A Requested, Special Re-Publish ONLY for "Californians on Gather": Spring at Burbank's Farm

(Note: Originally posted April 5th, 2008, this article is republished in response to a special request from the owner of Gather group "Californians on Gather". -- jean) 

I had to run a couple of errands yesterday back in my old "stomping grounds" (for 14 years) of the little town of Sebastopol here in Sonoma County in Northern California... As some of you may recall,I serve on the Board of Directors of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society in Sebastopol and have been an active volunteer at one of WSCHS's historical sites, Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm, for many years.

For those who are not familiar with his name, Luther Burbank (1856-1927) was a very famous horticulturalist in his day who was called "The Plant Wizard" -- much as one of his good friends (along with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone), Thomas Edison, was called "The Wizard of Menlo Park". Because Burbank applied the principles of evolution as suggested by Charles Darwin in his book "Origin of the Species" to plant breeding, it is said that Burbank's work was an important precourser to the modern day science of genetics.

The approximately 3 remaining acres of the original 20-odd acres of Gold Ridge Farm is located wholly within the city limits of the town of Sebastopol and was the site where Burbank carried out most of his larger experiments with perennials, shrubs, fruit, nut and hardwood trees.

It was restored in the early 1980s by volunteers after it lay dormant for more than 50 years following Burbank's death but, it is only at the remnants of the Farm where actual rows of plants -- set into the ground by the master's own hands -- can be found and, in my opinion, the fall and spring seasons are the optimum times during which to view them.You can find my fall-season photo-essay on the Farm published previously on Gather here:

The Golden Breath of Autumn at Burbank's Farm
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977135799

But, for now, please come and take a stroll with me down its springtime pathways...

Unfortunately, I haven't had much of an opportunity to get down to the Farm for quite a few weeks... I now live about 45 minutes away and gas is SO EXPENSIVE! :^(  So, I was pleased to see that the other volunteers have been hard at work carrying out the continuing augmentation of the garden surrounding the restored "Caretaker's Cottage" according to the "Farm Master Plan" by planting these stunning alstromeria ("wishbone flower") and dicentra ("bleeding heart") flowers!

I must confess that I've always ADORED the exquisite blossoms of the Victorian "bleeding hearts"!

Eventually, the Cottage Garden will contain many more wonderful, old-fashioned flowers -- chosen especially because they represent plants that were popular in Burbank's time...

Immediately following Burbank's death in 1927, his widow, Elizabeth Waters Burbank, summoned representatives from one of Burbank's largest and most valued customers, Stark Brothers Nursery out of Missouri, to come and catalog all of Burbank's ongoing plant experiments located at the Farm. They concluded that a small stand of lilacs -- each one a different variety (still growing just north of the Cottage) -- had the greatest potential commercial value of all of the remaining plants. 

Unfortunately, most of the cuttings (or "slips") they took and shipped back to Stark Bros. didn't even survive that first harsh Missouri winter...

Eventually, the lilacs were completely shaded over by encroaching native scrub oaks and it was only within the last couple of years that Farm volunteers were able to secure the city's  permission to remove the invasive oaks. This is virtually the first full calendar year calendar during which the lilacs have had anywhere near sufficient sunlight in order to "set bloom".  Just look at these results!

Directly across the pathway from the lilacs is a row of just about my favorite plant on the whole Farm: The Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia)! I was just a little too late to get photos of them in full bloom but I DID find a flower here and there...

(I just love that delicate "salmon-y" shade of pink, don't you?)

Unlike the round, fuzzy fruit of their more commonly-found, distant cousins, the "European" or "Van Damen" quinces (Chaenomeles), these trees bear HUGE, bright gold, football shaped fruit and, let me tell you: If you've never tasted jelly made from Chinese quinces, you've really been MISSING something!

I affectionately call the Chinese quince trees here at the Farm "the Giraffe Trees" and here's the reason why:

(I don't know about YOU, but the shapes in the mottled bark of the Chinese quince trees sure remind ME of giraffes' markings!)

There are 3 or 4 apple "mother" trees at the Farm that were found to have many different "grafts" on them when the Farm was restored and the "California Rare Fruit Growers Association" have partnered with the Farm Advisory Committee to continue this tradition by grafting even more varieties onto those original "mother trees". (One of them, I've heard, has over 50 different grafts!) Here's a shot that shows off the delicate color-shading of the apple blossoms:

And there is one, lone "crab apple" tree that survives here, too... The dramatic, deep-red of its blooms are simple gorgeous!

(Several years back, I canned a few jars of "pickled crab apples" made using the fruit from this one tree -- they were simply DELICIOUS!)

A little further along the pathway, we find that the row of "trifoliate oranges" is in bloom!

By far, the best part about these trees is flowering... The orange fruits that come along later in the year are fuzzy, acrid-tasting, pithy and full of seeds! You see, this particular citrus tree was being cultivated by Burbank, not for its own fruit but as "root stock" upon which to graft OTHER citrus tree varieties. The reason being that these natives of Japan are highly drought, disease and insect resistent and frost resistent down to -40 degrees F!

On the opposite side of the path, we find one of the extremely RARE blueberry plants (of which there are about 5 or 6 here at the Farm) in FULL BLOOM!

(I realize those of you who live on the East Coast might not think there's anything particularly "rare" about blueberry plants but, trust me, in OUR neck o'the woods, they're "scarce as hen's teeth" as my Mother used to say!)

Just beyond that blueberry bush is one of the two wisteria vines that grow here on the Farm... While there are no flowers (or foliage, for that matter!) yet on this, the largest of the two varieties, I thought this big "twist" in the trunk was pretty interesting!

Coming back around to the south side of the Cottage, I was thrilled to see there were some flowers on the "Burbank Rose"! This is the ONLY rose that he developed that carries his name and one of only two of his hybrid plants of any species ever to do so!

The "nodding habit" you notice doesn't mean the plant needs watering -- ALL of the flowers of the "Burbank Rose" hang down like that! Kind of cool, huh?

Lastly, we come full-circle to the Chinese quince trees' distant cousins, the "Van Damen" or "European" quince trees... Here's an extreme close-up of one of their blossoms that shows the delicate, little veins of color inside of them:

(Now that I have my new camera, when fall gets here, I'll have to make a special point to get back down to Gold Ridge Farm to take ALL NEW FALL PHOTOS of Mr. Burbank's plants!)

Well, that was quite a walk! It was my pleasure to re-publish this article exclusively for "Californians on Gather"! Thanks for your company today!