Review: The Book of Japanese Tea
By Per Oscar BrekellBilingual Edition In spring of this year I started to taste different teas. Not only Matcha but also Japanese green tea. A small local tea shop […]
Osmanthus fragrans – キンモクセイ – 金木犀
Plant Profile: Osmanthus fragrans Ancient Greek: osmḗ = fragrance, ánthos = flower Latin: fragrans = fragrance English: Sweet olive, tea olive, fragrant olive Flower period in Japan: middle of September […]
Stone Lanterns in the Japanese garden
The next garden element on my list is the stone lantern. Everyone knows the beautiful withered lanterns made of natural or hewn rocks. Today I want to talk about their […]
Happy Holidays!
We are wishing you a great time and am looking forward to seeing you again in the next year! I will re-start this blog in 2021 with an update on […]
Chozubachi – Hachimae – Tsukubai: Water basins
The next garden element on my list is the water basin! I guess, the best-known examples for these water basins are the ones in front of Japanese shrines but also […]
Plant profile: Lotus
Nelumbo nucifera Hasu – ハス – 蓮 Indian Lotus Originally from India. Height: ~2m Bloom: July Normally, Lotus is frost-resistant as long as the rhizome […]
Treasure Ship – 宝船 ・ Ship Stone – 船石 explained
What I always tried to find out was the relationship between the Treasure Ship (takarabune) with the Seven Lucky Gods (shichifukujin), and the Ship Stone (funaishi). Now that I […]
The Slippery Slope to Concrete
Since I started working as a gardener in Japan, I saw one frightening trend in exterior design in Tokyo. Today I would like to talk about the slippery slope to […]
Have you heard of 「Kimon」?
I did a lot of research about auspicious plants and places in connection to Japanese gardens and one term that always appeared was 「Kimon」. But what is this Kimon? Kimon […]
[New eBook] Ryugon – a Ryokan in Niigata
You may remember my blog post about this Ryokan from back in early 2019. Now, one year later, I finally finished the eBook about this wonderful place and its gardens! […]
