Small Change

While visiting Kyoto, Japan in 2015, I had the opportunity to explore Rōyoan-ji, one of Japan's most famous temples. July was the rainy season, but the upside was that there were far fewer tourists. 

I discovered that early morning arrivals to temples often resulted in my having the temple to myself for extended periods of time. Rōyoan-ji, all to myself was a delight. Eventually I made my way to an area behind the temple dojo where I discovered a small stone wash-basin called a tsukubai (this one resembles an ancient coin).  

Original: Rōyoan-ji Tsukuba

This tsukubai had been placed at the temple in the 17th century by Tokugawa Mitsukuni. Carved into the basin were the following characters:

When combined with the central square and read in a clockwise fashion (吾, 唯, 足, 知), they can be creatively translated as: “If you learn to be content, you are rich in spirit.”

The stone basin proved inspirational, and from that moment on I began to see replicas of the basin at many of the gardens I visited.

Replica: Nishiyama, Everett, Washington

I knew that eventually I would want to install a replica in my own garden, but when I explored the options and costs, it always seemed out of reach. Obtaining a 18" diameter granite basin locally was not an option, and shipping one from the west coast was cost prohibitive.

However, I recently discovered one relatively nearby in Rochester, NY. I found it via the website for Oriental Garden Supply a nursery that specializes in Japanese plants.

       

After contacting the owner, Rob Koschnick, I determined that he had one in stock. So, a weekend trip to Rochester resulted in the acquisition of an authentic replica tsukubai for less than $230. 

What I liked about this version is that the granite is not a traditional gray stone. Instead, its a speckled pinkish granite, similar to some of the other granite lanterns I already have in the garden. 

Once at the nursery, which has an extensive collection of unique Japanese plants, Rob and his crew helped load the basin into my pickup. Keep in mind, this solid granite basin weighs a couple hundred pounds, so having the crew lift it into the truck was no easy task, especially in the pouring rain.

After it was loaded my wife and I stayed overnight to explore Rochester, and in so doing, I stumbled upon another Japanese garden to visit and add to my North American Garden Adventure list (#97): The Tojo Memorial Garden at RIT.

When we arrived home, we then had to devise a way to get this weighty basin out of the truck and not hurt ourselves or break any bones. The half-sheet of plywood helped. Using straps on either side to pull it out on the plywood, and then letting the plywood and gravity slide the basin into a heavy duty Gorilla cart met with success. We then dropped it onto the lawn, rounded edge up, and rolled it onto a dolly cart that had foam padding attached. The basin now sits in the garage and awaits the next stage of this project - adding electricity, a pump, water spout, and water basin. 

All of this will take time, so keep an eye open for future posts about the process.

Green Thumb

While cleaning up the Dragon Spine area today, I noticed a tiny Tree Frog on a stonecrop plant.

He was very small, no bigger than my thumb. It was amazing to see. We have had these type of frogs elsewhere in the garden, usually in the Moshi Post Lantern where they often take on the color of the granite from which the lantern was made.

In this case, the Tree Frog had taken on the color of the stonecrop leaves.

 The complexity and beauty of nature never ceases to amaze.

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

After weeks of little-to-no rain, we finally received the first summer downpour - in fact, it may have been too much rain all at once. I suspect these extremes in weather may now be the new normal.

In the meantime, the rain chain works wonderful and makes for a beautiful site to behold.

Even from the gazebo, the rain chain looks terrific.

Happy Buddha

The changes made near Buddha are already starting to pay off. The Moccachino Astilbe (Astilbe x arendsii 'Moccachino') plants have produced a stunning white bloom just behind Buddha. 

The contrast with the Montgomery's Late Red Astilbe on either side helps to enhance Buddha as a focal point.

Combined with the earlier cleaning of Buddha, these white blooms help to add a sense of purification for this corner of the garden as we move forward into summer 2024.

Buddha seems very happy. 

Everywhere Astilbe

During the early spring, I was concerned that the bamboo along the garage wall in the Stroll Garden was not doing well and might need to be replaced.

After removing a small section to make way for a Variegated Dwarf Cardinal Shrub, I was reintroduced to the difficulty of removing established bamboo. The Clumping Bamboo (Fargesia rufa) does not have deep roots, but the roots it has is very woody and interconnected, as if one long piece - and the bed along that walkway is at least 25'. The small section alone, a 2 x2' section, required a sharp hand saw and a great deal of effort to remove. So I was quickly dissuaded from moving any further in that direction.

Within a couple of weeks, the bamboo appeared to be reviving and started to show signs of new shoots and better growth, Especially after re-mulching the bed and adding some fertilizer. Clumping bamboo doesn't look great until near the end of summer. My impatience simply got the better of my common sense knowledge that bamboo needs time to fill in and grow.

However, when I first began to panic, I considered replacing the bamboo with astilbe plants. They tend to like shade and could add a nice pop of color when they first bloom. I also thought that fully grown astilbe, over time, might help to hide the foundation wall along the stroll garden. So, I bought a total of 11 plants, 6 Montgomery's Late Red Astilbe (Astilbe japonica 'Montgomery'), and 5 Peach Blossom Japanese Astilbe (Astilbe japonica 'Peach Blossom'). The idea was to alternate the colors along the bed - all of this before I realized that removing the bamboo was not a good idea. 

As a result, I then found myself with a large number of astilbe and no single place to plant them. I then decided to plant them in various "gaps" thought the garden.

First, due to critters eating my Rocket Ligularia on either side of Buddha, I was in need of a safer replacement. There were already two Moccachino Astilbe near Buddha, but by placing two Montgomery's Late Red Astilbe nearby I could add a diversity of color to the corner.

I also placed two red astilbe along the fence line to help hide the post bases. 

As a result, the fence line now has a nice pop of red.

Two peach astilbe were also used to help hide two of the Gazebo posts in the courtyard.

Along the Stroll Garden bamboo bed, I planted two red astilbe at the start/end points of the bamboo to help frame in the bed.

I did the same thing along the viewing garden fence wall with two peach astilbe which also framed the two ends of that garden.

The remaining peach astilbe was planted along in a bed along the rear of the house.

In the end, the haphazard purchase and poor thinking, worked out. The bamboo is on its way to looking better...

... and the garden looks much more full than it has in the past. In time I am hopeful that the astilbe will grow larger and become seasonal highlights of the garden. 

Guanyin Makeover, Part 2

While reworking the Guanyin bed behind the garage, I decided to move the existing Dark Towers Penstemon (Penstemon 'Dark Towers") I had planted back in 2013. It is a slow grower and will not produce its flowers until later in the summer. 

Wanting to cover up as much of the foundation as possible, and sooner rather than later, I moved the plant to the opposite side of the Zen garden.

In its place I planted a 'Misty Lace' Goat's Beard (Aruncus 'Misty Lace'). 

I liked that this plant had a similar look as an Astible, but was different enough to set itself apart. I especially like the white blooms on the top. It's size is perfect for this location, and should grow and fill in early in the spring next season. The lighter shade of green and white will help off set the other darker plants near Guanyin.

Welcome The New Sun King

Back in 2022, I filled in the inner back corner by the East Gate with a Little Heath Pieris (Pieris japonica 'Little Heath'). 

I was hopeful that it would do well in that shady spot. However, at some point in my ongoing maintenance of the Pom Pom Cyprus, I stepped on it and broke some of it's branches. It never recovered, and this season I decided it was time for a change.

I have had success with a Sun King Japanese Spikenard (Aralia cordata 'SunKing') in the box next to the rear garage door: 

As a result, I decided to obtain another and plant it in the corner. 

This plant likes shade, so it should do well here. Also, it will fill in the area with foliage. If it gets too crowded, its easy to trim the Sun King back and control its growth.

Tailored Turtle

The new Tortoise Island was planted with a variety of annuals to compliment the Silver Mound Artemisia and Japanese Black Pine. 

The plantings included: Scopia Gulliver Pink, Scopia Gulliver White, Dusty Miller, 'Silverdust', and Portulaca.

The were all randomly placed in the hopes that they may grow into each other and form a temporary ground cover for this season. By using annual I can switch out plants each season depending on the look I am trying to obtain.

In the meantime, the plantings are doing well and I am hoping that more flowers will emerge as we move further into summer.

A Memorial to Beautiful Plants

Memorial Day weekend arrived and all my extra effort to prepare the garden early this spring has paid off. The plants throughout the the garden did not disappoint, especially after some much needed rain.

Gaunyin Needs a Makover

Wanting to do a better job of hiding the foundation along the Zen garden pathway, I decided to make some changes to the Guanyin bed.

I removed the large Variegated Japanese Forest Grass that has resided in the location for the last few years. 

Forest Grass - bottom right

It had become large and was beautiful, but due to some issues with the grass beneath the meter-lantern, I decided to chop it into four pieces and use it to replenish the base of the lantern box. 

Over the winter, a lot of the existing grass simply did not return. In addition, after the building of the porch last summer, the old curved bed below the lantern box was no longer semi-circular. So, I decreased its width to give it a more balanced look while using grass from the Guanyin bed to replenish what had failed to grow back.

It will take some time, but as summer arrives the entire bed should fill in with grass.

As a result of the move, a large open space became available  along the Guanyin bed. Wanting to hide the foundation, I opted for two shrubs. First I planted a Cora Louise Itoh Peony (Paeonia x 'Cora Louise') with a large white flower. The Peony should grow to about 3 x 3', but I will need to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't overtake this location. I am hoping it gets enough light. 

I also added a Crimson Pygmy Barberry (Berberis thunbergii var. atropurpurea "Crismon Pygmy'). The Barberry should only grow to about 2 x 2' and will eventually hide the foundation without the shrub becoming too large. 

I am concerned that this location will not have enough sunlight for the Barberry. This bed is the brightest location in the Zen garden, but shade has slowly been increasing each year with the wood lot behind the garden continuing to grow. Hopefully, both these shrubs will be ok.

If everything works out, Guanyin will have a more lovely bed in which to rest.