Chinese Gardens, Experiencing Cultures Through Gardening Series

Welcome to the new Chinese lunar year #4697. Let's explore a bit of China through the plants and gardens that grow there. Although this is just a very small part of the country and culture of China, it will give us a taste of what China may be like. Perhaps you will then search and learn even more about this country.

With this article I am starting a new series on ethnic gardens. We can teach ourselves and our children more about the world and other cultures through the plants and gardens grown in different homelands. It's a small way of bringing diversity and appreciation of other peoples into our lives. Now back to China.

China is a country with many beautiful gardens and a variey of plants. Some of these plants found their way to Europe and then to North America where many have become popular in landscapes and gardens around the world. Below, I have created lists of some Chinese plants (some of the plants come from the American Nurseryman Magazine July 15, 1997 issue). You may already grow some of these, but you may not realize they are of Chinese origin. What a learning experience it can be to around your garden (or a public garden) and see if you can find some there. It is also fun to make a special "Chinese Garden" your own incorporating the plants together in one area. Here are some links for public "Chinese Gardens" both within China and elsewhere.

China is a large country with various different climatic regions so they have many types of flora (plants). Let's find some tree and shrubs of Chinese origin first. One tree that I find fascinating is the Ginkgo Biloba tree. With it's fan-shaped leaves, it looks very distinctive. This tree was thought to be extinct long ago, but was rediscovered at a monastery in China. Other trees originally from China and that area are some Magnolias, Paperbark Maple, Chinese Redbud, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Silk Tree, Dove Tree, Golden Rain Tree, Bradford Pear Tree, Oriental Cherry Tree, Flowering Almond Trees, etc. While some may be common now these have originated in China.

Shrubs from China include many of my favorite flowering bushes. There are Chinese Lilacs, Holly, Barberry, Viburnum, Forsythia, Camellias, Bridalwreath Spirea, Daphne, Flowering Quince, Gardenia, Indian Hawthorn, Weigelia, and many Old Roses (often used to create hybrids). Bamboo fits in here somewhere as well, more as relative to grass than shrubs. If you plant bamboo, be certain that it is in large pot or in an area that it can be left to spread in. It is very hard to remove once it's growing. Some varieties have been known to take over entire yards.