"Plant as many seeds as you can, and see what you get."

August 21, 2020 1:27 PM

The Domoto Legacy: Plants and Immigration

Among the Japanese American nurseries in the Bay Area that caught my attention was the largest and most influential one, the Domoto Nursery. Whereas other nurseries were largely preoccupied with growing cut flowers like chrysanthemums, roses, and carnations, the Domoto Nursery was one of the few concentrating on ornamental plants for gardens and landscapes. It too was a major conduit through which plants new to American horticulture were introduced and popularized. Kanetaro and Takanoshin Domoto, the two brothers who immigrated from Wakayama, Japan, had started the business in 1885. The Domoto Nursery soon gained the nickname ‘Domoto College’ for the multitude of young men trained and employed there before opening their businesses as well. At its height, the nursery spanned 40 acres; the San Francisco Call in February 1912 noted that the greenhouses covered 230,000 square feet and the shed 300,000 square feet.

By Eric Hsu.

If there was one social activity that Toichi refrained from partaking, it was visiting the gardens of his customers, many of whom were wealthy and enthusiastic about plants. He felt strongly that gardens were private domains, not vehicles for ego: “[A] person puts a garden in and you don’t like to have every Tom, Dick and Harry. The thing is, that the people that you should like to have come in are the ones that respect that. The ones that you would just as soon not come in are the most brazen that come in.”

posted by Lexica (7 comments total)

“The thing is, that the people that you should like to have come in are the ones that respect that. The ones that you would just as soon not come in are the most brazen that come in.” Very true about all areas of life, not just gardens. Thank you for this post.
posted by Atrahasis at 3:30 PM on August 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

Wonderful post, many thanks!
posted by carter at 3:50 PM on August 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

The images from Japanese seed catalogs can be found in this online exhibit:

https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/nursery-and-seed-trade-catalog/japanese-nursery-and-seed-trad
posted by carter at 6:15 PM on August 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

That article was delightful!
posted by monotreme at 6:18 PM on August 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Great article - thank you for posting it!
posted by mogget at 9:10 AM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

So wonderful!
posted by infini at 12:13 PM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

The comments below the article are well worth reading as well. Love the history. Thank you for posting!
posted by cynical pinnacle at 1:35 PM on August 22, 2020 [1 favorite]