Lots happening and super-secret azalea

by aleks

1.) The school tours are winding down and almost over, as summer time is nearly upon us: one of the last school tours was on Tuesday, June 10th - the middle schoolers came from The Attic Learning Community; they were visiting SJG before their Arboretum visit (for a  plant workshop w/ecology focus).  They were very well prepared, curious and asked smart questions, among other things were interested in hearing/learning about tea  ceremonies - not much I could have helped them with, besides general information, but hopefully they'll come back soon for a tea ceremony itself.

SJG • 6/10/14 - The Attic Learning Community visiting SJG

2.) Hello, Fellow docents: Unit 86 Executive Committee meeting with Parks Dept. regarding Parks Department and U86 cooperation: this Monday, June 16, 2014  10:30-12:00  in TCR (minutes from previous mtg and agenda for this one in your inbox, inside email  from U86 prez);  a new way for you to get involved and participate in the works of the Garden - a committee is being created and waits for you (on volunteer recruitment for tours; overall garden programming; gatehouse signage; merchandise inventory and routine reports; and volunteer signup and tracking systems.)

3.) Also, Hello fellow docents: a new shipment of Japanese Garden T-shirts has arrived, and almost 200 shirts need to be prepared for sale - can you help the Merchandise Committee do this? On Wednesday, June 18 at 10:00 - 1:00 in TCR?

4.) We have TWO up-coming cont. ed classes for the guides:
• June 19, Thursday, 10 AM-1 PM: Contemporary Way of Tea— with Mrs. Naomi Takemura
• July 19, Saturday, 10 AM-1 PM: Gardening the Body—Art and Practice of Butoh—with Joan Laage

5.) Saturday, June 21: A Day at Hort: Open House Invitation for the second Annual Seattle Parks and Recreation Jefferson Horticulture Facility at 1600 S. Dakota Street (details in your inbox inside email  from U86 prez).

Seattle Chinese Garden • 6/14/14 - Guzheng (koto 'ancestor')

 6.) We had our annual filed-trip to Chinese Garden with Dewey yesterday - I planned to attend and had to skip at the last moment  (perhaps you can post about it if you attended?), but managed to catch lovely  GUZHENG (koto 'ancestor') recital there several hours later, complete with Chinese painting and dancing (see pics) and saw 400 newly planted peonies - .

Seattle Chinese Garden • 6/14/14 - Guzheng recital

7.)  Hello Everyone, guests and volunteers: Don't forget celebration of  Tanabata - a Japanese star festival on Sunday, July 6!

SJG • 6/14/14 Rhododendron amagianum, an azalea which has trifoliate evergreen foliage and blooms in June with scarlet, somewhat tubular flowers. It's super-secret, because it somehow escaped our Plant List, spotted by senior-gardener Patty and identified by Corinne K. @ Plant Committee.  It Grows in area Y, close to Service Road (you can see the road behind the plant)

SJG • 6/14/14 - R. amagianum, Area Y

8.) I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

Poster Project Showcases Garden

by Cara I.
Visitors to the garden this season have noticed two new posters in the gatehouse area, the result of collaboration between Unit 86 member Pam Generaux and Roosevelt High School photography teacher Cecelia Otto.

One poster developed
by Roosevelt High School students

Three Roosevelt High School advanced photography students developed the posters as an independent study project for which they visited the garden several times to photograph their impressions of it. Their stunning photography and the design of the posters have elicited many responses – passersby decide to tour the garden, garden members recall their own impressions, older visitors enjoy seeing it through the youthful photographers' eyes, etc.

The students, who had not visited the garden before, were struck by how beautiful and peaceful it is. They loved capturing images of its flowers, koi, and lanterns - it is a place they wish to visit again.

Teacher Cecelia Otto said the project was a wonderful real life opportunity for the students to collaborate with a “client”- the Japanese Garden - and produce posters that reflected the space. The students had never done a project for use like this, and in the fall, Otto would like to have more students take photos of the garden to show another season in the garden.

The posters are located in the display case on the left as visitors approach the gatehouse and also directly across the ticket office.