Garden is open for 2017 and a gift of moss blog for you

by aleks
Seattle Japanese Garden opened March 1st for visitors, and on Sunday, March 5th, we had a centuries-old, sacred Shinto ceremony at the official First Viewing event. March hours are Tuesday - Sunday 10 am to 5 pm, please come and visit (for location and admission go here).

SJG • 3/5/17 - the first public tour of the season; photo by Jeanne Peterson

The weather was well, March-like cold and wet, but it didn't stop anyone from enjoying the festivities.  The first public tours of the season were packed with as many as 22 people under umbrellas.

We have over 20 camellias in the garden, and many of them are blossoming now or just starting to - their bloom will continue for about 4 weeks, after which it'll be time for continuing understated parade of rhodies and azaleas.

SJG • 3/4/17 - bi-colored Camellia japonica 'Daikagura'

The Japanese style garden  normally doesn't have so much color as our does in spring, but because it's a part of WA Park Arboretum that donated many of the plants to the garden when it was built over 50 years ago Mr. Iida,  the builder of the garden, incorporated them into his design.  He did it in part to make Seattle rhododendron-loving residents to feel at home in the Japanese Garden, but he also left instruction for removing the big showy European rhodies when the smaller, Japanese ones gain maturity.  This was mostly done over the years, but we still have many more blooming shrubs than regular Japanese style garden have - over the years I met many people who come every spring to see them.

SJG • 3/4/17 - Camellia japonica 'Lily Pons'

And finally, a spring gift:  a moss blog dedicated to the most prevalent mosses in our Garden. Questions about the moss are one of the most often asked by our visitors - we have abundance of moss, people feel the calmness they project, so the interest is born.

For 2017 SJG season the moss-goals are: 1.) describe our 10 most common ground mosses, and 2.) have a container display garden to educate about our mosses.  The first goal  is already half done (5 mosses described) but the second one turned out a bit  harder to execute:  mosses mostly grow where they want to and they don't take instructions - some of them didn't appreciate their new container homes and are on a strike of sorts: got brown, playing dead, etc.  The container moss display is expected to be in the  Garden from April on, and the moss blog is here:
https://sjgmoss.wordpress.com

SJG • 3/4/17 - Polytrichum moss at the edge of the Tea House Garden