Japan

Me with the Chrysanthemum Display- There is a temple around as well

     Thank you for checking back in to see what is going on with my gardening attempts.I know I have been off with my consistency for writing in this blog. I need to find a more manageable way to post regularly about my projects and discoveries. 

     

     At the end of October I traveled to Tokyo, Japan for work and stayed a little longer to also visit Kyoto. Here are some images from the gardens I saw. Japanese gardens are very well manicured and have a lot of evergreen trees and my birth flower- the Camilia. Unfortunately I was there too early, just before the maples started to change colors and the Camilias bloomed. But, the weather was very mild and not too cold yet.

    
     I saw many palaces and temples. In front of them they would have these Chrysanthemum displays. Apart from this I didn't see many other dis-bud blooms. My guess is that there just is not enough space for people to have pots and pots of dis-buds. But, I did see some sprouts of Daffodil leaves. It made me very happy to know there would be daffodils in a few months.

Chrysanthemum pots grown by 3rd graders

More Chrysanthemums

Some Spider Chrysanthemums opening up

Daffodils will be blooming in Kyoto, Japan

One of the many Persimmon trees in Kyoto

Lots of this growing

     When in Kyoto I was traveling by myself. So, I took a bus tour to the three most popular temples. I saw the Golden Temple, Silver Temple, and this one on top of a mountain. My favorite was the silver temple because it was very natural (wooden- not actually silver) and it had a very large garden. I had to watch the time walking around this one otherwise I was sure to be left behind by the bus tour.

The Golden palace- yes real gold plating

This is "Mt Fugi" on the grounds of the Silver Palace.

Grounds of the Silver Palace- Bonsai berry

Famous temple on the hill- "I'm going to jump off this temple and do xyz crazy thing"

Chrysanthemum display in front of the Noji Palace.

     Noji Palace is well known for their "Nightingale Floors". They didn't allow photography - sorry- but really a video or sound recorder would be more appropriate. These floors were designed so that the sho-gun could hear when someone was approaching. Every step you take makes this little whistling and creaking sound. The wood felt ancient and full of history. I will remember that forever.
 
  This palace had their own Chrysanthemum display. I liked the fan and the tree.

Chrysanthemum Fan

Chrysanthemum Tree