UW Arboretum ~ reflecting back to fall ~

May 26, 2012 7PM-9PM

As in most lowland Puget Sound ecosystem, the Arboretum has numerous conifers like western red cedar, western hemlock, ponderosa pine, shore pine, and douglas fir. As you may know, since coniferous trees are evergreen, scenery dominated by conifers rarely change drastically by seasons. It would be a strecth, though, to claim that the Arboretum is dominated by conifers. There is a whole series of deciduous plant species, native and nonnative to Puget Sound, that creates a beautiful visual harmony during seasons of change. I do not know how much human intervention there has been to shape the current balance of species at the Arboretum, and on UW campus for that matter. I imagine that there has been extensive planning on what species to introduce and where to locate them, as ecosystem is a fragile balance of species. Even though a coniferous forest has its own greatness, one could potentially say that it could be aesthetically boring. Deciduous trees play a huge role in attracting humans to the beauty of tree species, which is something that any arboretum would cherish.

Deciduous trees bring a half year cycle of color to forests. In spring time flowers bloom with pretty colors to attract pollinators. In autumn, deciduous leaves change color from wild green to cheerful yellow and passion red. Both spring and autumn are short seasons that I interpret to be a brief transition period to major super-seasons of summer and winter. The ephemeral of the beauty in these seasons only adds to the nostalgia and fantasy of the harmony of nature. For example, Japan has a tradition of celebrating spring blossoming with "hanami" and autumn foliage with "kouyou."

Examples of deciduous species in the Arboretum are red alder, vine maple, big leaf maple, Japanese maple, salmonberry, serviceberry, ocean spray, and the list goes on. Many of these species lose their leaves while they may be green, or leaves may turn spotty brown that symbolizes maturity. These leaves may become wrinkled compared to the young leaves that emerge in spring.
Big leaf maple and Japanese maple give a colorful ending before their leaves fall. Go type japanese maple in a search engine and you will be provided with breath-taking photos of colorful foliage. If that is not enough, add kiyomizu-dera to the search result to find the collaboration of a world heritage site with nature's incredible beauty. Compare that with the photo of japanese maple leaves synced with entry and it is pretty difficult to believe that they change colors completely. The nostalgia from looking at autumn color leaves skyrockets in the event of encounter with japanese maple for me, perhaps because they are so common in Japan but perhaps because they are one of the best beauty that nature could offer.

Hence, the arboretum provides a different face in fall and spring. It may seem that you would tilt your head up and see colors in autumn while you would look down in spring. Autumn visit to the arboretum may be emotional and soothing, while a visit in the spring is enthusiastic and cheerful with young generations emerging. I believe it is always a great opportunity to see two seasonal faces of the same place.

Species List

Thuja plicata - Western red cedar
Tsuga heterophylla - Western hemlock
Pinus ponderosa - Ponderosa pine
Pinus contorta - Shore pine (lodgepole pine)
genus Pseudotsuga - Douglas fir
Alnus rubra - Red alder
Acer circinatum - Vine maple
Acer macrophyllum - Big leaf maple
Acer palmatum - Japanese maple
Rubus spectabilis - Salmonberry
genus Amelanchier - Serviceberry
Holodiscus discolor - Ocean spray

Posted on May 31, 2012 05:34 AM by bluehoneysugar