Above, water, rocks, and plants contribute tranquility to an Asian garden. At left, Parson's juniper makes an excellent bonsai specimen. When family and friends decided to donate a Japanese maple tree to Riverbanks Botanical Garden in memory of Ikebana club members Joy and Harlan Stoefen, one tree burgeoned into an entirely new Asian garden.

Ida Belle Barker, representing Ikebana International Columbia Chapter 182, met with Riverbanks staff to plant the idea for the garden. Barker observes, "Andy Cabe has taken the idea and run with it."

Cabe, curator of horticulture, and his team of "design eyes" have transformed a "no man's land" of impervious clay into a cool, serene, contemplative cove just inside the West Columbia ticket entrance.

Lead designer, Brian Francis, drew up the design plan, which balances and blends three essential elements.

One element is stone in the form of rocks, cobbles, and various types

of gravel and sand.

Water is a second

element and may appear either real in a pond, stream, or waterfall, or implied by the arrangement of rocks, gravel, and sometimes a bridge or boardwalk. The third ingredient is plants: low, slow- growing evergreens contrasted with lacy Japanese maple or a stand of clumping bamboo.

Cabe noted that Asia is a hotbed for introducing new plants to the world.

To the pleasing composition of the natural elements, the garden at Riverbanks has added accessories like benches for contemplation, a stone lantern, ornate gates, and a crane sculpture. Shaded seating areas allow visitors to observe interesting plants, listen to the soothing sound of flowing water, and find peace in the natural world.

The garden, dedicated in September 2008, is also a memorial to Ikebana Chapter 182 founders Martha Plowden Neese and Adaline Martin Cochran and all deceased members. On August 19, 2009, Ikebana Columbia Chapter 182 will celebrate its 35th anniversary with a luncheon at the garden.

The Asian garden is a work in progress. Its positive spirit and ongoing evolution is captured in the anonymous quote on a bench overlooking the pond, "Remember Yesterday, Celebrate Today, and Imagine Tomorrow."

Visitor's Guide to Plants in the Asian Garden

Japanese maple — Acer palmatum Mimosa — Albizia julibrissin 'Fine Wine' Juniperus chinensis 'Torulosa' Juniperus chinensis 'Parsonii' Bamboo — Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' Wild ginger — Asarum magnificum Solomon's seal — Polygonatum odoratum var. thunbergii 'Variegatum' Cast iron plant — Aspidistra elatior 'Hoshizora' Chinese wingnut tree — Pterocarya stenoptera Hornbeam tree — Carpinus fargesii Weigela — Weigela florida Variegated ginger lilies — Alpinia zerumbet Surprise Lily — Lycoris squamigera

Helen Churan of Columbia's Chapter 182 donated the Japanese lantern in the garden. Doris Kahn (l),past president of Chapter 182; Andy Cabe, curator of horticulture at Riverbanks, and Ida Belle Barker, historian for Chapter 182 sit along the Asian garden boardwalk overlooking the pond.