Japanese Gardens

I spent 4 months over the summer in Japan. One of the things that astounded me the most was that they do not have yards, they have gardens. At least in the area I was in, everyone had giant gardens surrounding their good size homes and they ate what they grew. We had fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, Japanese onions, pumpkin, lettuce, and squash everyday. But, for the most part, they didn't grow their gardens in nice little labeled rows...they grew something here and something there and in between the vegetables they grew huge beautiful flowers that towered over the garden. I was surround by thousands-yes thousands- of the most beautiful orchids in all different colors. Many of the people around us also grew rice patties that were cultivated in large square patches and these too were surrounded with orchids or sunflowers or whatever was in season.

That is something I miss the most about Japan. I wish that American's took a little more time to create beautiful flowery gardens at the scale Japanese do. Although, I must say, grassy yards are a wonderful thing. But there is something magical about always being surrounded by healthy plants and beautiful flowers. And more often than not, Japanese have about as many plants inside their homes as they do outside. With the would floors and the straw tatami mats and potted plants, their interiors were really an extension of the exteriors.

Here are some lovely pictures for you to enjoy :)