The 2010 collecting trips were long overdue.

Songnisan South Korea  

After an absence from South Korea since 2001, it was satisfying while long overdue to be back there in the autumn of 2010. As we had suspected the changes there were enormous, primarily the infrastructure, both good and bad as it turned out. Bad in so far as returning to some of our old sites to replenish our collections, from what were old dirt tracks, that had disappeared under six lane highways. The flip side was our travelling time between collection areas was greatly shortened. The pace of change has been set, their economy may still be smaller than Japan’s, but their advances are surpassing with a strong ‘can-do’ mentality.

Aristolochia manshuriensis  

Prior to our arrival we had been warned by our good friend Kihun Song that unlike previous visits the seed set of most plants had been poor over the summer months. This was due to weather conditions being not to the liking of many of the cooler growing plants, although there were still enough exceptions. Therefore on our first day we made a bee-line to re-collect one of the most ornamental plants of our trip. Aristolochia manshuriensis where the long sausage shaped seed capsules are to be found in a few sites from the eastern side of the country. It is becoming an ever more popular climber as people appreciate the beauty of its dramatic flowering on the bare twinning stems in spring, to be adorned soon after by large heart-shaped soft foliage which turns a glorious yellow in autumn. We were relieved on finding it, as demand is so high and propagation from cuttings is both problematic and unprofitable.

Aristolochia contorta  

Unlike its exceptionally hardy cousin, Aristolochia contorta grew on hot banks further south in the Waraeksan area, scrambling over large shrubs and scrub. Needless to say we will look forward to admiring its contorted funnel-shaped flowers in years to come. Shame its only hardy to around –20C.

Gismo in action  

It wasn’t long before my new gismo came in handy. On my last collection trip to Taiwan the Natural Science Museum in Taichung had introduced me to a very handy (and more to the point…. inexpensive and compact) gadget for collecting seed or specimens from seemingly unreachable heights. Namely a telescopic pole, sold commercially as sea-fishing rods, which we were able to adapt for the said purpose. Thanks to my new equipment we were soon bagging quantities of Juglans mandshurica, not long joined by Acer triflorum and A. mandshuricum from Taebaeksan. Tall trees of Cornus macrophylla became reachable, while a heady Kalopanax septemlobus yielded a bumper crop of small purple berries, unable to repel us with its thorny trunk. While further south Daphniphyllum macropodum and Magnolia obovata surrendered their fruit without a wrenching climb along flexuous branches.

Young Liz  

This was not our only secret weapon, our good friend Liz Bradley (of needlepoint fame) had expressed an interest in joining us as our cultural advisor. With such dexterous fingers she proved to be a saviour when it came to our nightly seed cleaning chore. Does anyone out there appreciate how much fiddling and fumbling it takes just to get the seed home? Poor old Liz spent more time than she cared to think about slouched over a toilet bowl, rinsing seed. She also expressed a disappointment to be spending so much time in mountain forests, as opposed to subtropical islands….. you have to go where the plants are. All the same the scenery was breathtaking and we were all much fitter for trampling up and down mountains most days. Acquiring many new and interesting collections on our journey, starting in the north close to the border with North Korea in the cold mountains. Principally working our way south through the various rich mountainous areas treating ourselves to the occasional night on the coast for some civilised warmth. With one deviation to the remote island of Ullüngdõ for a few days of scouring for its endemics. Disappointing may be overstating this return visit, but some of our past successes were noticeably absent in seed, while new accessions were not that forthcoming. Meanwhile the weather also played its part in dampening our enthusiasm. It’s a long way to go for a couple of handfuls of seed.

Sue, Chirisan-Sue  

Despite the few setbacks, not long after this Liz left us for home with a hefty consignment of seed to transport to Crûg, enabling them to be sown long before our return. Ironic that within a week of her departure we had finished scouring the areas of mountain that remained and were island hopping along the south coast. Something that Sue and I had touched on during our first visit there in 1993, but this time we were determined to leave no stone unturned. Our future offerings will we hope reflect this previously untapped booty, in the way of some new Lilium and Zanthoxylum species that are new to us. As well as a puzzling Sorbus, whatever we had a great time before the cold weather finally moved in.

Kihun Song  

It was a drastically different scene that greeted us on our return to Kihun Song’s nursery south of Seoul, as by now it was the closing days of October. All the vegetation was frost burnt, virtually no green left in the countryside while in surrounding fields the rice harvest had long finished. More days of seed cleaning followed as well as the few plants we had to wash, added to by Kihun’s generosity, some rare Polygonatum.

Ch'õllip'o Arboretum  

Then it was up to Seoul on a perfect crisp sunny morning to meet up with Finlay Colley, who was joining me for a scout around some of my favourite collecting areas in southern Japan. With just enough time to make a quick dash to Ch'õllip'o Arboretum, where we met up with Chang Ho Choi the new curator. It was most interesting to see the changes made since Ferris Millers’ passing, best described as more visitor friendly. Some of the plants had luxuriated beyond recognition, such was the case with Persea japonica, which Chang Ho generously shared the seed with us. Just as well as we had not been able to find it on our search of the country, all we need now is some good germination.