Daniel J. Hinkley

plantsman – author · speaker · horticultural consultant

Summer 2022

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You are here: Home / Archives for Daniel J. Hinkley

Paths to Linnaea

June 16, 2017 By Daniel J. Hinkley

Charming pink bells held in pairs of the Twinflower, Linnaea borealis
The still extant colony of Linnaea borealis in the woodland at Heronswood

In June of 1987, our realtor brought us back to the property at 7530 288th St NE for a second look.  We had been uninspired by our first viewing on a cold, dreary January day earlier that same year.  And besides, the asking prices of $89,000 was appreciably beyond our budget.

On that early summer’s day, however, the skies were crisply blue while from the canopy of Doug firs and cedars came a cacophony of birdsong.  I ventured into the thick native undergrowth of the woodland to get a better feel of the property and its potential for garden making.

On a mound of duffy soil surrounding a rotting stump, I encountered a generous colony of Linnaea borealis in full blossom.  As I kneeled down to admire the plant that had long been a favorite,  a black-capped chickadee arrived to the stump with a fat grub in its beak and entered a hole to a chorus of hungry nestlings inside.  We made an offer on what would become Heronswood that evening.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Heronswood, Plants Tagged With: Heronswood, Woodland Plants

Northern Vietnam, March 2016

April 22, 2016 By Daniel J. Hinkley

I had the pleasure and luxury this spring to travel to Vietnam with my colleague Scott McMahan and staff from the University of British Columbia Botanic Garden.  After so many trips to this country during the autumn months, at last seeing the mountains of this region coming to life was a remarkable and memorable experience.  Just a few highlights of the trip….. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Essays, Expeditions, Plants

An Early Spring; February Faces at Windcliff

February 21, 2015 By Daniel J. Hinkley

 

Container Ship-Dan-Hinkley.jpg

February of 2015 will be remembered, among other things,  for the whomping rumble of container ship engines as they idled off our bluff waiting in line for the longshoremen’s ‘slow down’ to resolve.  Despite the constant noise, we have rather enjoyed the light show provided from the vessels each evening and early morning.

Yet future reflection on our  February of this year, as well as our late December and January, will mostly recall one of the most mild winters I have ever experienced in the PNW. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Windcliff

Three Tree Moments

November 20, 2014 By Daniel J. Hinkley

A spire of limestone rising through fog and mist in China
The hauntingly beautiful karst formations of Hubei Province

I am home again, reunited with family and garden. The dogs no longer growl when I come into the room. Now, after a full week of recovery, I am of sound enough mind and body to download my images and ponder the wonders of this latest voyage; those things that are undeniably wondrous enough in the moment that it might seem to others assured of mental cementation. But, as often happens in life,  when confections exist in such ample supply they often cannot be savored until long after the first taste.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Essays, Expeditions, Plants Tagged With: China & Vietnam 2014, Trees

Perpetual Fog, Wind, & Rain in North Vietnam

November 11, 2014 By Daniel J. Hinkley

In 2003, Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones and I spent several weeks together in the mountains of northern Vietnam, in the highland French redoubt of Sa Pa. It was late in the season, so we were hardly expecting météo parfaite but the weather was nothing short of comical; it was a gulag of fog and rain. Sa Pa and the surrounding mountains were bathed not so much in gray but the smoky aspirant used to dramatically portray fog in  B-Grade Frankenstein movies. We made fires in our rooms to hang our seed collections in order to achieve some degree of dryness. We actually heard wolves howling while walking to local restaurants at night. Cloris Leachman served as our waitress one evening. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Essays, Expeditions Tagged With: China & Vietnam 2014

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Northern Vietnam, March 2016

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Daniel J. Hinkley

Teacher, writer, lecturer, consultant, nurseryman, naturalist, gardener.
Above all, he is committed to solid and sustainable horticultural practices, above average garden plants, landscapes of distinction and raising the collective awareness of the diversity of plant life on Earth as well as the magic and mysteries of our natural world. Learn more…

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