Juhlapaikka

Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus grows at Mustila at the Festival Area, near its relative Siberian ginseng (E. senticosus). Both have 3-5-fingered leaves and black berries, which persist at the stem tips long after the leaves have fallen. The berries of Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus form a tight ball, as suggested by the Latin epithet: sessilis means “with no stalk” and florus means “flower”. In contrast, Siberian ginseng berries have stalks about 2 cm long, and their berries are therefore less tightly bunched.

Sea buckthorn has an attractive shape and can easily be identified by its leaves, which are linear in shape, grey-green above and silvery below. The bud scales and young shoots have shield-like starry hairs. This is a pioneer shrub and does not tolerate shade; but it does tolerate direct sunlight, wind, flood and even salt. It is widespread throughout Europe and western Asia, though sufficiently open areas are rare.

The spring snowflake is an early bulb reminiscent of snowdrops (Galanthus), though with a more robust habit. It blossoms in early spring as soon as the snow has melted, or even through melting snow, with bell-like and faintly scented white flowers with yellow (L. vernum var. carpathicum) or green (L.vernum var. vernum) tips at the end of their tepals.

From the scientific name it is obvious that giant meadowsweet grows naturally at least in Kamchatka. Also, the common name indicates that it is related to the Finnish native meadowsweet (F. ulmaria). The flowers are indeed similar, but giant meadowsweet is in a completely different class regarding size.

Siberian corydalis is one of the old perennials flourishing in manor and parsonage gardens. It can also be found in the Mustila manor park, as well as in the Juhlapaikka (Festival area) and Atsalearinne (Azalea slope). Besides gardens, it may be seen as garden escapes in herb-rich places around old settlements. Ants disperse the seeds efficiently while using the elaiosomes attached to the seed as nourishment.

Snowberry is most noticeable in autumn when its white waxy slightly poisonous berries glow on the bush. They persist long after the leaves have fallen. Flowering takes place in July-August with coral pink bell-shaped flowers which can easily remain unnoticed unless you look closely.

In the wild the snowberry is a shrub of the understory in the conifer forests on the Pacific or western side of the Rocky Mountains. The very similar S. albus var. albus is found on the eastern side of the same range.

Dwarf elder differs from the more familiar red elderberry (S. racemosa) in being a perennial, not a woody species. The stems, which don’t branch, can grow to two metres in a single summer. It produces 10-15 cm wide corymbs of white flowers at the tips of the stems in late summer, and these later develop into black berries. It is not the best species for small gardens because it spreads aggressively.

The gean is usually a non-suckering fruit and forest tree which grows larger than the familiar sour cherry of gardens. Even in Finland it grows to 5-10m. The trunk is red-brown and shiny with decorative horizontal grooves, the bark exfoliating in horizontal strips. The branches are erect, in contrast to the drooping branches of the sour cherry. The gean flowers coincidentally with leaf break, in white clusters. The fruit is usually dark red but sometimes yellow, even almost black, either sweet or slightly bitter.

Manchurian walnut is a large, broad and often multi-stemmed tree, growing bestg in moist rich soils. The leaves are alternate, compound, a dull bluish-green, and on strongly growing root-collar shoots can be over a metre long. Because of their size they make an indelible impression on visitors to Mustila’s Etelärinne (Southern slope).

Siberian ginseng is the northernmost species of the Aralia (Angelica) genus. It grows naturally over a broad range from Russian Amur to Korea and Japan, where it can reach 5 metres, though in Finland it is limited to about 2 metres. At Mustila, it brings a touch of the exotic to the Juhlapaikka (Festival area). The thriving bushes are slowly spreading via suckers. The large dark balls of berries are spectacular in autumn against the background yellow of the lobed foliage.