Astral Health

Japanese Hana - Flowers!



The Japanese name for the flower design element in a garden is hana. Flower plants and flower beds are not as common in Japanese gardens as they are in the Western gardens and you are more likely to find just a flash of crimson or purple among a great deal of gnarly and spiky looking greenery.

 
 The most common flowers found in traditional Japanese gardens are water loving varieties such as the iris, waterlily and the lotus. Stands of iris are often found at the edges of ponds and streams, lending accents of blue, yellow, or white to the garden in early summer. The lotus flower that floats on the pond is the very symbol of Buddhist enlightenment.

 
Shrubs and vines such as azaleas, rhodendrons, wisterias and hydrangeas are sometimes seen in Japanese gardens. Sometimes these vines and bushes are pruned to resemble symbols of landscape such as clouds or rolling hills. Come to think of it, a big puffy blue hydrangea would make a nice cloud.

However as discussed earlier on this blog, usually Japanese Gardens boast very few flowers at all!

 
Peace Be Still Sam

Trees That Are Sacred To Ki



Trees, known as ki in Japanese are as sacred to the Shinto religion as stones. Many varieties of trees appear in Japanese gardens, are very commonplace, but the most traditional are, camellias, cherries, and flowering plums  pines, maples, bamboo.  Ancient Japanese texts also make many references to orange trees and oaks belonging in otrue Japanese gardens.

 
 In Japan as well as in China, the pine, the bamboo and the flowering plum were considered the “Three Friends of Winter,” since the bamboo and the pine don’t lose thierleaves and needles through the winter months and the plum tree blossoms before snow melts. These  trees symbolize the faith, strength and endurance in the face of adversity.

 
The gnarled pine, twisted and bent by the elements during a long life, is a metaphor for the aged individual who has stood the tests of time and fate.  You often see this image in both Chinese and Japanese art. Japanese gardeners carefully train and prune evergreens to conform to this image of the ancient and noble tree.

 
The cherry, plum, and maple tree also play a poetic and evocative role in Japanese gardens and one of the most prized sights in a garden is a cherry or plum tree covered with blossoms heavy with snow.

 
You have to absolutely admire thesense of poignancy and melancholy to the garden, especially during the change of seasons.

 
Peace Be Still   Sam

A True Japanese Moon Bridge



Many people make the mistake of referring to just any old bridge in a Japanese garden as a moon bridge. The Moon Bridge is actually very special and has a unique aesthetic intention. The purposeof these highly arched curved bridges is to create a reflection in the water that looks like another half circle. The half circle created by the bridge as well as its reflection creates a moon shape that is best viewed from a distance. 

 
The fact that this kind of reflection needs a large body of water to create the proper illusion is why most moon bridges are seen in rather large public parks and gardens rather than someone’s back yard. However it is perfectly acceptable to create a miniature moon bridge across a small pond to symbolize the moon.

Peace Be Still Sam

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