In this month’s article, Garden Guide Corinne Kennedy writes about the silver birch tree planted by Japan’s Crown Princess Michiko in 1960, the year the Seattle Japanese Garden was created.
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In a new blog series, Corinne Kennedy writes about three Japanese artists who lived and worked in early 20th-century Seattle. By the 1930s, their paintings were winning recognition and awards. However, world War II upended their lives, and until recently their work was largely erased from local art history. Part 1 of the series features artist Kamekichi Tokita. Read More
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As the Seattle Japanese Garden transitions from spring’s bold flower colors to summer’s rich shades of green, Garden Guide Corinne Kennedy writes about a charming deciduous shrub, Spiraea japonica ‘Alpina,’ that blooms from late spring to early or mid-summer. With its low, dwarf habit and subtle light pink flowers, ‘Alpina’ is part of the Garden’s essential “supporting cast.” Three plants remain of the many that were planted in 1969. Read More.
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Stories for Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month
In celebration of May’s AANHPI Heritage Month, Garden Guide Corinne Kennedy shares stories of Issei individuals and their families whose horticulturally-related businesses—including landscaping companies, plant nurseries, and greenhouses—made significant contributions to Pacific Northwest horticulture, garden design and public parks.
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The Seattle Japanese contains many “true” rhododendrons as well as azaleas (shrubs also in the genus Rhododendron). One of them is Rhododendron ‘Unique’, which has long been popular in the Pacific Northwest. It has very attractive evergreen foliage and charming ivory white flowers that open from pale salmon-pink buds.
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This post is the first of the Toro no Akari blog series, an oral history of the Seattle Japanese Garden as told from the perspective of those who know its every inch most intimately: the gardeners. The series reveals a little-known history of stewardship and mentoring—of alighting each other’s paths as a toro lantern would—that’s continued for over sixty years.
In this interview, Jim Thomas, former head gardener, reflects on his long-term relationship with Dick Yamasaki, who constructed the garden with designer Juki Iida in the late 1950s and upheld the garden’s vision through its maintenance for over thirty years. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
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