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OR--Some Japanese exports which don't require batteries....
Japan has long been a source of interesting imports for those of us who live in the Western hemisphere. There were plant materials and porcelains sent overseas long before the days of electronics, automobiles and the ever-present video games. Thank goodness. One of the earliest horticultural pioneers was Phillipe Franz von Siebold, shown here in this Oriental rendering. The article from which it originates is written with a heavy Japanese slant, and in the first person: "I was born in the Bavarian city of Wurzburg, now in Germany. I came to Nagasaki in 1823 to serve as physician at the Dejima Dutch Trading Post and after that was allowed to open a clinic in nearby Narutaki, where I taught medicine and science to Japanese students from all over Japan and contributed to the modern development of this country. My own purpose in coming here was to conduct research on Japan, and I was able to collect a wealth of information, artifacts and specimens thanks to the help of my students and other Japanese friends. Unfortunately I was expelled from the country as a result of the "Siebold Incident," but after that I published the 22-volume "Nippon," "Flora Nipponica" and other books in Europe. "Nippon," in particular, was prized as the most authoritative work on Japan, and it is still referred to widely today." (Bear in mind that this man brought Western medicine to a new culture in addition to producing his voluminous work on Japanese flora. His 'own purpose' was to found a modern health clinic.) And, from another source: "In 1828, when he was leaving Japan, it came to attention of Japanese authorities that his belongings included some items under an embargo such as maps of Japan, and after sustaining investigations he was expelled from the country at the end of the following year. Many Japanese scholars of Western studies in contact with him met with severe oppressions of the Tokugawa shogunate (the so-called "Siebold incident")." Oops.
But---back to the plants.
The Siebold Museum garden, located near the site of
Hydrangeas popularity as a prized specimen in its' native Japan dates only from the 1970s'. Today, they are very much in vogue for cultivated gardens, both public and private.
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The copyright of the article Hydrangeas in History in Gardening in Southern U.S. is owned by . Permission to republish Hydrangeas in History in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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