Japanese Garden – In the Land of the Rising Sun – District of Munich

The white peony, which can be admired on this June day in Andrea Hirner’s garden in Deisenhofen, has huge flowers. For the Japanologist, it is one of the many flowery memories of Philipp Franz von Siebold that she planted around her house. Because von Siebold, who lived from 1796 to 1866, was one of the first travelers to Japan who brought with him all sorts of special features from the country that was particularly distant and difficult to reach at the time. In addition to samurai swords and other cultural goods, for which he was even expelled from the country for smuggling, he was also interested in Japanese plant species. In contrast to other plays, performing this was not forbidden. Siebold described this in his unfortunately not quite finished work “Flora Japonica”. Munich artists created lithographs and painted them in color.

Andrea Hirner, who lectures as a member of the German Japanese Society in Munich, wrote a book about this work by the Japanese researcher, which was published in 2020. “Philipp Franz von Siebold’s Flora Japoncia and her Munich artists” is the title. Tetsuya Kimura, the Japanese Consul General in Munich, emphasized in his foreword how special the book “Flora Japonica” was when it was written between 1835 and 1841. The pictures of the Japanese plants in it “had a sensational effect because so far hardly any Japanese plants were known in Europe”. Incidentally, Siebold died in Munich during a long stay during which he was preparing an exhibition. His grave is in the Old Southern Cemetery.

Many of his employees also came from Munich. Most of their names, however, were forgotten, reports Hirner. “That’s why I had to dig a little deeper to appreciate your life and work for Siebold.” The author went to numerous archives and libraries, especially the Siebold Archive at Brandenstein Castle and the Botanical State Collection in Munich.

The original edition of “Flora Japonia” contained 150 images of plants and flowers that Siebold had discovered in Japan. A selection can be seen in Hirner’s book. The Oberhachingerin classifies the importance of this collection in her texts. “Hardly any botanical book of the 19th century became so famous,” she writes. Because for the first time previously unknown plants were presented. Japan had cut itself off from the outside world at the time due to very bad experiences with the Christian mission. Siebold was one of the few Europeans who could travel to Japan at all, thanks to the mediation of Dutch people who were allowed to have an enclave on a Japanese island.

While Japan was only known to a few experts as garden land in Europe at the time, many of the plants introduced by the Japanese researcher Siebold are now a matter of course in local gardens. “A lot of people don’t even know that they have had Japanese plants in their garden for a long time,” says Hirner. She would also like to convey this to local gardening enthusiasts with her book.

In her own garden around her detached house in Deisenhofen you can find numerous plants that were once Japanese. In addition to the special genus “Festival Maxima” of the peony, there is also the elven flower, which, according to the gardening expert, is “completely insensitive and grows like crazy”. The triangular leaves can be admired behind Hirner’s shady seating area. The yellow flower clusters are unfortunately no longer there, their time was in spring. Also one Hosta Sieboldiana and she has a cornus kousa tree on her property and a golden maple. According to Hirner, Siebold also imported maple species from Japan. Moving the plants was not always easy, as they had to survive a four-month voyage by ship. Many of the flowers Siebold brought with him can also be seen in the Botanical Garden in Munich. A lacquer tree and a bluebell tree are there, reveals Hirner.

She can even list a whole series of Siebold plants, plus usually the year in which the Japanese researcher brought them to Europe without any problems. The Japanese ornamental quince, for example, arrived here in 1829, in the same year the peony, the peony – both of which are also in the Deisenhofen garden. Many garden owners will be amazed that the thuja hedge is also imported from the Far East, as well as the hanging forsythia, certain rhododendron species, the magnificent lily, the Japanese snowball, hydrangea species, the summer magnolia, also known as sieve magnolia, which Andrea Hirner naturally also has in the garden. Last but not least, the tea tree came to Europe from Japan.

It was lucky for the introduced plants that most of them could live very well in the European climate and that they got along well with local plant species. It was different with the giant hogweed that was once imported from Turkey, reports Hirner. “On the one hand, it was poisonous and, on the other hand, it was suppressive for native plants.” But Japan and Europe get on well. And even better and better in times of climate change. For example, some Japanese trees are better protected against heat, such as the mustache tree. Some communities are already starting to plant avenues made of trees from the Far East.

The book “Philipp Franz von Siebold’s Flora Japoncia and her Munich artists” by Andrea Hirner can be ordered from the German-Japanese Society Munich: www.djg-muenchen.de