Western Garden Book- -An Opinion 31 Working with Landscape Architects 32 Garden Snobs and the Garden , Conservancy 34 III UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BOTANICAL GARDEN, 1960-1976 39 Job Possibilities for Roderick, 1960 39 "Continuing Education" 40 Employees and Managers at the Garden 41 Weeding, and Collecting Class Material 45 "Desk Work" and the Dawn Redwood Fuss 48 California Native Area 50 Triumphing over the Soil 51 Plant Islands, Soil Tests 54 A Vernal Pool and A Pygmy Forest 55 Native Garden, Strybing Arboretum 58 Western Hills Nursery, Occidental, California 59 Cross-State Collecting Trips 61 Programs: Indian Uses, and Explorers of the West 62 Roses and Orchids, and the Public 64 More on Employees and Managers at the Garden 65 Sixties^ Disruptions at the Garden 66 Upgrading Field Data 68 Horticultural Characters 69 Flood and Frost at the Garden 71 Mather Redwood Grove 73 "Retirement" 74 IV NATIVE PLANTS 77 Tilden Park Botanic Garden, William Penn Mott and Friends 77 Ledyard Stebbins, and Leadership of California Native Plant Society 79 Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants in California 83 Propagating the Rare and Endangered 85 Inventory of California Natural Areas 87 Collecting on Public Lands 89 Horticultural Value of Native Plants 91 Saving Natural Areas 93 Carl Purdy, Theodore Payne, and Lester Rowntree 96 Taxonomists 98 V TILDEN PARK BOTANIC GARDEN, 1976-1982 100 Jim Roof 100 Records and Numbering System 104 Mapping, Thinning (Ted Kipping) , Digging 105 Staff and the Public 108 The Bad with the Good 109 Meeting Fellow Botanic Gardeners 110 Regions and Zones 112 VI THE BIG HORTICULTURAL PICTURE: INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS 114 Wildflowers , Flora, Keys, Terminology 114 Styles of Writing and Speaking About Horticulture 117 Know-How 119 England: E. B. Anderson, Chris Brickell, Alice Moore 120 Collecting and Sharing Bulbs 123 Garden Climates and Colors 126 Turkey 127 Coming Through Customs 129 Seed Exchange 130 Awards 132 Native Plant Study Group: Publication Plans 133 "Doing the Flowers" 138 Compost 140 TAPE GUIDE 142 APPENDICES 143 A. "Propagation of Native Plants with Bulbs, Tubers, Corms, 144 Rhizomes, and Rootstocks," by Wayne Roderick and W. Richard Hildreth, Fremontia. Journal of the California Native Plant Society, Volume 3, April 1975. B. "The 1989 SPCNI Spring Expedition," Spring 1989 issue of 154 the Society of Pacific Coast Native Iris Almanac . pp. 7-10. C. "Wildflower Haunts of California," by Wayne Roderick, 158 Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society. Vol. 48 (1) Winter 1990, pp. 3-13. INDEX 164 INTRODUCTION --by Walter Knight Wayne Roderick and I were both born in Petaluma, and we lived only a half mile apart, but since I am seven years older our paths never crossed during school years. After World War II Wayne and his parents conducted a nursery business and my wife and I had an interior decorating shop. Both of our enterprises were on the property where we were born. In the late 1950s and early 1960s my wife, Irja, would go to the Roderick Nursery to buy plants to enhance the area about the garden. But it was not until about 1961 that I met Wayne for the first time. It was one Saturday morning when he came to our shop to buy some window shades for a house he had recently purchased in Berkeley. He had given up his nursery business and begun employment with the University of California at their Berkeley botanical garden in the native Californian plant area. At the time I was much interested in photography and seemed to be attracted to taking pictures of flowers although I did not know one plant from the other. During our conversation while preparing the window shades, we both became aware that we had something in commonplants. The rest of the day was spent in looking over my slides. It resulted that I had taken many pictures of native material. Wayne said that most of his botanical experience had been with ornamentals and that even though he had been assigned to the university's native area, he could learn a lot more about the botany of California. We agreed that if he would come to Petaluma after work on Fridays, we could go on field trips over the weekend and further our knowledge of the local flora. So each Saturday morning Wayne and his mother would accompany Irja and me to some interesting place where we could photograph and collect plants. When Wayne would return the next Friday, the four of us would get together and study the pictures from the previous weekend. With the help of literature we would identify the plants as they appeared on the screen. This routine continued for a couple of years until we all became more comfortable with our ability to identify and grow the plants that we had studied. Wayne continued to work at the University of California botanical garden in Berkeley until 1976. He became director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Berkeley where he remained until his retirement. ii All during the time he worked at Berkeley, it was apparent to all of his friends that he had a special devotion to his mother. Each weekend he would go to Petaluma to assist her with shopping and some of the heavier chores in her garden. Paralleling this time, in 1965 I went to work as a gardener for the same Regional Parks Botanic Garden and soon was working as supervisor.