After visiting the UBC botanical garden on 4th April 2018, I bussed across town to Vancouver’s better known more formal VanDusen botanical garden, although it’s a younger garden (from 1970) against UBC which was established in 1916. The rain started when I arrived and I didn’t have that much time. Nevertheless, here are a few impressions!
Hydrophyllum (water leaf / Indian salad) is one of the 80 in my book!
Sedum oreganum
Erythronium “Kondo”
Today in the garden (in flower) from L to R: Ribes sanguineum, Lysichiton americanum, Ribes sanguineum “White Icicle” and Camellia japonica
Today in the garden (in flower) from L to R: Carylopsis pauciflora, Synthuris missurica, edible Primula elatior and Pulmonaria angustifolia and Pieris japonica “Christmas Cheer”
Near the garden entrance was a native garden. Here, native edible Mahonia nervosa
Native edibles Camassia leichtlinii, Allium cernuum, Triteleia laxa and Trillium ovatum!
Native Allium cernuum
Kinnikinnick / Common Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. I was surprised to see this familiar Norwegian plant (melbær) growing in this totally different climate on coastal dunes in Oregon during my visit there!
Native edible Camassia leichtlinii
Waterleaf (Indian salad) (Hydrophyllum) at the perfect stage for harvesting!
Waterleaf (Indian salad) (Hydrophyllum) at the perfect stage for harvesting!
Trillium sessile “Rubrum”
Pulmonaria “Sissinghurst White”
Variegated bulbous oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. bulbosum “Variegatum”)
An East African Alchemilla ellenbeckii
South American section with Monkey Puzzle tree
Young shoots of Gunnera manicata
Emerging sleeping giant Gunnera manicata
Canada geese
Rhus typhina, Staghorn Sumac
Betula utilis
I don’t remember seeing this conifer before: Cathaya argyrophylla
The Sino-Himalayan Garden
Prunus mume, Japanese apricot
Staphylea holocarpa shoots
Saxifraga cortusifolia is used in Japan, probably in tempura
Ostrich Fern
Saxigraga stolonifera “Harvest Moon”, the main species used in tempura in Japan
I was keen to visit a Korean supermarket when I was in Vancouver and some Koreans I met in Victoria on a walk recommended H Mart, a chain of supermarkets specialising in Asian food and particularly Korean. The “H” in “H Mart” stands for Han Ah Reum, a Korean phrase meaning “one arm full of groceries”!
I was hoping to find Korean Aster (chwinamul or Aster scaber), but I couldn’t find it… However, there were a few other interesting perennial vegetables!
Crown daisy or Chopsuey Greens (Glebionis coronaria syn. Chrysanthemum coronarium). See my article about how this Mediterranean annual native plant became a super vegetable in the Far East here:http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?page_id=3493
Dried sweet potato stem
Chamnamul – the original chamnamul is a plant in the carrot family, Pimpinella brachycarpa. However, the real plant is rare it seems and what you get is often Cryptotaenia japonica: See http://bburikitchen.com/cham-namul-pimpinella-brachycarpa . I have a plant of Pimpinella brachycarpa (seed off ebay) in the cellar and it does look very much like Cryptotaenia (no redness in the stems)…. :(
Dropwort, presumably Oenanthe javanica (water dropwort), a common vegetable in the Far East (more on this one in an upcoming blog!)
Mugwort powder (Artemisia spp.)
Gosari is also bracken fern
Chinese yam?
Aloe stem?
Taro stem, Colocasia esculenta
Dried roots of balloon flower (Platycodon)
Dried bracken fern (einstape)
Burdock (Arctium lappa) root (borre)
Garlic stem? These were very long if they are garlic scapes (flower stem)
Acorn powder (oak acorn flour). This reminds me of this article about foraging acorns of the Garry Oak (the species that I saw a lot of in Victoria BC, growing with the camas!): http://arcadianabe.blogspot.no/2012/11/how-to-eat-acorn.html
Ginseng root
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden