Autumn Yellow. Mahonia japonica, Japanese Mahonia, Oosterpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Oosterpark in Amsterdam was the outcome of a prize contest proffered by the municipal council in 1890. They wanted a place of quietude and especially fresh air for the new suburb 'east', which was being built. The winner of the award was Leonard Anthony Springer (1855-1940) with his plan for an English landscape garden. Indeed, it's still very much intact in that style and you can wander about on undulating paths often secluded around a small lake with an island. Upon its completion in 1891 it was immediately a favorite place for outings.
Obviously there are lots of plants and trees, many now leafless or in their last Autumn garb. But there's some freshness as well. Here in the photo is Mahonia japonica. Apparently named after Japan because fine Carl Peter Thunberg - often mentioned in these pages - collected it in Japan and also described it, but as an Ilex. 'Mahonia' is a name devised by the intrepid English naturalist, Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) who explored in North America between 1808 and 1841. He used as his 'clearing house' the offices of Bernard M'Mahon (1775-1816) in Philadelphia. Full of gratitude he named Mahonia, formerly Ilex, 'Mahonia' in honor of this Irishman who was such a stay for naturalists working in the Americas.
PS The color yellow of this Mahonia brings back memories of Istanbul when I would travel through in the late '60s. There was a little café there called The Pudding Shop in the Sultanahmed district. It served as a kind of clearing house for travelers. This was, of course, before internet and even phonecalls were not easy. So we'd leave enveloppes there for friends to collect on their way east and west, to India and Asia and back to Europe. I came through a lot and left and collected many enveloppes for and from friends often with cash in them - no internet banking nor ATMs back then. Ah! the honesty of the owners! I wonder if the shop still exists.
Autumn Yellow. Mahonia japonica, Japanese Mahonia, Oosterpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Oosterpark in Amsterdam was the outcome of a prize contest proffered by the municipal council in 1890. They wanted a place of quietude and especially fresh air for the new suburb 'east', which was being built. The winner of the award was Leonard Anthony Springer (1855-1940) with his plan for an English landscape garden. Indeed, it's still very much intact in that style and you can wander about on undulating paths often secluded around a small lake with an island. Upon its completion in 1891 it was immediately a favorite place for outings.
Obviously there are lots of plants and trees, many now leafless or in their last Autumn garb. But there's some freshness as well. Here in the photo is Mahonia japonica. Apparently named after Japan because fine Carl Peter Thunberg - often mentioned in these pages - collected it in Japan and also described it, but as an Ilex. 'Mahonia' is a name devised by the intrepid English naturalist, Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) who explored in North America between 1808 and 1841. He used as his 'clearing house' the offices of Bernard M'Mahon (1775-1816) in Philadelphia. Full of gratitude he named Mahonia, formerly Ilex, 'Mahonia' in honor of this Irishman who was such a stay for naturalists working in the Americas.
PS The color yellow of this Mahonia brings back memories of Istanbul when I would travel through in the late '60s. There was a little café there called The Pudding Shop in the Sultanahmed district. It served as a kind of clearing house for travelers. This was, of course, before internet and even phonecalls were not easy. So we'd leave enveloppes there for friends to collect on their way east and west, to India and Asia and back to Europe. I came through a lot and left and collected many enveloppes for and from friends often with cash in them - no internet banking nor ATMs back then. Ah! the honesty of the owners! I wonder if the shop still exists.