Portland Japanese Garden Announces a Photo Blog

April 24, 2007


In Oregon, we started to see vibrant splashes of color – pink camellias, yellow daffodils, purple crocuses– even some multi-colored tulips around the beginning of March. This spring and summer, we hope you’ll visit us to see Oregon in full bloom at one of our elaborate gardens, nurseries and flower festivals (here are some suggested trip ideas)

If you can't make it up here to check out the brilliant splashes of color don't fret! Our good friends at the Portland Japanese Garden recently set up a new photo blog that allows you a daily glimpse into the flora and fauna at the garden. Here is what Cedric from the gardens has to say about it:

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Visitors to the Portland Japanese Garden are astonished at the unexpected beauty of a rainy day, or the contentment they find at the banks of a bubbling stream under the summer sun. Nature can be revered in all seasons; this is what the Japanese art of gardening teaches us. Continually returning to the idea of bringing humanity into harmony with nature—by bringing nature closer to the human world—the art of gardening delights in the little pleasures nature provides. At the Portland Japanese Garden, our designer Professor Takuma Tono applied this spirit to the American love of garden flowers, giving us something to see in each season. His garden is like an unfolding performance, complexly layered in seasonal color, changing its expression with each new species in season. Autumn maple leaves energize the Garden after the last days of summer; camellias cheer up the dark of winter. Like luminous clouds, cherry blossoms hover over the samurai-style gate and antique pagoda lantern for a few short weeks, announcing the arrival of spring. In the midsummer heat, cool blue irises form an oasis across the strolling pond.

Our visitors return again and again to greet the seasons of the Garden, recognizing them like familiar characters, old friends. Some pick out favorites. The Color in the Garden photoblog began as a way to keep our community close to these signs of the seasons. We also point out a few details even a Japanese Garden veteran might miss. Though some traditionalists may say that showy flowers distract from a Japanese garden's meditative atmosphere, we merely hope that by prompting visitors to look more closely, we can awaken a closeness to nature that continues throughout the year.
- Cedric Wiens, Portland Japanese Garden

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