Tag: garden
Tofuku-Ji Temple and Tsuten-Kyo Bridge, Kyoto, Japan
After visiting Fushimi Inari and Mt. Inari, the next stop on my trip to Kyoto was Tofuku-ji Temple (東福寺) and Tsuten-Kyo Bridge. Tofuku-Ji is one of the “Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto” and it is easy to see why. Combined with its garden, which contains the Tsuten-Kyo (covered) bridge, it is easy to see […]
Hydrangea Festival at Takatôyama Park (Kitakyushu, Japan)
If you know anything about the Japanese, it is that they love their monoculture gardens. Many Japanese people also know when different flowering plants are in full bloom. Plum blossoms early in the year, cherry blossoms in April, Wisteria in mid-May, Peonies in late May/early June, etc. So what about mid-June? In mid-June the hydrangeas […]
Eden Project, UK – The Eighth Wonder of the World
There are some things that humans have made in the name of science that are just amazing. One example is Biosphere 2 for climate change and space research in Arizona. Another is the Eden Project in Cornwall, England. History The Eden Project arose out of an idea from 1996. At a site in St Blazey, […]
Fukuoka Botanical Garden – Roses Galore
While May may be the month best known for Peonies in Japan, we mustn’t forget the roses that are also out in bloom at this time. One of the best places to see roses in their full glory is the Fukuoka City Zoo and Botanical Garden, located in the heart of Fukuoka. The Fukuoka Botanical […]
Peony Garden in Fukuoka’s Ohori Park – Japan
Just like the bees that pollinate them, the residents of Fukuoka flock to the peony garden in Ohori Park in early May. Like the nearby Wisteria Garden, you will find many Japanese people coming here to photograph the peonies. Peonies, or 芍薬 (しゃくやく, shyakuyaku) in Japan (some species are also called ボタン (botan)), represent symbolise […]
A Garden After Blooming – Wisteria Garden, Ohori Park, Fukuoka
We see the effects of flowering plants year-round: sniffling and sneezing because of pollen, bees and insects invading picnics, and a sweet smell in the air. What many of us fail to realise is how fast flowers come and go. Nowhere is this more evident than in a single-species garden – also called a monoculture […]
Wisteria in Fukuoka – Purple cascades
If you are a fan of purple flowers, wisteria (フジの花) may be just the thing for you. Wisteria typically blooms in Japan in late April and early May. Because it is further south in Japan, the wisteria in Fukuoka usually blooms before the wisteria on the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. One of the best […]
Sonora Desert Museum, Arizona – Natural history and botanical garden
Central and southwestern Arizona is covered by the Sonoran Desert, part of which also lies in California and the Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur. West of Tucson, just south of Saguaro National Park, lies the Sonora Desert Museum – a botanical garden, natural history museum, zoo, aquarium and art gallery. […]
Agua Caliente, Tucson, Arizona – An Oasis in the Desert
Tucson sits in a desert and has the climate to match. Everywhere you look, there is sand, dust, Saguaro cacti (cactuses) and other spikey plants. You can see a perfect example of the typical, unspoilt landscape at Saguaro National Park, Arizona. However there is also some water here as well – Agua Caliente. Agua Caliente […]
Saguaro National Park, Arizona – Home of giant Saguaros
Just outside Tucson on both sides, Saguaro National Park is the home of the giant Saguaro cacti. These majestic giants, able to stand tall up to 12 metres (40 feet) tall, dominate the landscape of central and south Arizona as well as Sonora state in Mexico. While you can see them across central and southern […]
Arduaine Garden, Scotland – A slice of the world
Just south of Oban lies the Sound of Jura. Overlooking the Sound is Arduaine Garden, which contains plants from around the world. Established in 1898, it was a time when people were becoming very interested in plants from other parts of the world. Here native plants mix with those from the tropics and Asia. Tropical […]
Tintinhull Gardens, England – Weekend Paradise
Set amongst the rolling farmland of Somerset, TIntinhull is a house/gardens combination; it sits in the tiny village of the same name. To visit the house you have to rent it from the National Trust and stay there for at least 3 days. As a result it is not open to the general public. The […]
Lytes Cary, England – A bite-size manor in Somerset
In the backcountry roads in Somerset on a single-track line lined with hedges on both sides winding through farmland lies a couple of houses. Collectively these houses are “Lytes Cary”. It is easy to miss due to the hedges but if you notice the low stone walls on either side of an unassuming (with the […]
The Gardens of Versailles, France – Living Like Kings
While I have to admit that I usually cannot pass up seeing a garden when I travel (case in point: Parc del laberinth d’Horta in Barcelona), there are those that stand out from the rest. An example that I highly recommend is the Gardens of Versailles. History Much like the palace, Louis XIV expanded and […]
Mainau, Germany – Germany’s Garden
Today I would like to present for your viewing pleasure the wonderful island of Mainau in the Bodensee (Lake Constance), Germany. Mainau, like the rest of the Bodensee, is only a stone through away from the Swiss border. Mainau has a very long history of being a place of human settlement. The Celts, the Romans, […]
