Garden Tours – Page 2 – The Garden Lady

Bonsai bonÂ·saiÂ n. pl. bonsai is the art of growing dwarfed, ornamentally shaped trees or shrubs in small shallow pots or trays. Bonsai appeared first in China over 1000 years ago but once bonsai was introduced into Japan in around the 12th century- some say earlier, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached in China. The word means means a tree planted in a container.Â Read this for some history of bonsai.

While in Japan, TheGardenLady visited what is considered one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan which is also one of the most famous gardens in Japan since the Edo Period-for over 300 years. This magnificent garden is called Korakuen and is in Okayama. Because it is Chrysanthemum time, the garden had an exhibit of Chrysanthemum Bonsai.

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TheGardenLady has just returned from a two week tour of Japan with an artist who was raised in Fukuoka but now lives in the US.Â She knows Fukuoka very well and takes small groups with her to visit the area around Fukuoka which included Nagasaki and Kyoto. TheGardenLady was most interested in the flora and gardens of the area and to this end took many photos; but since the tour was not specifically plant oriented, ThisGardenLady would love to return to Japan some day to visit the botanical gardens as well as more of the formal gardens.

This time of year is the chrysanthemum festival. Many of the gardens or shrines have displays of chrysanthemums for visitors to gaze at.

According to Wikipedia “Chrysanthemums were cultivated in China as a flowering herb as far back as the 15th century BC.Â An ancient Chinese city was named Ju-Xian, meaning “chrysanthemum city”. Then, according to the chrysanthemum society “aroundÂ the 8th century A.D., the chrysanthemum appeared in Japan. So taken were the Japanese with this flower that they adopted a single flowered chrysanthemum as the crest and official seal of the Emperor. The chrysanthemum in the crest is a 16-floret variety called “Ichimonjiginu.”

Continue reading “Chrysanthemums In Japan”