Yu Garden 豫园 - 豫園 Yùyuán

Yu Garden (simplified Chinese: 豫园; traditional Chinese: 豫園; pinyin: Yùyuán; literally "Yu Garden"), located in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao area in Shanghai, China, is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region. The garden is accessible from the nearby Yuyuan Garden station on the Shanghai Metro line 10.

History

The garden was first established in 1559 as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years building a garden to please his father Pan En, a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty, during his father's old age. Over the years, the gardens fell into disrepair until about 1760 when bought by merchants, before suffering extensive damage in the 19th century. In 1842, during the Opium Wars, the British army occupied the Town God Temple for five days. During the Taiping Rebellion the gardens were occupied by imperial troops, and damaged again by the Japanese in 1942. They were repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956–1961, opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982.

Design

Today, Yu Garden occupies an area of 2 hectares (5 acres), and is divided into six general areas laid out in the Suzhou style: Grand Rockery - rockery made of huangshi stone (12 m high), featuring peaks, cliffs, winding caves and gorges. This scenery was possibly created by Zhang Nanyang in the Ming Dynasty. This area also contains the Sansui (Three Corn Ears) Hall.

Heralding Spring Hall (Dianchun) - built in 1820, the first year of the Emperor Daoguang's reign. From September 1853 to February 1855, it served as the base of the Small Swords Society (Xiaodao Hui).

Inner Garden - rockeries, ponds, pavilions, and towers, first laid out in 1709 and more recently recreated in 1956 by combining its east and west gardens.

Jade Magnificence Hall (Yuhua) - furnished with rosewood pieces from the Ming Dynasty.
Lotus Pool - with a zigzag bridge and mid-lake pavilion.
Ten Thousand-Flower Tower (Wanhua)
Garden areas are separated by "dragon walls" with undulating gray tiled ridges, each terminating in a dragon's head.

Features

Sansui Hall Yangshan Hall Huge Rockery Cuixui Hall Relaxation Stone Boat Yule Pavilion Double Lane Corridor Wanhua Chamber Gingko Tree Nine Lion Study Ancient Well Pavilion Relic Hall Dianchun Hall Acting and Singing Stage Kualiou Pavilion Hexu Hall Huijing Tower Toasting Pavilion Yuhua Hall Deyue Chamber Jade Water Corridor Depository of Books and Paintings Exquisite Jade Rock Huanlong Bridge Inner Garden Jingguan Tower Guantao Tower Dress Circle Keyl Hall Stone Boat Big Stage Mid-Lake Pavilion Nine Zigzag Bridge Master Lao Hall Ting Tao Tower Exhibit Hall Hanbi Tower

Yu Garden 豫园 - 豫園 Yùyuán Flower and Tree exhibits

Wisteria Sinensis (Chinese Wisteria)

Wisteria sinensis (Chinese Wisteria) is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine in the genus Wisteria, native to China in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan. While this plant is a climbing vine, it can be trained into a tree-like shape, usually with a wavy trunk and a flattened top.

It can grow 20-30 m long over supporting trees by counter-clockwise-twining stems. The leaves are shiny, green, pinnately compound, 10-30 cm in length, with 9-13 oblong leaflets that are each 2-6 cm long. The flowers are white, violet, or blue, produced on 15-20 cm racemes in spring, usually reaching their peak in mid-May. The flowers on each raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded, and have a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes. Though it has shorter racemes than Wisteria floribunda (Japanese Wisteria), it often has a higher quantity of racemes. The fruit is a flattened, brown, velvety, bean-like pod 5-10 cm long with thick disk-like seeds around 1 cm in diameter spaced evenly inside; they mature in summer and crack and twist open to release the seeds; the empty pods often persist until winter. However seed production is often low, and most regenerative growth occurs through layering and suckering. One very interesting fact about this plant is that it is actually a member of the pea family, and the abovementioned seedpods are actually legumes.

It is hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-9, and prefers moist soils. It is considered shade tolerant, but will flower only when exposed to partial or full sun. It will also flower only after passing from juvenile to adult stage, a transition that may take many years. It can live for over 100 years.

All parts of the plant contain a glycoside called wisterin which is toxic if ingested and may cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pains, and diarrhea. Wisterias have caused poisoning in children of many countries, producing mild to severe gastroenteritis.

It was introduced from China to Europe and North America in 1816 and has secured a place as one of the most popular flowering vines for home gardens due to its flowering habit. It has however become an invasive species in some areas of the eastern United States where the climate closely matches that of China.

Chaenomeles is a genus of three species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. These plants are related to the Quince (Cydonia oblonga) and the Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), differing in the serrated leaves, and in the flowers having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, and have a serrated margin. The flowers are 3–4.5 cm diameter, with five petals, and are usually bright orange-red, but can be white or pink; flowering is in late winter or early spring. The fruit is a pome with five carpels; it ripens in late autumn.

Chaenomeles Sinensis - 'flowering quince'

Chaenomeles is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail and the leaf-miner Bucculatrix pomifoliella.

Common names

Gardeners in the West often refer to these species as "flowering quince": although all quince have flowers, Chaenomeles are not grown for their fruits. In the 19th and 20th centuries the name "japonica" was widely used (although, since japonica is a specific epithet which is shared by many other plants, this common name is particularly unhelpful). Originally used to refer to C. japonica, the latter common name was (and still is) often loosely applied to Chaenomeles in general, regardless of their species. The most commonly cultivated chaenomeles referred to as "japonica" are actually the hybrid C. × superba and C. speciosa, not C. japonica.

Species and hybrids

C. cathayensis is native to western China and has the largest fruit of the genus, pear-shaped, 10–15 cm long and 6–9 cm wide. The flowers are usually white or pink. The leaves are 7–14 cm long.

Chaenomeles japonica

C. japonica (Maule's Quince or Japanese Quince) is native to Japan, and has small fruit, apple-shaped, 3–4 cm diameter. The flowers are usually red, but can be white or pink. The leaves are 3–5 cm long.

C. speciosa (Chinese Flowering Quince; syn.: Chaenomeles laganaria, Cydonia lagenaria, Cydonia speciosa, Pyrus japonica) is native to China and Korea, and has hard green apple-shaped fruit 5–6 cm diameter. The flowers are red. The leaves are 4–7 cm long. Four named hybrids have been bred in gardens. The most common is C. × superba (hybrid C. speciosa × C. japonica), while C. × vilmoriniana is a hybrid C. speciosa × C. cathayensis, and C. × clarkiana is a hybrid C. japonica × C. cathayensis. The hybrid C. × californica is a tri-species hybrid (C. × superba × C. cathayensis). Numerous named cultivars of all of these hybrids are available in the horticultural trade.

Uses

Chaenomeles sp. bisected fruit, probably C. speciosa or cultivar

The species have become a popular ornamental shrubs in parts of Europe and North America, grown in gardens both for their bright flowers and as a spiny barrier. Some cultivars grow up to 2 m tall, but others are much smaller and creeping.

They are also suitable for cultivation as a bonsai.

More information on Japanese Carp can be found here.Japanese Carp - Common Carp