Yesterday, a friend and I visited Morikami Gardens, some Japanese gardens about 14 miles
north of my house. It happened to be the height of azalea season, and there were
colorful azaleas everywhere. There are actually a series of gardens of different eras
and different types. Here we are looking across the lake back to the main building with
restaurant, library, tea house, and museum.
A path leads you gradually around the lakes and through the woods. This is the Stone
Circle of Good Fortune, a gift from their sister city in Japan. The lakes had many koi
fish and turtles of many kinds, as well as at least one alligator.
The gopher turtle was special.
A bush of white azaleas.
A bush of pink azaleas.
Wild Coffee / Psychotria is a native very attractive bush with shiny leaves and strong
vein lines. Its flowers attract butterflies, and its fruit attracts birds. It grows happily
in the shade and is quite hardy. This is from a different genus of plants than the coffee
plant from which we get beans for a beverage.
A stone garden completely surrounded by azalea bushes of different colors.
The trees are Longleaf Pines. The gravel is carefully raked.
There are also several babbling brooks and three waterfalls and several wooden
walking bridges between the islands.
Some of the bushes of pink azaleas. I had never seen the bushes so covered with flowers.
Bushes of pale pink and white azaleas.
A bush of lavender azaleas.
Gopher Tortoise / Gopherus Polyphemus
He's the State Turtle and is about a foot long. He digs deep burrows to live in, and some 360 other types of critters also use the burrows he digs. His underside/plastron is yellow.
They were swimming, sunning on rocks, and lazing on a beach.
A courtyard with Stone Meditation Garden. Those are trimmed ficus hedges
around the sides. This is the type of garden preferred by Zen monks. The tiles at
the top of the walls were all handmade in Japan.
A bush of either small pink and rose azaleas or rhododendrons.
The lantern is leaning, not me. Looking back at the Main Building from the tip of
Tortoise Island. They have a large collection of bonsai miniature trees. There is
also a place where you can feed the koi and turtles. They sell koi food there.
A Tri-Colored Heron and a Great Blue Heron were flying around and sometimes
sitting on this lantern, posing for visitors.
There were many Brunfelsia / Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow bushes in the gardens.
The gardens are particularly beautiful now and highly recommended.
__
No comments:
Post a Comment