In December, the Japanese conduct a year-end-cleaning. They clean houses, schools, offices and public spaces to prepare for the coming New Year. It is called Oosouji (大掃除), which literally means “Big Cleaning.”
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In November of 2022, Pete Putnicki, Seattle Japanese Garden Senior Gardener, toured Japanese gardens across Japan. The tour was hosted by the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) and was joined by garden professionals from public Japanese gardens from seven states. This is a diary of the trip by Pete himself.
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Called 読書の秋 (dokusho no aki) in Japanese, the colder days and longer nights of fall beckon us to read. Blog contributor Corinne Kennedy has compiled an eclectic list of fourteen titles, including ten books for children and teens.
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Camellia oleifera is a very cold-hardy species with fragrant white flowers in autumn. Its seeds are an important source of a high-temperature cooking oil used primarily in Asian countries.
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Planted in the Seattle Japanese Garden in 2021, Aucuba japonica ‘Rozannie’ is a compact female cultivar of this evergreen shrub native to Japan. Its bright red, berry-like fruits persist until the following spring.
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In Seattle, the seasons are less distinct than in Japan, and our climate is markedly different. However, the greenness of the Seattle Japanese Garden connects it—across the Pacific and the centuries—to Japan and to our garden heritage. Green, the color of serenity and peacefulness, endures, spanning the seasons and the oceans.
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