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

Chrysanthemum Week

     I am a little behind in the garden since I was sick and then traveling for work in Japan. But now I am back and not a moment too soon for what I really must call "Chrysanthemum Week". Today I'll show how my three pots of chrysanthemums are doing. I'll show some pictures from Chrysanthemums in Japan - the official flower of the country. Finally to end the week I will be helping my dad stage his blooms for the Glendale Chrysanthemum Show.

My three plants are doing great! The little pots don't really count but they are blooming too. ;)

One week ago from left to right= Lili Gallon, White City, and Gold Finger

      White City was the first to bloom. It opened up looking a little pink which worried me. Then it aged into a nice full bloom and turned it's namesake white color. Right now I see the yellow center. I am told this means you can no longer enter it into a show. Oh well I kinda like it smiling up at me.

White City just opening (pink city?)

White City looking good

             

White City with center

      Next to open is Gold Finger. It looks really awkward as it opens and makes me laugh seeing the little fingers poke out. But now it is starting to look almost "wow". It will probably be better at the end of the week.

Gold Finger starting to open

Gold Finger today

     Last to open will be Lili Gallon. I killed the first plants of these. Very sad and humbling. So this is my second batch. I think they are on the shorter side and I will need to use smaller stakes before they open. Let's see what they do later.

Lili Gallon showing color

Sneaky Chrysanthemums

All the Chrysanthemum leaves- Roses blooming in the back

  

Mess at the top of White City

     This year I am training three pots of Chrysanthemums to produce big beautiful blooms. To do so you must stake the plants and continually pinch away all the would be buds and stalks. There are numerous other things I could be doing to ensure I get the big blooms like lighting, rotating the pots, and special fertilizing.
      But, right now I can't seem to pinch before they send out second buds. Hence my sneaky chrysanthemums. If they are not pinched at the nodes soon enough a big scar will be left on the stem and the main bloom will loose energy and so be smaller. Here are some pictures of nodes to be pinched and my bad pinch.

Bad Pinch on Lili Gallon

     There is much to say about Chrysanthemums. So, I'll leave that for another time. For now, I seek to tame these three little kittens. Can you imagine having 300?