Yearly Archives: 2012

Seiwa-en — Garden of pure, clear harmony and peace in St. Louis

Posted on August 1, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

2014 Note: 2013 winter renovations in the Japanese garden were completed and the garden re-opened in the spring on 2014. To view some of the work accomplished please view the garden’s Flicker site.

Boat Landing under construction

 

 

pagoda visible from Magnolia Avenue, plaque at the left side of the base reads “In Loving Memory Edwin L. Lopata 1909-1998
The Lopata Family”
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Our photographer friend drove us along Magnolia Avenue where we peeked over the fence to the edge of the Japanese garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Beautifully trimmed trees accented the drive from there along Alfred Avenue to the main parking area.

inside the Climatron, we watch the rain pour down

We arrived at the appointed time and so did a massive Midwestern thunderstorm complete with heavy rain that drove us into the Climatron and with lightening strikes that sounded very close. We all agreed to postpone our scheduled tour of the Japanese garden for a few hours. It was a somewhat tense few hours as we waited for the storm to pass. This is a big garden and we didn’t want to miss out. It was as close as we came to getting rained out on this heavily scheduled month long garden adventure.

Upon our return in the early afternoon, I asked a worker driving an electric maintenance cart where we might find Teresa Pafford.

“You mean Teresa in the Trees?”

Well, that nickname makes sense to me. Teresa and I got to know each other during the 6th International Symposium on Japanese Gardening in San Diego during a black pine pruning class. But this gentleman was referring to her delight in getting up inside big trees and pruning them properly. It turns out that the trees I noticed as we drove along the first couple of blocks of Alfred Avenue are among trees in Teresa’s care.

Teresa shows K.T. a large piece of tree bark that came down in the storm.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

As described on the Missouri Botanical Garden web site. “Teresa Pafford started working at the Missouri Botanical Garden in June 2003 as a gardener after graduating from Truman State University with a B.S in Agricultural Business. Most of her horticulture knowledge has been acquired here at the Garden from many experts and through conferences and seminars. She took a strong interest in trees, shrubs, and pruning within her first couple years of working at the Garden, which led her to arborist certification through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). She is now one of the primary tree climbers/pruners on Garden grounds. Her pruning mentor was and still is Ben Chu, who helped guide her through Japanese style pruning. One of her favorite things about pruning is seeing the results over time, whether it’s something as simple as seeing a wound callus over properly or something as advanced as training a branch to grow a certain direction. She truly is addicted to pruning.”

a waterfall leads to a stream
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Her mentor, Ben Chu, joined Missouri Botanical Garden in 1982 after completing his education in Horticulture at St. Louis Community College at Meramec and working for a tree service company from 1978 to 1982.

and the stream meanders
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“At Missouri Botanical Garden he worked in landscape construction doing site preparation and planting large trees and shrubs for the Ridgway Building plantings, the Rhododendron Garden, and Swift Vista near the Linnean House,” as the Missouri Botanical Garden web site describes him.

the stream meanders past a gravel river bank and a touch of color
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“In 1985 Chu became the supervisor of Seiwa-en and worked with its designer, the late Koichi Kawana. He currently supervises a staff of nine full-time horticulturists, including three staff members in the Japanese Garden, and six additional staff members in other parts of the Garden. Ben encourages his staff to design and implement their own designs and helps to evaluate the results. He wants their jobs to include learning opportunities.”

and the stream empties into the large reflecting pond with an island that holds a tea house for special occasions
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

This year, Chu was awarded the Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recognizing his outstanding contributions to Japan-U.S. relations. The award was presented during a sakura planting ceremony in April, which marked the 100th anniversary of plantings at the Tidal Basin in Washington DC and the gift of 20 new cherry trees to Missouri Botanical Garden.

karesansui and display area for fall chrysanthemums
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Seiwa-en at Missouri Botanical Garden

Seiwa-en began as the dream of the Japanese American Citizens’ League in St. Louis in 1972. JACL secured the services of garden designer Koichi Kawana who supervised construction and development until his death in 1990. Seiwa-en was dedicated on May 5, 1977. Kawana was born in Hokkaido in 1930. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1971.

secluded path in to rustic tea house
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Kawana was a professor and lecturer on Japanese landscape architecture, Japanese art and environmental design at UCLA for 24 years. He is credited with major garden designs in several U.S. cities including Chicago and Denver.

a gift of Nagano to Missouri
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

A four and a half mat tea house was donated byMissouri’s Sister State Nagano. Nearby is a yukimi-doro, snow viewing lantern donated by St. Louis’ Sister City Suwa.

To see a satellite view of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the ponds of the Japanese garden, go to

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Iris were donated by Adolph Vogt, a respected hybridizer of Japanese iris of Louisville, Kentucky, who passed away in 1992.

iris by the zig zag bridge

view of the zig zag bridge for seeing blooming iris up close as seen from across the pond

Using this modern view, it’s easy to spot the round stone beach, zig zag bridge and iris plantings, several karesansui, the foliage of the plum viewing area, bridges and paths leading to the tea house, even the wavy line of the lotus plantings at one end of the pond.

For a more extensive article on Seiwa-en, visit the Missouri Botanical Garden web site:

http://www.mobot.org/hort/gardens/japanese/intro/index.shtml

color and texture surround a lantern
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The land now known as Missouri Botanical Garden started as the estate of retired businessman turned horticulturalist and philanthropist, Henry Shaw.

Born in Sheffield England in 1800, Shaw joined his father’s business making and selling iron and steel products. When a shipment of goods to New Orleans went astray in 1819, Henry traveled to the United States, located the missing products and, not finding buyers in New Orleans, took a paddle wheel steamer up the Mississippi to a small French village barely 50 years old – St. Louis.

plum viewing pavilion
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

This was a booming time as vast territories of the Midwest were opened up just a few years earlier by the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. Shaw opened a hardware store and found ready customers in the trappers, settlers and pioneers heading west. He was so successful in the next 20 years that he was able to retire at the age of 40 to travel and pursue his interest in botany.

summer is the season for lotus
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Returning from his travels to St. Louis in 1851, he engaged an architect and several botanists. He planned, funded and built what is now known as Missouri Botanical Garden on the land around his home. Among botanists he consulted were Sir William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Dr. George Engelmann, a respected amateur botanist from St. Louis, and Asa Gray of Harvard University. Shaw’s garden was donated and opened to the public in 1859 making Missouri Botanical Garden one of the oldest botanical institutions in the United States.

across the lotus patch looking toward the plum viewing area
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Shaw’s philanthropy included endowment of the School of Botany at Washington University and assistance in founding the Missouri Historical Society. He died in 1889 and is buried in a mausoleum on the grounds. The 79 acres of Missouri Botanical Garden include Seiwa-en, a 14 acre Japanese garden built in the pond and strolling style.

large basin at the entry of Seiwa-en

St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904

Seiwa-en was not the first public Japanese garden built in St. Louis. That distinction may belong to the three-plus acre Japanese garden at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, more popularly known as the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904, which opened a year late to allow for more participation by states and foreign countries. Like the World’s Columbia Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, also a year late, many of the structures were constructed to be temporary.

parts of this lantern date back to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The Fair opened on April 30 and, through the closing ceremonies on December 1, nearly 20 million visitors availed themselves of this opportunity to see the world, revel in “palaces” dedicated to progress and have some fun. And as was true with expositions or world fairs in Philadelphia and Chicago, more people were exposed to the Japanese aesthetic presented in these collections of historic garden styles.

1904 World’s Fair Japanese garden in St. Louis
(collection of the Missouri Historical Society)

To see what the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition Japanese garden looked like from the air, take this visual ride in the Ferris Wheel: http://exhibits.slpl.org/lpe/data/lpe240022874.asp?thread=240029909

details, details

Photos not otherwise credited in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image to see it full size.

outer gate to the tea garden

A personal note: Much gratitude is due professional photographer Scott Lokitz who picked us up near Union Station and drove us around all day. There’s something wonderful about being in the company of a person who loves their town. Scott was full of special spots and history, insight and genuine delight. There’s also something inspirational about being in the company of an accomplished professional. Scott showed us his studio, a beautifully restored brick building on Russell Boulevard at Mississippi. Anyone in the St. Louis area needing a high school senior portrait, event documentation, architectural photos, etc. should consider Scott Lokitz. http://scottlokitz.com/services.html

The Sister State relationship between Nagano and Missouri

A news article from Kansas City in the Lawrence Journal-World on April 27, 1964 announced the sister state relationship between Nagano Prefecture and the state of Missouri.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19640427&id=naZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_OUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5648,2210584

A plaque outside the tea garden gate memorializes this Sister State relationship. The teahouse was dedicated on an auspicious date with a Shinto ceremony.

“The citizen of Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Sister State of Missouri, presents this teahouse to the citizen of Missouri as a memorial of the nice friendship between both states on the occasion of American Bicentennial year.”

Governor of Nagano Prefecture

Gonichiro Nishizawa

May 5, 1977

Addenda 27 August 2013

While scanning photos for a family tree at the behest of my sisters and brothers, I chanced upon a photograph from my grandfather’s trunk. His family lived in Frankfort, Kentucky. After graduating from Harvard University in 1905, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and enjoyed a 30 year career with postings in China, Japan, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Washington DC and many other places.

At first glance, I thought this image might be from one of those foreign locales, but with the aid of a magnifying glass I caught English words on the buildings. With confirmation from my friend Ken Brown, a world’s fair buff if there ever was one, I now add this photo of the Japanese exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, popularly known as the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904.

St. Louis 1904

Kendall H. Brown, professor of Asian art history at California State University Long Beach, identified my grandfather’s photo as “the ‘dragon gate’ at the Fair Japan exhibit at St. Louis. The Japan bazaar was on the left, the restaurant on the right.”
The restaurant bears the words “Roof Garden.” Photo courtesy of the Weitzel Family archives.

For additional views and information on the fair, visit

http://exhibits.slpl.org/lpe/data/LPE240024653.asp?thread=240029396

Categories: Missouri, St. Louis | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Conferences, symposia, workshops, tours, festivals and exhibits crowd the fall calendar

Posted on July 27, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

If you have been reading right along from Hilo to Atlanta to this point in the blog, you must be as seriously interested in Japanese gardens as we are. And if that’s true, you may wish to have one or more of these conference/symposium/workshop events on your schedule.

Edogawa Commemorative Gardens at Gosford
by Janda Gooding

The 7th International Symposium on Japanese Gardens: Japanese Gardens in the 21st Century will be held in Sydney, Australia, September 1 through 3. Early registration deadline already has passed. Among featured speakers are Mr. Iwatani, Mr. Yamada, Mr. Shiro Nakane, Ken Lamb, Kendall Brown, Mr. Kawase, Cap Saheki, and Mr. Mitsuhashi.

The symposium and hands-on workshops are hosted by Imperial Gardens Landscape and the International Association of Japanese Gardens. Also involved are the Edogawa Commemorative Gardens at Gosford and Auburn City Japanese Gardens. For more information and to register, contact: Imperial Gardens – Ken Lamb

18 Myoora Road, Terrey Hills NSW 2084

Telephone +612 9986 3968 Mobile +61 411 754 683

Email – enquiries@imperialgardens.com.au

Website – http://www.imperialgardens.com.au

The North American Japanese Garden Association will hold Connections 2012 in Denver October 12 through 14. The roster of speakers includes garden designer and author Marc Peter Keane, educator of Nishikigoi Mamoru Kodama, Writtle College, Essex, Reader in gardens and designed landscapes Jill Raggett, Portland Japanese Garden curator Sadafumi Uchiyama, Anderson Japanese Garden curator Tim Gruner, certified aesthetic pruner MaryAnn Burman, Chiba University professor of horticulture Eijiro Fujii, and garden artist and author David Slawson among others.

Hands-on workshops are planned at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

For further information or to register contact NAJGA at 503-222-1194 or send an e-mail

to info@najga.org or go to the organization’s web site: http://www.najga.org

summertime light at Anderson Japanese Gardens, Rockford, IL
(photo by K.T. Cannon-Eger)

The Maple Society will meet October 19 through 21 in Seattle with a post conference tour to Oregon October 22 through 24.

Speakers at the “Pacific Northwest Fantasyland Maple Adventure” include Matt Nichols, co-owner of Nichols Nursery, Flat Rock, NC; Charlie Morgan, owner Amazing Maples, Mukilteo, WA; David Degroot, author and Curator of Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, Federal Way, WA; Don Brooks, Director Kubota Gardens, Seattle, WA; David Zuckerman, Head Horticulturist Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, WA; and Talon Buchholz, owner of Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery, and plant introductions extraordinaire, Gaston, OR.

Gardens to be visited during the conference include Kubota Gardens, Washington Park Arboretum & Japanese Garden, Bellevue Botanic Garden, Rhododendron Species Foundation, Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection, South Puget Sound Community College, Amazing Maples and Bloedel Reserve.

The three day post-conference tour includes Portland Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum, Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery, Iseli Nursery, J. Frank Schmidt Nursery, Don Schmidt Nursery, Whitman Farms, Oregon Botanic Garden, and Munn’s Nursery.

Please register before September 15, 2012. Credit Cards Accepted. Marielle Eykeman PO Box 2635 Pt. Angeles, WA 98362 (360) 457-6952. More information is available at the web site: http://www.maplesociety.org/nab-seattle-2012

Other opportunities

Every botanic garden we visited, and many we haven’t yet seen, had some schedule of workshops, speakers or art exhibits.

For example, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10:30 a.m. the Atlanta Botanical Garden offers a strolling tour with a knowledgeable volunteer.

The Birmingham Botanical Garden has a Fall Plant Sale coming up October 20, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and October 21 noon to 4 p.m.

The New Orleans Botanical Garden holds plant sales on a regular basis. Two coming up soon are at Pelican Greenhouse, 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, August 11, and Saturday, September 8. Check the City Park web site for more events. http://neworleanscitypark.com/

Fort Worth’s Japanese Garden will celebrate its annual Fall Festival 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, October 27.

September 1 is opening day of the Dinosaur Stampede at San Antonio Botanical Garden.

Sunday, August 5, is family day at the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden in Chicago Botanic Garden starting at 11 a.m. hands-on activities related to Japanese arts and culture. Family Sunday repeats on September 2.

Denver Botanic Gardens has a number of activities around the general theme Kizuma: West meets East. Large site-specific bamboo art installations by Tetsunori Kawana and Stephen Talasnik continue through November 4. A lecture on Japanese gardens in the US will be given by curator Ebi Kondo Wednesday, September 12.  “Growing Autonomy – Gardening at Japanese American Internment Camps” is a talk by Dr. Bonnie Clark scheduled for Wednesday, October 10. Moonviewing or O-Tsukimi is slated for full moon in autumn Saturday, September 1.

Check the web sites of gardens near you for current events. There is a list of links to gardens we visited. Just click on Links at the top right side of the first page of this blog to get you started.

Categories: Colorado, Denver | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Japanese garden surrounds Dallas high rise

Posted on July 25, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

A modern take on the Japanese stroll garden is forming around the plaza level of the Trammell Crow Center in the art district of Dallas. Designed to expand the footprint of the Crow Collection of Asian Art, a free museum across the street from the Nasher Sculpture Center, this garden shows a different aspect around each side of the building. One side of the building features a stone arrangement, another a dry riverbed, another a shady grove or bamboo thicket, yet another a karesansui or flat landscape traditionally with raked gravel.

The plaza where we entered the garden.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“I have always considered the Crow Collection a museum without walls. In Asia, art and the environment coexist naturally. This garden will be a place for Dallas Arts District visitors to find art and Asia in unexpected places,” said Trammell Crow, president of the Crow Family Foundation. “I am grateful to our partners at Crescent (Real Estate Holdings) for giving us the perfect canvas for expansion.”

plaza view to the right of where we entered
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The Dallas Arts District web site notes, “The Trammell Crow Center was deigned by Skidmore Owings & Merrill partner Richard Keating in 1984. Corporate offices are located on the upper levels of the building, and retail on the ground floor and mezzanine level.

dry riverbed makes the turn and continues toward the plaza
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“In 1997, the Crow Family Foundation made the decision to share with the community one of the most important collections of Asian Art in the United States. A 12,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Trammell Crow Center was renovated, creating four light-filled galleries that evoke traditional aspects of Asian architecture in a museum without walls.”

bell tower awaits the installation of a bell
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Planning for the new garden began by 2009, the year John Powell made a presentation on the design to the Women’s Council of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden spring meeting. Extensive installation work began in 2011. The new sculpture garden is slated to open later this year. When we visited in June, the sculpture had yet to be placed.

a base awaits sculpture from the Crow Collection of Asian Art
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

We parked beneath the office building — nearly empty on a Saturday morning — and took an elevator to the lobby level where security directed us to the garden and gallery beyond.

a suggestion of karesansui with a yotsume-gaki style bamboo fence and clipped shrubs

It was a Frisbee competition that first took garden designer John Powell to Japan in 1993 and he fell in love with the gardens. He launched an intensive study of Japanese garden design, construction and maintenance and in 1997, he attended the first Japanese garden seminar provided by the Japanese Garden Research Center at the Kyoto University of Art Design. This was followed by internships with Suzuki Zoen in Niigata, and at the Adachi Museum of Art in Shimane Prefecture. He was the first westerner to train as a gardener at Adachi.

Powell has become a respected part of the Adachi garden family and in 2006 spoke in Austin at the Taniguchi Garden Revitalization committee on Gardens of the Adachi Museum. This was part of a speaking tour with Wataru Takeda, Section Chief of the Business and Public Relations Department at the Adachi Museum of Art and, for the California presentations, Kiyoharu Mori, Deputy Director of the Adachi Museum of Art. The presentation also was given at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, The Crow Collection of Asian Art, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, The Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego at Balboa Park, The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and Merritt College in Oakland.

hide and reveal — a passageway leads to a pond and a shady grove

grove of maples on the building side and a bamboo thicket on the street side

To learn more about The Adachi Museum of Art, visit their web site: http://adachi-museum.or.jp/e/index.html

a secluded pond
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Powell is in demand as a workshop presenter and speaker for organizations such as the 6th International Symposium of Japanese Gardens in San Diego, the International Conference on Japanese Gardens Outside Japan in Long Beach and the Maple Society North America Branch.

Equisetum hymenale artfully disguises a utility area
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Powell and his wife Becky are partners with David and Pat Bergman in Weatherford Gardens Nursery and Landscaping, an organic nursery and garden store located at 2106 Fort Worth Highway in Weatherford, Texas, featured in a previous blog entry.

details, details

The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art is located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas.  The Crow Collection is a permanent set of galleries dedicated to the arts and cultures of China, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia.  The museum offers a serene setting for both quiet reflection and learning.

details, details

Admission is free. The Crow Collection of Asian Art is open Tuesdays – Thursdays (10 a.m. – 9 p.m.), Fridays – Sundays (10 a.m. – 6 p.m.), and closed on Mondays. For more information, please go to www.crowcollection.org or call 214-979-6430.

For further information or a look at aerial photographs of the office building, visit the web site: http://www.trammellcrowcenter.com/

stone arrangement near the bell tower

The Crow Collection’s European sculpture pieces formerly displayed in this area were re-located to the Old Parkland campus.

Unless otherwise credited, photos in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image to see it full size.

UPDATE: While attending a North American Japanese Garden Association conference in March 2024, a return visit was paid to this area. The exquisite Crow Collection of Asian Art remains in the beautiful light filled building adjacent to the Trammell Crow Center. The landscape around the building and at the interior courtyard, however, was removed to make room for expansion of seating areas. We are leaving these photos and the article in place as a document of the work done to connect the exterior space to the interior art museum.

Categories: Dallas, Texas | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Plant and design resources in the Fort Worth area

Posted on July 25, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

For years as a subscriber to Journal of Japanese Gardening, John Powell’s name was familiar to me through his articles. The quality publication is now known as Sukiya Living.

In 2009, Powell was a speaker at the International Conference on Japanese Gardens Outside Japan sharing the stage with landscape architect Ron Herman and garden artist David Slawson. Their panel was titled “Bringing it all together: maintenance, growth & design.” His presence on the agenda was one of the reasons I chose to attend that formative conference in Long Beach.

John Powell and David Slawson talk shop at the 6th International Symposium of Japanese Gardens hosted by the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego in October of 2010. This conference is held once every two years, sponsored by The Garden Society of Japan and The International Association of Japanese Gardens Inc. The 2012 conference will be held in Australia.

We saw each other again in San Diego in 2010. Every time we had a chance to chat, he invited me to visit the next time I was in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Powell is a Japanese style garden builder and pruning specialist from Weatherford, Texas. He is a graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in Forestry. Currently he is the co-owner of Weatherford Gardens Nursery and Landscaping, located at 2106 Fort Worth Highway in Weatherford west of Fort Worth.

a sampling of products carried in the store
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

As noted on the nursery’s Facebook page: “In 1997, David & Pat Bergman, and John & Becky Powell purchased Mann Nursery. We re-named it Weatherford Gardens, and have been here ever since. We ditched all the chemicals and went organic in 1999, and it has been our real pleasure to sell only quality plants and organic materials to our gardening enthusiasts all over North Texas.”

a small section of the seed shelves where I did my shopping
(photo by Bill Eger)

Information sheets on soil types, deer resistant plants, drought tolerant plants, etc. line one bookshelf while new products such as woolen pockets for green walls are featured in the larger room.

“We do a lot of residential landscaping, and our landscape designer John Powell specializes in Japanese garden design. He has studied in Japan, and garden building is his passion.”

rock arrangement and plantings between the parking lot and the store

a sample waterfall to one side of the nursery
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“Whether we install it or you do it yourself, our highly efficient and knowledgeable nursery and landscaping staff work to provide the best plants for your installations, and the highest professionalism and insight in any troubleshooting along the way,” the information page on Facebook concluded.

There was a nice sale going on the day we were there. Too bad these won’t fit in the backpack!
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

beautiful maple foliage and seeds
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

To learn more about Weatherford Gardens Nursery, visit them on Facebook http://en-gb.facebook.com/WeatherfordGardens?sk=info or at their store and nursery 2106 Fort Worth Highway, Weatherford TX 76086 or phone (817) 341-0152.

To learn more about the 7th International Symposium on Japanese Gardens: Japanese Gardens in the 21st Century to be held in Sydney Australia September 1-3, 2012, contact Imperial Gardens Landscape, PO Box 200 Terrey Hills, NSW 2084

web address: www.imperialgardens.com.au

and e-mail: enquiries@imperialgardens.com.au

All photos not otherwise credited in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image to see it full size.

Categories: Fort Worth, Texas | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Magnificent shapes and color at Metro Maples

Posted on July 24, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

Part of designing, installing and maintaining any garden is knowing where to go for quality plant material. This is particularly true of Japanese gardens.

At the beginning of our trip, we were thrilled to find Bill Hudgins’ Lush Life Home and Garden in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. Hudgins is known for the 200-plus varieties of maples he’s collected.

At the mid-point of our journey in Fort Worth, I was quite literally jumping up and down and clapping my hands at the variety I saw when Bill and I drove in to Metro Maples on South Dick Price Road.

There are more than 15,000 maples from which to choose — more than 100 varieties of Japanese and Shantung maples including several patented varieties such as Acer truncatum ‘Fire Dragon’ — in sizes ranging from one-gallon pots up to 45-gallon pots.

Variety and abundance were the words of the day at Metro Maples in Fort Worth.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

(photo by Bill F. Eger)

a weeping variety
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Self-described “owner, grafter, salesman, yard man, hose dragger, web updater, bookkeeper” Keith Johansson has been seriously collecting maples, azaleas and rhododendrons in hot climates for 27 years. Jeri Bisel, his wife, and Scott Hubbel, the intern who came for two weeks in 2007 and stayed, round out the full-time crew at Metro Maples. All were on hand the day we visited.

I truly appreciate Keith’s attitude, perhaps best summed up with this remark: ” When walking through the garden, no king ever had it better.”

Scott Hubbel, Keith Johansson, and Jeri Bisel pose near sample plantings around a koi pond, the water from which is used for irrigation.

The company maintains an excellent, informative web site: http://www.metromaples.com/

Metro Maples does not ship. The nursery is open to the public from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Monday through Friday, appointments must be made.

entry sign
(photo by
Bill F. Eger)

the driveway that set me dancing

Keith is the current president of the Maple Society, North America Branch. The fifth international maple symposium plus post-conference tours will be held in Seattle and Portland in October. The conference is October 19-21 and the tour October 22-24. For more information, go to the web site of the Maple Society: http://www.maplesociety.org/

All photos in this blog that are not credited to others are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image to see it full size.

Categories: Atlanta, Fort Worth, Georgia, Texas | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Fort Worth garden should be seen every season

Posted on July 21, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

The Japanese Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden is worth a return visit, in my opinion, every season of the year. Every season has its joys. The variety of plantings and styles of Japanese garden at Fort Worth offer that special kind of joy to all.

I visited two years ago in the spring, took 100 photos in an hour’s time, and have been mentioning it to my husband ever since. Our recent visit this summer, his first, entranced him as much as my first visit did me.

This seven and a half acre site was a watering hole for cattle, a gravel pit, a dump, and a squatters’ camp before Scott Fikes, former Botanic Garden director, and Charles Campbell, former director of Park and Recreation came up with and pursued the idea in the late 1960s. Kingsley Wu, a graduate of the University of Tokyo, was commissioned to finalize plans, according to a garden brochure, and construction began in 1970. After many clubs, companies and individuals put in their time, talent and treasure, the garden opened in 1973.

The resulting collection of gardens offers a pleasant stroll from the main gate through the free courtyard garden to the ticket office to the green and cool delights beyond.

The main gate was designed by Albert S. Komatsu and dedicated to Scott Fikes in 1976. The gift shop is off to the left.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

A little history on the early designers

The main gate was designed by Albert Komatsu and Associates, an architectural firm founded in 1959 and later known as Komatsu Architecture. Alfred Komatsu was a well known, award-winning and highly respected architect in Fort Worth. He helped found the Society of American Military Engineers post in Fort Worth (SAME) and in 2011 was its oldest living founder.

The main gate was dedicated to Scott Fikes in 1976. Fikes retired in 1975 after serving 17 years as the Fort Worth Botanical Garden’s director. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and was a member of the National Society of Landscape Architects. He passed away in 2002.

Charles Boyle Campbell was a landscape architect by training. He was 39 years old when he accepted the position in Fort Worth as director of parks in 1962. Two years later, the parks and recreation boards were merged and Campbell was named director of the new department.

“Throughout his quarter-century of service, he was a strong advocate for the creation of green space, and during his tenure, city regulations were amended to require residential developers to set aside parkland in their subdivisions. During the years he served as director, the number of parks increased from 57 parks on 2,872 acres to 163 parks with 9,923 acres,” said Susan Allen Kline in the book Images of America: Fort Worth Parks. Campbell retired in 1987 and passed away in 2006.

Steve Huddleston remarked on Kingsley Wu on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden: “The major project in the garden during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s was the construction of the Japanese Garden, a 7.5-acre garden that is now the crown jewel of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. In 1968, the city employed Kingsley Wu, professor of environmental living at Texas Women’s University, to design a master plan for the Japanese Garden.  The three major pools were staked and then 454 cubic yards of concrete were poured to line the pools. A waterfall, spillways, and islands were fashioned in and around the pools.  Patterned after the Ryoan-ji in Kyoto, the meditation garden was built in 1970.”

a school group enjoys the classic karesansui
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Among new plantings this spring are cherry trees, the gift of the Japanese Embassy to mark the centennial of Tokyo’s gift to the United States of more than 3,000 cherry trees planted at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

“The most reliable and readily available variety of flowering cherry is the ‘Kwanzan’ (Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’),” says Scott Brooks, senior gardener at FWBG. He oversees the 7 ½ acre Japanese Garden there. “It’s capable of reaching 25 feet in height with branches that start out upright and then spread horizontally. It has 2-inch-wide, rose-pink flower clusters. Newly planted trees produce a good showing of flowers, although bloom improves as the trees mature.”

Another variety that does well here, Brooks says, is Yoshino (Prunus x yedoensis), the variety Japan gave to the United States in 1912. It’s a fast-growing tree that can reach more than 30 feet. Although the young trees do not produce a lot of flowers, mature trees bloom profusely.

Springtime crabapple bloom with new maple leaves near the pavilion in 2010

Brooks came to the garden in 1982 as a groundskeeper. By then many of the original trees had matured. The garden was clotted with vines and undergrowth. Tunnels had formed where the original designers had created paths.

Brooks set about the hard work of carefully uncovering what Fikes, Campbell, Komatsu and Wu had created, traveling several times to Japan. There gardeners steeped in 1,500 years of tradition taught him: “If you’re the keeper of a Japanese garden, you need to think about removing something every year,” he said.

dry stream
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Brooks now is the senior gardener. He showed us through, with that ever watchful gardener’s eye for something amiss or out of place, and spoke of the delights and challenges of this ever changing scene.

Sister City

Nagaoka and Fort Worth have an active and dynamic Sister City relationship, celebrating 25 years this year in October. Mayor Betsy Price and Councilman Danny Scarth will lead a delegation to Nagaoka, Japan, to join in their fall festival October 2 to 12.

In the 1990s, Nagaoka, donated an authentic Mikoshi (a gilded and lacquered palanquin) to Fort Worth, which is currently on display within the Mikoshi House. Several trees, including pines and flowering cherries, were similarly donated.

Mikoshi — a gift of Sister City Nagaoka

view out the door of Mikoshi House

Mikoshi House in the spring of 2010

In 1997, Mr. Shigeichi Suzuki, a landscape architect from Nagaoka, donated plans for a karesansui-style addition to the garden.

“When I received the plans, they were in kanji and metric,” said Brooks chuckling. “That was a wonderful challenge figuring that out.”

The addition was completed in 2000, and is now called the Suzuki Garden. It is a modern counterpart to the nearby classic karesansui of the same design as the abbot’s quarters of Ryoanji in Kyoto.

Suzuki Garden
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The tea house at the end of the pond was built as a memorial to the late Mary K. Umstead, secretary to the Horticulture Division. It was rebuilt this past year using plantation-grown ipe as a more lasting, sustainable tropical hardwood.

Mary K. Umstead Tea House, rebuilt in the past year

A new barrier free approach to the pavilion area offers visitors a closer view of the main waterfall. The Shinto-esque pavilion area offers several structures available for rental for special celebrations and weddings.

new waterfall view
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Behind the pavilion area, a small staircase leads to a plaza. Out of view to the right is barrier free access to the same area.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

moon-viewing platform and amphitheatre
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“The ‘Moon-Viewing Deck’ is a creative adaptation of the Ginkakuji temple’s famous ‘Kogetsudai’ sand cone. Fort Worth’s version is intended to be an interactive karesansui exhibit, in which visitors may ascend the flat-topped cone via steps, and view the composition from above. A ‘Taijitu’ (a yin-yang symbol), lies embossed in exposed-aggregate concrete at the summit. This highly unusual (but fun) addition to a Japanese garden is ultimately a cosmological symbol of Chinese origin. It also has other interpretations, including its most important contemporary association with Korean culture, and as a metaphor for oriental mysticism in American ‘Pop’ culture. The exhibit also features an amphitheatre that is countersunk into the same platform as the cone. Together, they serve as a performance venue for the garden’s two annual festivals (matsuri), and as a moonlit chapel for weddings,” Brooks said

Paths

In all, there are nearly 6,000 linear feet of stone, brick, wood, aggregate concrete and asphalt walkways in the garden, three pools and a couple of waterfalls including a small one in the corner of the entry to the gift shop, seven crossings over water, multiple fish food dispensers, an abundance of healthy koi in the ponds and plants to occupy the eye and mind.

gift shop in the spring of 2010

gift shop in the summer 2012 — note the impact of recent drought on the pond water level
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Treasure Tree gift shop occupies a waterside structure reminiscent of medieval Japanese architecture. The well stocked store is operated by the Fort Worth Botanical Society. Proceeds benefit the continuing development and preservation of the garden.

The garden is included in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden web site http://fwbg.org/gardens/japanese/ and maintains its own Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Worth-Japanese-Garden/168365139854742 on which Brooks has included several detailed guides to the plantings in multiple scrapbooks.

Operating hours during standard time are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and during daylight saving time 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Christmas. Admission fee for adults is $4.50 on weekends or $4 on weekdays; $3 for children ages 4 to 12. Children ages 3 and under are admitted free. Unsponsored children under 13 are not admitted. One adult may sponsor 5 children.

For additional information, call (817) 871-7686.

enticing benches
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Photos with no credit line in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image to see it full size.

Several videos of the Fort Worth Japanese Garden are featured on YouTube. Here is a short one from the spring festival http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqj2KIb-DQs

and a longer piece featuring spring blooms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FWsA2UCqUY

another featuring a summertime stroll with emphasis on the koi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ysysau35U

a taiko performance of Ujigawa by Dondoko Daiko at the 2009 fall festival http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJ-5udVI4s

and one longer narration from winter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dZCKCbo378

A personal note:

There’s something really wonderful about garden friends: you speak the same language, share similar goals, and in the best of times have the same taste in movies and jokes. Scott Brooks is one of those wonderful garden friends.

We met briefly in Long Beach, California, in spring of 2009 at the International Conference on Japanese Gardens Outside Japan. A year later, I stopped off in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on my way home from my mother’s death in Florida. My cousin dropped me off at the garden gate and I began my wandering in a somber mood.

Pretty soon, I was engaged by the collection of gardens – entranced by proportions, variety and trimming of various plantings.

Scott Brooks at work in 2010

As I wandered down the right side of the garden, I noticed maintenance going on at the left side of the pond. I kept catching glimpses of this man in a black t-shirt pushing a wheelbarrow. When I finally came even with him, I asked the perennial gardener’s question, “What are you working on?” “Re-doing the water pipe to this basin,” he replied “Have you been here long?” I asked. “28 years since 1982.” “Say, you look familiar….” and when we got to Long Beach as common ground he exclaimed, “You’re that lady from Hawaii.”

forsythia near the pag

Later, as I approached the end of the path to meet up with my cousin at the gift shop, there was a splash of yellow by the pagoda – forsythia, one of my mother’s springtime favorites.

The Long Beach conference not only formed fast friendships, it led to the formation of the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA). Fort Worth hosted one of the regional meetings that led the group from initiative to association.

The organization hosts a web site http://www.najga.org/cfm/index.cfm and a Facebook page. NAJGA will host Connections 2012, a conference for garden professionals and enthusiasts in Denver, Colorado, October 12 through 14 with a one-day advance design workshop on October 11. The conference is geared toward three topics every garden deals with: horticulture, human culture and business culture. Contact NAJGA for further information and to register.

pagoda designed by Albert Komatsu
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Categories: Fort Worth, Texas | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Taniguchi’s gift to the city of Austin

Posted on July 15, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

The Isamu Taniguchi Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden undoubtedly has the best view of Austin, Texas.

“The best view in town” according to one garden volunteer is from the Isamu Taniguchi Garden at the Zilker Botanical Garden.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Many thanks are due Marion Alsup for her hospitality during our recent visit to the Taniguchi Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Texas. She greeted us at the train station, hung cool scarves around our necks, pressed bottles of water into our hands, plus she organized other garden personnel to meet us on site to answer additional questions . Alsup is vice president of the Austin Area Garden Center with responsibility for education and president of the Docents of Zilker Botanical Garden. She provided running commentary as we toured the winding trails.

Marian Alsup and Donna Friedenreich explain the Sister City relationship with Oita, which gave this stone gate to the garden.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Three acres of rugged caliche hillside were transformed into a garden in the late 1960s by Isamu Taniguchi when he was 70 years old. Working for 18 months with occasional help from two parks and recreation department staffers, Taniguchi brought forth his gift to the city of Austin first in gratitude for the education that his two sons received there and second in an aspiration for peace.

lantern at top entry to the garden
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Taniguchi was born in Osaka, Japan. By the age of 16 he was raising bonsai. Migrating to Stockton, California in 1915, he farmed vegetables and fruit, returning to Japan only once to marry. During World War II, he and his family were interned in California and Texas. The family moved to the Rio Grande Valley at the end of the war to continue farming.

The Austin Area Garden Center and the Parks and Recreation Department could not turn down his generous offer of a garden. Working without a salary, a contract or a written plan, Taniguchi showed up for work, rain or shine, and created paths and streams, waterfalls and ponds, stone arrangements and plantings. The garden opened to the public in 1969. Taniguchi’s son Alan was Dean of the UT School of Architecture that year.

An essay by the elder Taniguchi – The Spirit of the Garden – describes not only the garden, but its builder:

“It has been my wish that through the construction of this visible garden, I might provide a symbol of universal peace. By observing the genuine peaceful nature of the garden, I believe that we should be able to knock on the door of our conscience, which once was obliged to be the slave of the animal nature in man rather than of the humanity which resides on the other side of his heart. It is my desire for the peace of mankind which has endowed this man of old age the physical health and stamina to pile stone upon stone without a day’s absence from the work for the last 18 months. It is my desire for peace of mankind which encouraged me in my voluntary labor to complete this long-dreamed gift for the city of Austin – this Oriental Garden. It is my wish that you have pleasant communion with the spirit of the garden.”

A small lantern and a hidden waterfall are part of the ponds that spell out “Austin.”
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Several garden ponds spell out the word “Austin.”

(photo by Bill F. Eger)

A rustic wooden log Togetsu-kyo or “Bridge to Walk Over the Moon” is nearby.

The final pond holds lotus Taniguchi raised from a seed from Japan and several varieties of water lily. There is a small central island in the shape of a boat with stepping stones through the pond in the shape of the boat’s chain and anchor.

The lowest pond features a boat-shaped island with wisteria, water lilies and lotus grown by Mr. Taniguchi. The story of the lotus seed — Journey of the Third Seed — is recounted as a children’s story by Jane Scoggins Bauld.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Taniguchi continued to be involved with the garden leading occasional tours. He died in 1992.

Terry Ward, bonsai master and garden volunteer was present for the planting of many of the older trees in the garden. “I’ve helped train several garden staff in the art of pruning the trees.” New staffer Robert “Spider” DeVictoria came to the Taniguchi garden two and a half years ago from Brooklyn where he recalled falling in love with Japanese gardens at the botanical garden there.

Terry Ward enjoys the view from one of several comfortable benches throughout the garden.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

There are some outstanding maples and 21 kinds of bamboo in this 3-acre garden.

Thirty different garden clubs such as the Austin Pond Society, Texas Bamboo Society, the Austin Bonsai Society, the Austin Ikebana Study Group and other associations were organized into the non-profit Austin Area Garden Center in 1955. The Austin Park and Recreation Department owns the land. The Garden Center built the building, organizes volunteers, trains docents and staffs the gift shop, according to Donna Friedenreich, president of AAGC.

The Heart O’Texas Orchid Society donated a Japanese teahouse with a view of the Austin skyline beyond the bamboo. It is named Ten-Wa-Jin (Heaven, Harmony, Man) to convey once more Taniguchi’s message that man exists in harmony with nature and that a “garden is the embodiment of the peaceful coexistence of all the elements of nature.”

Ten Wa Jin teahouse at the Taniguchi Garden
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

interior detail
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Local materials were used in tea house construction. The bamboo society helps every year.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

detail of roof
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

view from the teahouse
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Stone gates flanking a newer slate path were a gift from Austin’s Sister City Oita, dedicated in November 1999 to mark the lasting friendship between the two cities.

English text is on the interior of the western gate.

“Once a year, a garden festival is held, usually during the last weekend in March. In 2013, the garden festival will be held the first weekend in April due to the Easter holiday,” said Marion Alsup, Docent Club president.

new gate at the north end
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The garden recently received a generous donation from the Orton family, which was used to reconstruct an existing path to meet ADA requirements, adding a new gate at the north end.

detail of new gate
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

In addition, the garden receives welcome support from the Japan America Society of Greater Austin.

The city books weddings to be held in the garden and retains the revenue. Other events are partnered with AAGC and the proceeds are split. According to Friedenreich, one highly successful event funded repair of leaking ponds with Dragon Coat.

Each year, the garden hosts several hundred thousand people. Thousands of school children are reached by the Zilker Botanical Garden’s educational outreach programs and many school groups come for a visit. It was a delight to see the school children enjoying the waterfall, lanterns, niche in the stone tea house for tea cups, resident snake, and trimmed bushes all with respect and deepening calm.

One group of school children enjoyed the garden while we were there.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

For more information on how those of you in the Austin area can support the Zilker Botanical Garden, e-mail info@zilkergarden.org or phone 512-477-8672.

Taniguchi garden at the Zilker Botanical Garden may be found at:

http://www.zilkergarden.org/gardens/japanese.html

Should you wish to view a very sweet video of the Taniguchi Garden, check out this one created a year ago by Austin Otaku.

http://vimeo.com/austinotaku/isamu-taniguchi-japanese-garden

Unless otherwise credited, photos in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image in order to see it full size.

Categories: Austin, Texas | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Jingu House and the Japanese Tea Garden

Posted on July 15, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

The article below was published immediately after a visit to the garden in 2012. The following link leads to an October 5, 2015, article by Jack Morgan of KSTX San Antonio. The article in turn includes links leading to more information on the garden and on Japanese Gardening dot org.

http://tpr.org/post/incredible-story-behind-san-antonios-japanese-tea-garden#stream/0

In Texas, when I said, “We’ve been to a Japanese garden in San Antonio,” many people thought I was referring to the Japanese Tea Garden at Sunken Gardens, Brackenridge Park. I was referring to Kumamoto en, detailed in an earlier post about the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

But there is a story here at Sunken Gardens – another sad story of a family losing their home and livelihood due to fear during World War II and another hopeful story of better things to come.

There are many striking features about this garden – the stonework on paths, benches, structures and ponds alone is worth a visit. Initially, in 1840 the property was a quarry. In 1880, the Alamo Roman and Portland Cement Company constructed the first cement plant west of the Mississippi. A smokestack near a gazebo overlook marks the kiln that was built in 1889.

The story of the garden is told on a 1984 brass plaque adjacent to the entry gate, an unusual torii style structure in the fois bois design bearing the inscription “Chinese Tea Garden.”

The torii gate created by Dionicio Rodriguez is a national landmark. Text of the plaque at the right is reproduced below.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

The plaque reads: “The idea of a Japanese tea garden was conceived by City Parks Commissioner Ray Lambert in the early 1900s in an effort to beautify the rock quarries which had earlier been abandoned by the San Antonio Portland Cement Company. The brick and stone smokestack east of the teahouse is part of the old Portland Cement kiln.

The kiln smokestack at the extreme right of the photo is all that is left of the old cement plant. The gazebo overlook is on the list of things to be refurbished at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio.

“Commissioner Lambert enlisted the aid of a Japanese artist Kimi Eizo Jingu to assist in the design of an authentic Japanese tea garden. Artist Jingu had recently arrived in San Antonio with his family, had been employed by the U.S, Army and was selling his watercolor paintings in a shop in downtown San Antonio.

“The Japanese tea garden was completed and christened in 1919 having been constructed with prison labor and with both corporate and individual donations. Commissioner Lambert had given particular effort to achieving true Japanese design and had imported numerous plants from gardens existing in Japan. A house was constructed on the site using rocks from the old quarry, and the Jingu family was moved into the house to act as overseers for the facility. In 1926, the Jingus opened a tea house in the upper level of their home. Before his death in 1936, Mr. Jingu had become nationally recognized for his knowledge of teas.

Jingu House Cafe is open Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This view shows improvements done recently to allow for barrier-free access.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“The Jingu family remained in their home in the garden until shortly after the December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor incident. The resulting general fear and resentment by the American public caused the Jingu family to be removed from the garden and its name was changed to Chinese Tea Garden.

old postcards framed upstairs in Jingu House Cafe
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“It was at this time the Chinese-style entry was added, bearing the inscription ‘Chinese Tea Garden.’ This Oriental-design cement-sculptured entry was purportedly designed by Maximo Cortez and constructed by Dionicio Rodriguez. Mr. Rodrigues was a Mexican national who is credited with a number of cement sculptures in San Antonio. He kept his techniques secret working always inside a tent and using tools he made on the site from tin, wood, etc. His process consisted of a metal rod base on which he developed three-dimensional designs with layers of especially prepared cement. He did not divulge either his process of cement sculpture or coloring of the cement layers. He spoke no English and a few co-workers learned by observation only. He is credited with having created various other sculptures throughout the United States in addition to those in the San Antonio area.

“In 1983, the San Antonio City Council ordained that the original name of “Japanese Tea House” be restored to the site in consideration of the number of Japanese-Americans who had fought honorably on the side of the United States during World War II.”

It should be noted here that the youngest sons James and Kimi Jingu served in the U.S. Army. James received a Purple Heart for his actions with the 442nd in Europe and Kimi served in the Korean conflict. See one newspaper article here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42448022@N05/3967648434/

an overview from the vantage point of the pavilion
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Toward the back of the property, bamboo leans over a section of original steps.

one of the original stone benches

Don Pylant notes current happenings in his article

http://www.japanesegardening.org/sunkengardens/index.html

“A move to restore the Japanese Tea Garden came in the 2005 bond election to repair the Pavilion. With help and guidance from San Antonio Parks Foundation and Friends of the Parks, this Phase 1 began. The original roofing was fencing wire with palm leaf thatch, harvested from the city parks, woven together to shed water. The new roof is a fantastic mimic of artificial palm thatch – all the looks without the fire hazard.

the reconstructed pavilion
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“In 2007, former councilwoman Bonnie Conner, Parks Foundation vice chair of projects, and former Mayor Lila Cockrell, Parks Foundation president, began a $1.6 million restoration campaign to repair the lily ponds. The successful effort resulted in the restoration of the ponds, a new re-circulating filtration system, and the return of fish and lilies to the ponds. For the public re-opening on March 8, 2008, Jingu and Lambert family members were present. Mabel Yoshiko Jingu Enkoji, the sixth child of Kimi and Miyoshi Jingu, and born at the Gardens, was the senior Jingu family member at the event. Richard Lambert, grandson of Commissioner Ray Lambert was also present.

detail of interior of re-done pavilion
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

“A master plan is being created and fundraising will begin soon to continue the effort to return the Japanese Tea Gardens to its former glory as a jewel in the crown of San Antonio and South Texas.”

HUGE koi
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

A problem common to all gardens with koi ponds — birds that like to go fishing!
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Side note: for more on Dionicio Rodriguez and his Trabajo Rustico, see the book Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodriguez by Patsy Pittman Light.

Unless otherwise credited, all photos in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. To see a full size image, click on the photo.

Categories: San Antonio, Texas | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kumamoto en in San Antonio, Texas

Posted on July 13, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

Oribe lantern at the entrance — for more information on this type of lantern and others, check out the story on the Japanese Gardening Organization web site:
http://japanesegardening.org/lanterns/index.html

Kumamoto en, the Japanese garden at San Antonio Botanical Garden, is a small polished gem set amid 33 acres of living museum. Enclosed by four bamboo walls, the garden presents a series of scenes reminiscent of famous gardens in Japan.

Approaching the entry to Kumamoto en, we were struck by the detailed workmanship in the daimyo or shogun style bamboo fence. More information on how to construct such a fence is available here:
http://www.japanesegardening.org/reference/daimyo_fence.html
(photo by Bill F. Eger) 

The garden was a gift of Sister City Kumamoto and first opened in 1989. Landscapers and craftsmen from Kumamoto, Kyoto, Tokyo and San Antonio participated in its design and construction. A complete restoration was accomplished in 2005.

“Upon entering the garden, you enter a place apart from the everyday world, a safe and peaceful haven where all anger, prejudice, and worldly problems are left at the gate,” writes Don Pylant in an article on the garden and its Sister City relationship with the City of San Antonio in http://japanesegardening.org/kumamotoen/

Exquisite workmanship gives the Katsura style bamboo fence a subtle checkerboard pattern. More information on construction technique is available here:http://www.japanesegardening.org/reference/bamboo_fence.html
(photo by Bill F. Eger) 

“Kumamoto en was designed to demonstrate the beauty of authentic Japanese gardening and introduce visitors to many elements used in Japanese Gardens. It is designed to be enjoyed one scene at a time, like a scroll painting, unrolling as you stroll through,” Pylant said.

Pylant was our guide through Kumamoto En. And what a perfect person to have as a guide to this lovely garden! Although Don currently serves as Park Operations Supervisor in a different area of the City of San Antonio Park Development Division, he spent nearly 24 years working in the San Antonio Botanical Garden. His love of Japanese gardens goes back further to his time in Dallas where he was Director of Horticulture at Dallas Civic Garden Center in Fair Park. He would spend time at the nearby Fort Worth Botanical Gardens’ beautiful Japanese garden, which inspired what would become a deep appreciation of Japanese gardening and a life-long commitment.

In 1980, Don moved from Dallas back to San Antonio to become part of the brand new San Antonio Botanical Gardens, where he participated in the development of gardens, growing facilities, educational programs, and construction of a botanical conservatory.

In 1985, the Japan America Society of San Antonio was formed to foster increased understanding and cooperation between the citizens of San Antonio and the citizens of Japan. Among early efforts was the construction of a Japanese garden in San Antonio.

In 1989, the City of San Antonio and sister city, Kumamoto City in Japan, jointly agreed to construct an authentic Japanese garden in San Antonio’s botanical garden.  Don was involved in the planning and construction of this garden, working with architects in Kyoto and gardeners in Kumamoto, Kyoto and Tokyo.  Don studied under master Japanese gardener Katsuoki Kawahara, a respected craftsman known for his work in temple gardens as well as commercial and residential gardens in Japan and around the world.  Kawahara directed the team of professional gardeners selected from Kyoto, Tokyo and Kumamoto in the construction of Kumamoto En.  After the construction, Don was responsible for the care and maintenance of the garden, and worked with gardeners from Japan in the garden.

In 2001, Mr. Kyoshi Yasui of Yasui-moku Company and the architect for Kumamoto En invited Don to come to Kyoto to train under master Japanese gardeners, architects, and bamboo craftsmen.  He studied under Yasui, a respected architect nominated by the Emperor as a National Living Treasure of Japan. Don also studied under the master bamboo craftsmen at Otsuka Bamboo in Kyoto. The benefit of this training is evident in the four different bamboo walls surrounding Kumamoto en.

“All of this leads to a beautiful and authentic experience for our visitors,” Don said.

A suggestion of Mt. Aso-san, one of Kumamoto’s volcanoes, awaits the viewer to the right of the end of this pathway. An otsu-gaki or woven style bamboo fence is visible in the background along the back boundary of the garden.

Yasui asked Don to help sustain and manage the Kumamoto en. He also asked Don to take what he had learned and teach others about the benefits, methods, and enjoyment of Japanese Gardens.  In addition to continued study and demonstrations in Japanese gardening, the Japanese Gardening Organization was created with the mission of spreading the benefits of Japanese gardening for individuals, groups, communities, and society.  JGO provides educational resources to foster the exchange of culture, knowledge, appreciation and application of Japanese gardening, striving for the highest level of accurate information and resources for Japanese gardening.  It continues to grow, with its associated forum accumulating over 11,000 posts from Japanese gardeners worldwide.

Today, Don Pylant works for the City of San Antonio developing and managing the resources for more than 6,000 acres of Natural Area Parks and Edwards Aquifer Protection preserves.  He has continued to assist in the maintenance of Kumamoto En and is consultant for the Japanese Tea Gardens in Sunken Gardens, Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, Texas.  He designs and constructs Japanese gardens by request.

The Japan America Society of San Antonio continues to support the garden with annual co-sponsorship of Kumamoto en Day providing Japanese cultural, art, crafts and gardening demonstrations, along with tours of of the garden.

Don Pylant and K.T. Cannon-Eger listen to Candace Andrews explain the master plan for the botanical garden.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

When we met at the carriage house entry to the botanical garden, Don introduced us to Candace Andrews, Director of Community Relations and Marketing for San Antonio Botanical Society, the non-profit organization chartered in 1980.

“The mission of this organization is to support the San Antonio Botanical Garden in its role of inspiring people to connect with the world of plants, and to understand the importance of plants in our lives,” Andrews said.

She spoke of the importance of volunteers to the garden, both in maintenance and as docents. The society operates the gift shop, proceeds of which support the garden. All rental proceeds and a portion of the restaurant income go toward the garden. She explained the San Antonio Botanical Garden is in the midst of master planning. Five year target is for the Society to take over from the city, privatizing the gardens.

Opened May 3, 1980 after nearly four years of construction, the San Antonio Botanical Garden is operated under the auspices of the City of San Antonio Department of Parks & Recreation. Bob Brackman has been executive director since 2006. Before accepting this position, he served for nearly 13 years as Vice President and Director of the Botanical Garden at the 55-acre Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville and prior to that for more than 12 years as the Director of Horticulture for the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.

Bob Brackman, executive director, explains plans for the future of the San Antonio Botanical Garden to K.T. and Don in the azumaya completed in the 2005 renovation of Kumamoto En. K.T. is busy typing on her iPad. A kennin-ji style bamboo fence lines this side of the garden. More information on making this style is available here:
http://www.japanesegardening.org/reference/kenninji_fence.html
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

Brackman joined us at the azumaya in the garden. In his six-plus years with the San Antonio Botanical Garden, Brackman has led the completion of the Master Site Plan for the Garden. This new plan will be the framework for future development at this 38-acre botanical and educational facility. In addition, while working with the City and the Board of the Botanical Society, he has seen the approval of a new management agreement between the City and the Society which will eventually transfer the operational management of the Botanical Garden to the Society.

view across the central pond toward the azumaya in the back corner

In the midst of an extended drought, San Antonio gardens have shut off many water features. One exception to the regulations is ponds in which fish are living. My particular favorite about this pond is the stepping stones that disappear into the water.
(photo by Bill F. Eger)

A little more history of the San Antonio Botanical Garden from its web site http://www.sabot.org

“Mrs. R. R. Witt and Mrs. Joseph Murphy conceived the idea of a Botanical Garden in San Antonio in the 1940s. Together with their friends and associates, they organized the San Antonio Garden Center. Their first major effort was the development and presentation of a master plan for a public botanical garden in the late 1960s. The recommended garden site became the former Brackenridge waterworks land which was being held by the city.

“Funding for ground work began in 1970, when voters approved $265,000 in bonds for the Garden. This money, along with a grant awarded five years later by the Ewing Halsell Foundation, other contributions from organizations and individuals, and a significant grant from the Economic Development Administration helped pay for the project. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held on July 21, 1976. The official opening was May 3, 1980.

“The entire site is now known as the San Antonio Botanical Center. This includes both the 33-acre San Antonio Botanical Garden and the adjacent San Antonio Garden Center. The Garden Center is operated under contract by the non-profit Garden Center, Incorporated, although the facility is still owned and maintained by the City of San Antonio.

“Charted in 1980, the San Antonio Botanical Society is the 501 (c) (3) non-profit support organization specifically established in support of the San Antonio Botanical Garden.”

Unless otherwise credited, photos in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. To see a full size image of any photo, click on it.

detail of bench in azumaya

detail of otsugaki

detail of kennin-ji

San Antonio — Kumamoto Sister City Relationship

There are two plaques commemorating the Sister City relationship between Kumamoto in Japan and San Antonio, Texas: one from the original garden dedication in 1989 and another from the renewal in 2005. Here is the English text from both.

1989

“In the spirit of this relationship, both cities hope for eternal peace and continuing friendship between our two cities and our countries as we work together to create this Japanese garden on San Antonio soil.

“It is out desire that this garden, as a symbol of our cordial relationship, will provide an introduction to one aspect of Japanese culture, and be cherished by the peoples of both cities in years to come.”

San Antonio City Council

Henry G. Cisneros, Mayor

2005

“To honor the spirit of friendship between the Sister Cities of San Antonio USA and Kumamoto Japan, we celebrate the renewal of the Kumamoto En Japanese Garden.

“The Japanese Garden was a gift to the people of our two cities and a desire to share in each other’s culture and spirit of friendship.

“The renewal of this authentic Japanese Garden is completed in cooperation with many citizens as well as the San Antonio City Council and the Kumamoto City Council. This renewal is a symbol of the continuing friendship between our two cities and the commitment that we will work together to strengthen our relationship and foster eternal peace.”

November 19, 2005

Hon. Phil Hardberger               Hon. Seishi Kohyama

Mayor, City of San Antonio     Mayor of City of Kumamoto

Underwriters

Kumamoto Gardeners Association

San Antonio International Affairs Foundation

Toyota Motor North America Inc.

Japan America Society of San Antonio

San Antonio Botanical Society

Categories: San Antonio, Texas | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More railroad fan photos

Posted on June 29, 2012 by usjapanesegardens

Old fashioned stations continued to be our delight as we traveled through Texas to St. Louis, Chicago, Denver, and Grand Junction ending at a newer station in Emeryville near San Francisco.

Fort Worth Texas makes use of portions of the old Union Station.

Inside, Fort Worth offers old style benches. (photo by Bill F. Eger)

Train for St. Louis arrives on track 3 in Fort Worth, TX.

Chicago’s old Union Station undergoing renovation

underground entry from the old station to the newer arrival and departure area across the street in Chicago, IL

I haven’t mentioned food. It was EXCELLENT and freshly prepared for every meal. We dined on BBQ ribs, breaded chicken, salmon, tilapia, steak, shrimp Benedict, lamb shank, and more and everything was delicious.

We went deeper in to the history of trains in the Chicago area with a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry before heading out back to Osaka Garden at Jackson Park, what once was known as Wooded Island at the 1893 Columbia Exposition.

Empire State Express engine 999 in the Museum of Science and Industry — as fascinating a place to me now as it was when I was a child.

poster describing the Empire Express engine 999 at the 1893 Columbian Exposition

Another spot to gain more insight into historical details was the Chicago Art Institute. We had just enough time after checking our large bags in the morning to grab a cab and spend a couple of hours wandering around another old haunt for each of us: me from my childhood and Bill from his college days at University of Chicago.

These tiles came from the Railway Exchange Building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, also known as the Santa Fe Building.

a museum tag explains the origin of the tiles and the connection to the 1893 Columbian Exposition

In Denver, we chose The Oxford Hotel because of its proximity to Union Station only to find that the station is undergoing a three year renovation which will result in combined services being available there. Meanwhile, the temporary station is quite a few blocks away. I would stay at the Oxford Hotel again at the drop of a hat. Wonderful staff, service, accommodations and location.

Denver’s Union Station at night

Denver’s Union Station from the front door of The Oxford Hotel

Another wonderful advantage to train travel is the view through LARGE windows. It was such a difference from the somewhat dangerous escapade of trying to see something from a speeding car while maintaining safety on the highway.

huge view of the changing countryside and geology as the train moved from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado

The new station in Grand Junction, Colorado is right next to the old one, now closed and boarded up.

old Grand Junction sign notes “elevation 4,578” and “population 28,000”

heading west from Grand Junction through Utah and Nevada

a town in California advertises itself as “above the fog, below the snow”

End of the line — at least as far as train travel on this journey is concerned — at Emeryville, California.

Unless otherwise credited, photos in this blog are by K.T. Cannon-Eger. Click on any image for a full-size view.

Categories: Amtrak, California, Chicago, Colorado, Denver, Grand Junction, Illinois | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

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