Plant Guide Spring China is home to more than 30,000 plant species – one-eighth of the world’s total. At Lan Su, visitors can enjoy hundreds of these plants, many of which have a rich symbolic and cultural history in China. This guide is a selected look at some of Lan Su’s current favorites. Please return this guide to the Garden Host at the entrance when your visit is over. A Katsura g Magnolia* m Rhododendron* b Chinese Paper Bush h Lushan Honeysuckle n Camellia reticulata c Winter Daphne i Peony* o Kerria d Chinese Fringe Flower j Chinese Plum p Bergenia e Forsythia k Quince q Iris f Camellia* l Crabapple r Orchid PLANT Guide Spring Katsura A Forsythia E (Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Pendula’) (Forsythia x intermedia ‘Lynwood Gold’) This unusual weeping variety of Long cultivated in Chinese gardens, Katsura is a showstopper year round forsythia has become popular in with its ethereal beauty. Rarely found gardens throughout the world. Cut in Chinese Gardens, the leaves begin branches can be forced to bloom early, to emerge in March openning fully when brought indoors. to heart spade shaped green golden leaves on graceful branches. Come back in the early Autumn for its sweetly scented golden leaves. Chinese Paper B Camellia F Bush (Camellia. japonica ‘Drama Girl’) For additional camellia varieties, see the Master (Edgeworthia ‘Akebono,’ E. chrysantha) Species List Native to China, this deciduous shrub is a relative of sweet daphne. In winter, The camellia has long been a favorite frosty silver buds open to clusters of garden plant in China. The ornamental intoxicatingly fragrant, golden-yellow species frequently used in traditional or orange flowers. The Chinese made Chinese gardens were C. japonica, C. paper from this plant by pounding flat reticulata and C. sasanqua. The Chinese the stems and bark. were cultivating camellias at least as early as the 495 B.C.E. Winter Daphne C Magnolia G (Daphne ‘Aureomarginata,’ D. odora) (Magnolia x soulangiana) For additional This evergreen shrub explodes with magnolia varieties, see the Master Species List clusters of pink flowers in winter that China is home to more magnolia have a rich, orange blossom-like scent. species than any other country. Certain The original Chinese name for this plant species have been cultivated for well is “sleeping scent”. Legend has it that a over a thousand years. Look for their monk fell asleep beneath the cliffs of the white, pink and yellow blooms on bare ancient Lu Mountain. There he dreamt branches throughout the garden. of an impossibly sweet fragrance, only to awake and find himself next to this sweetly fragrant plant. Chinese Fringe D Lushan H Flower Honeysuckle (Loropetalum chinense, Loropetalum ‘Snow (Lonicera modesta var. lushanensis) Dance’) This deciduous to semi-evergreen This evergreen shrub is in the witch shrub produces tubular white flowers hazel family. Lan Su has several purple- that run the length of vigorous, vine- leaved specimens whose magenta like branches during winter. Its sweet flowers provide bright color in spring and fresh fragrance can be detected and summer. An additional green-leaved even on cold, rainy spring days. specimen with white flowers sits along the pond edge in front of the teahouse. Peony i Chinese Camellia n (Paeonia delvayi, suffruticosa and varieties) (Camellia reticulata, ‘Dr. Clifford Parks’) The peony has been cultivated in Cultivated in Yunnan over a thousand years China for millennia. Early uses were ago, this beloved Chinese camellia have used purely medicinal yet by the seventh in art and mentions many times in literature century, its large, colorful fragrant reveared for their large peony like blooms. blooms were highly sought after. During the Ming dynasty they were known across much of central China becoming Different from herbaceous peonies, possibly the most loved camellia. 600 year Lan Su has several “tree peonies” or old specimens can still be found in Yunnan. shrubs with woody tissue. Dr. Clifford Parks is a recent cultivar. Chinese Plum j Kerria o (Prunus mume, P. mume ‘Kobai,’ P. mume (Kerria japonica, Kerria j. ‘Pleniflora’ & ‘Alba’) Kerria j. ‘Golden Guinea’) One of the most culturally significant Native to China, this reliable spring plants in China, P. mume is one of the bloomer has brilliant golden yellow “Three Friends of Winter” (along with flowers running the length of arching, pine and bamboo) given its ability bright green, cane-like branches. to flower in the coldest months. The flower’s five petals can also represent the five blessings of longevity, health, wealth, love of virtue and a natural death. flowering k Bergenia p Quince (Bergenia emeiensis ‘Snow Chimes’) (Chaenomeles japonica ‘Atsuya Hamada’ A relatively new introduction from & ‘Contorta’) China, this perennial is native to the Flowering Quince have long been cliffs of Sichuan province. It’s shade- grown in Chinese gardens and are loving and evergreen with bell-like also used in penjing, Chinese miniature white flowers. potted landscapes. Crabapple l Iris q (Malus ‘Prairie Fire,’ M. ‘Sugar Tyme’) (Iris confusa ‘Martyn Rix’) Crabapples have been used in Chinese Native to China, this unusual iris has gardens for over 1,000 years. Our foliage borne on bamboo-like stems ornamental species produce red fruits and small orchid-like, purple blooms. but are most admired for their five- Not reliably hardy, these iris survive petaled blossoms and zig-zag branches. our winters thanks to the walled, Poets and painters since the seventh protective environment of the garden. century have admired this plant as a symbol of feminine beauty. Rhododendron m orchid r (Rhododendron oreotrephes) For additional (Cymbidium sinense, Bletilla striata, Rhododendron varieties, see the Master Species List Bletilla ochracea) Its common name in Chinese is The floral name sake of Lan Su associated with the cuckoo bird. An Yuan (Lan = Orchid Lan Su Yuan ancient poem links the bird’s seasonal – Garden of Awakening Orchid). singing with the rhododendron’s There are over 1000 species of orchid springtime bloom. Find stunning native to China. We have 2 that are examples of colorful hybrids and suitable for PNW weather. Used species rhododendrons flowering extensively in Chinese gardens, the throughout April and May. Chinese orchid blooms are more subtle perhaps than their tropical relatives. Do you have a question about a specific plant? Email Lan Su’s Horticulture department at [email protected] for more information..