Seeking Volunteers JG guides

Photo: NSuyenaga

Seeking Volunteers To Become

JAPANESE GARDEN TOUR GUIDES

    

Would you like to learn about the Japanese Garden and join other talented and dedicated people who share this Seattle treasure with visitors by leading tours?  Your experience need not be in the area of Japanese gardens or horticulture.  The Japanese Garden at Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum has opened applications for training to become a volunteer Tour Guide.   

Photo: NSuyenaga

     

Training will be held on five consecutive Wednesdays, March 13 through April 10, 2013, from 10 AM to 3PM. Curriculum will include techniques of effective guides, elements of the Japanese Garden, Japanese history and culture, and the history and unique features of the Seattle Japanese Garden. Fee for the training program is $100. The DEADLINE for application is January 18, 2013.

For Details And To Download An Application Visit: 
                                                    http://www.seattle.gov/parks/volunteers/         or http://www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/japanesegarden.htm

For questions contact:  gardenguidetraining@gmail.com      

[The training is sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation & Arboretum Foundation]

Photo: NSuyenaga

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井の中の蛙大海を知らず。 (I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu) Literally: A frog in a well does not know the great sea. 
Meaning: People are satisfied to judge things by their own narrow experience, never knowing of the wide world outside.

Maple fest

by aleks

SJG • 10/29/12

1-day Maple Fest in SJG took place over two and a half weeks ago, on Sunday October 14, when sixteen most prominent maples were labeled for public viewing with new, elegant tags.  The practice of labeling trees is rather un-Japanese, as the garden is cultural in nature, and tags, if even present, are usually hidden from the view so they don't disturb the experience of being in the Garden.

SJG • 10/29/12 - Yellow leaves of ginco biloba trees provide nice contrast

Only once a year, for educational purposes, when maples are at their autumnal best, they are labeled so the public can learn the names of the stars in the show; it was usually done for one day only, with hand-made paper signs covered with clear plastic, which were taken down at the end of the day.

SJG • 10/29/12 - Japanese maple, acer palmatum 'Omato' starts in spring with bright red leaves, then goes through shades of green and brown in summer, to return into red form in fall.

But the show goes on for quite a while, of course, especially this year, when the trees started to turn rather late.  Schools schedule field-trips for students to learn about foliage, to admire and draw it, and many people keep coming to delight in ever-changing beautiful scenery.

SJG • 10/29/12 - Over 100 years old Acer palmatum dissectum, Japanese lace leaf maple
starting to show off  its magnificent trunk

The decision was made to make green, more in style with the garden signs, which now stay on for enjoyment of people who didn't make it to the Garden on the Maple Fest Day;  they are taken down when the tree losses its leaves; when I visited the Garden last Monday quite a few were still in place - the Garden continues its autumn show and awaits your visit, before it closes for winter on Monday, November 12.

SJG • 10/29/12