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!
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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
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!
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!
Aloe stem?
Dropwort, presumably Oenanthe javanica (water dropwort), a common vegetable in the Far East (more on this one in an upcoming blog!)
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)…. :(
Dried roots of balloon flower (Platycodon)
Mugwort powder (Artemisia spp.)
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
Burdock (Arctium lappa) root (borre)
Ginseng root
Gosari is also bracken fern
Chinese yam?
Dried bracken fern (einstape)
Taro stem, Colocasia esculenta
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
Garlic stem? These were very long if they are garlic scapes (flower stem)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
