An Incredible Journey

Members of our Lily Society had a very special day when Jim invited us to his home for our June 19th meeting and for an incredible journey through his woodland garden. One must see it to believe it, but I will try to somewhat describe what we saw that day.

The house was of natural cedar set into a woods. The front lawn was immaculate with full grown trees on all sides. There was a pool with a goose fountain in the center, and to the far side was an iron life-sized deer, looking very much at home in this woodland setting. As I strolled up the walk, I remarked, "What a beautiful home"! Another member , Floris Hays, replied, "You haven't seen anything yet"! WOW! ! I could hardly wait to get started, but Ede Strand had prepared an incredible lunch of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, fruit pizza, a variety of fresh fruits, lemonade, and coffee. It tasted great to me after getting up at 5:00 to help milk cows and make the 60 mile not-so-incredible journey from Rice Lake to Eau Claire by 9:00 am. Thanks, Ede!

Then Jim and John started us around the house where many different plants and shrubs and even a Magnolia were planted, and a variety of newly purchased stock still in pots waited their turn. A purple-leaved ninebark called "Diablo" particularly caught my eye which Jim said would have incredible tiny white flowers later in the summer.

To the back of the house on the patio there were also container plantings, including a trough made of cement that held a mixture of small plants. A group of very tall trumpet lilies were supported by bent bamboo. Some of these trumpets were hybridized by Sue Kaul and showed great potential.

Going a little farther back, we discovered that the house was built atop a hill which was quite steep. This was all woods but open enough so we could see a large spring-fed pond at the bottom. By now, the sounds in the air were incredible, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, birds chirping, the tinkling of wind chimes which we could see halfway down the hill, and now the mystery of hearing rushing water, but not being able to see where it was.

Winding down the hill on a cushiony path through the woods, we could see azalea and rhododendron shrubs in every direction. It must have been an incredible sight earlier when they were all in bloom. Many other shrubs, trees, plants, and of course lily bulbs were carefully dispersed among the wild vegetation so as not to destroy the natural beauty of the woods.

Nearing the pond at the bottom of the hill was a clearing where plants needing sunlight were planted. Here also were many dwarf conifers (Albyn's prostrate - Scotch pine) of interesting habit. Protruding over the pond were three very large flat topped rocks so artistically overlapping each other that I questioned it just happening that way naturally. No, they were brought in by a back-hoe and placed that way. In fact, Jim said there was not a single rock on the place when they bought it. Our mouths dropped as we looked at all the rocks! The pond was home to sunfish, fat-head minnows, and perch, and a board was floating for the turtles to crawl upon for a sun bath.

The variation in color of the different foliages made an incredible display even in spots where there were no flowers. A gold colored grass called "Hakone Forest Grass" really lit up the area. The variation in texture was also quite evident. Even a wild mullen was left here and there for it's contrasting wooly leaves and sentinel looking flower spikes.

Starting back up the hill on the other side of the property, we looked up, and up, and up and the mystery of the rushing water revealed a man-made stream starting at the top of the hill, falling over five plateaus of rocks, with more rocks embedded on both sides of the stream the entire drop of the hill (John estimated this to be about 200 feet). Remember, there were no rocks here originally. The stream bed had been lined with a liner of butyl rubber and ended in a pool at the bottom where the water was then recirculated. Wow!! What an incredible sight!! From that spot one could almost see the entire scope of the hill, the pond below, the stream, and the house at the top. We could have stayed all day, but business matters were calling so reluctantly we slowly climbed back up the hill, asking as many questions as possible to catch our breath and delay ending the tour.

Part way up was a beautiful 2-1/2 foot granite Oriental stone lantern near the stream. We could see many martagon and species lilies. Jim was especially happy about L. auratum platyphyllum that was in bud. Several Asiatics looking great were of Hod Hoepner's hybridizing. The northern slope of the hill afforded a chance for some plants not zoned for this area to survive the winters. Also of interest were a native plant called Toyara with a brown chevron mark across the leaf, some pulmonarias, ligularias, and Scarlet lobelia-still in bud. Yellow and blue corydalis were all off to a good start in the shady ravine. We marveled at how Jim and John could remember the names of everything they have planted.

You have no doubt noticed that I used the word "incredible" quite often in this report. I did so because I heard Jim use that word several times during the tour, not in describing their accomplishments which were indeed incredible, but rather in describing a particular bloom, or foliage, or the growth habit of a certain plant, shrub, or tree. So Thank You, Jim and John, for inviting us to your home for our June meeting and for a most incredible journey through your woodland garden!

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