A small section of Harrogate's Valley Gardens has been set aside as a Japanese-inspired 'garden of serenity'. It has a little stream running through it and the arched bridge, echoed by the little cherry blossom tree, struck me as quite attractive.
I don't pretend to know much about Japanese gardens (or Japan, for that matter) but my parents had a gardener friend, who was married to a Japanese lady. He looked after the gardens at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire and at one time created a very beautiful 'Japanese Garden' there. I believe they follow certain rules about what they contain and how they are arranged... 'feng shui' for gardens, type of thing.
Elsewhere in the Valley Gardens the American 'Skunk Cabbage' was blooming; its distinctive yellow flowers are very dramatic. Classed as an invasive species here, it has by law to be contained and it's now illegal to import or sell it.
There was an area of plants that were equally dramatic and looked rather like an alien species. I have no clue what they are. The leaves looked like a kind of gunnera but I don't know what the associated spikes are. It may be some kind of tree fern? Fascinating anyway.
It is restful and beautiful. I have never been to Japan, but that is how I imagine it to be.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful plants, and the Japanese arrangement is really serene. That last plant is a doozy!
ReplyDeleteThat Japanese garden looks so peaceful.
ReplyDeleteBeauty and magic
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