The Asian Collection @ The National Arboretum

The National Arboretum was established in 1927. It comprises 446 acres of land located in the extreme east-north-east quadrant of the Capital. The northern perimeter is girded by New York Avenue, the western by Blandensburg Road. To the south is a residential neighborhood and a golf course, and it's eastern border is the Anacostia river (across which is a private botanical park called Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Once inside, its easy to forget you're surround by an urban and suburban population easily topping 1 million people.

Within it's acreage, there are 3 areas devoted to hiking: 1) The Azalea Collection, 2) Fern Valley, and 3) The Asian Collection. This past Saturday I spent time hiking the trails of the Asian Collection from which I took these photos.

The Asian Collection is actually divided into 5 separate eco-rich environments each with it's own history and purpose. From the map above: E) is the Camellia collection, D) is the Japanese Woodland, C) is the Asian Valley, B) is the China Valley, and A) is the Korean Hillside. My visit bypassed the Camellia collection and began in the Japanese Woods.

And it's here that I encountered a magnificent White Camellia in full bloom. And the best part were all of the Honey Bees that were collecting nectar from it for the hive.

Later on as I worked my way around to the Asian Valley portion of the trails, I encountered this Toad-Lily, Tricyrtis formosana, which is native to the island of Taiwan. Reminded me of the Solomon's Seal that graces my gardens in its foliage.

The Pagoda is a rest stop on the edge of the Asian Valley. You can sit in it, or you can progress to a point that was once an observation site over the Anacostia River, but is now just a dead end on an over grown trail. It could be an excellent site for a true pagoda, hint, hint....

After this I made the trek to the Anacostia and back up again to the China Valley plantings.

Here is a sea of pink anemone from that journey.

Another beautiful flower, but the name escapes me...

And finally, the end of the trail. Backlit, the foliage is like nature's version of stained-glass. Luminescent and transcendent; which is among my favorite combinations in nature!