Kathleen Smith Moss Garden: A Guided Walk

Thuidium moss in the Kathleen Smith Moss Garden

Photos and text by Flora O’Brien

Mosses are growing all around us—on rocks, stream banks, shaded rooftops and trees, and emerging from the cracks in sidewalks. It’s ubiquitous, yet ever intriguing in its myriad shapes and forms. Come visit the Kathleen Smith Moss Garden in the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum and you’ll see for yourself the diversity of these primitive plants.

As you enter from the east, you’ll find a patch of Thuidium, commonly called delicate fern moss, on your right.  In the photo above, you can see its resemblance to fern. Also visible are the projections above the leaves of the plant. These are the spore-carrying reproductive bodies.

Atrichum (starburst) moss

A few steps farther along is an aged cedar stump inhabited by two species of Atrichum moss, also known as starburst moss. Continue on and there is a short dirt path on the left   leading you deeper into the garden. 

Leucobryum

Again on your left, behind the hand-carved Japanese water basin and at the base of the pine, you’ll see tufts of Leucobryum, aptly called pincushion moss (photo at left). 

Polytrichum and Thuidium

 Ahead is an outcropping of stone sheltering Climacium, palm tree moss, and a lovely vignette of Polytrichum and Thuidium mosses (photo at right).

A tableau of mosses

Back on the stone path there is a tableau of rocks and small hillocks, all loved by various mosses, lichen and liverworts. And scattered throughout the garden, you will find tufts of bluets that have emerged to greet the spring. 

As you leave, be sure to look for the tiny meadow of Hypnum moss on the left.  

Bluets signal the emerging spring.

Members of the Duke Gardens staff lovingly harvested all of these mosses locally, sustainably and with permission. Enjoy your stroll, and come back again!

Blogger Flora O’Brien is a Duke Gardens volunteer who assists in the Kathleen Smith Moss Garden.

Winter Delights in the Kathleen Smith Moss Garden

 Lily seed pods

Acer palmatum 'Emperor 1'

By Flora O'Brien
Duke Gardens Volunteer

It's mid-December in the Kathleen Smith Moss Garden, where I spend many enjoyable hours as a horticulture volunteer. The joyous distractions of summer have passed, leaving a calm and verdant richness. The underlying architecture of the garden becomes more evident. It is a time to walk slowly and notice small things.

Budding tree peony.

The Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Emperor 1’) is particularly beautiful.The tree holds its leaves later than many other trees, then sheds them in a flurry of crimson, and they end up in a spectacular array around its feet.

Daphne odora ready to pop! Photo by Sarah Leach Smith.

The lily seed pods (Lilium sp.; photo at top), the buds and blossoms on the tree peonies and Fuji cherry (Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’) have begun to appear, and the Daphne odora has set its buds.

Paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)

Look at the small grove of paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) surrounding the beautiful American cherry wood bench. The  leaves have fallen, revealing a mass of nodding satiny flower buds.

Closer inspection will reward you with ferns, the berries of sacred lily, and of course the subtle shapes and colors of the lush blanket of mosses.

Close-up of paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha). Photo by Sue Lannon.

Located between the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden and the traditional Japanese-style arched bridge (see map here), this space is a surprise to be discovered, a cherished jewel within the larger Culberson Asiatic Arboretum.

Now the garden seems to rest, awaiting the evolution of winter. But wonders await those who would spend a quiet moment in this quiet space.



All photos by Flora O'Brien, except where noted.