Japanese cat (猫) and other rainy day adventures

Wandering around the grounds surrounding Osaka Castle in the rain today was a fascinating departure from the highly groomed gardens I'd visited earlier in the week. Here the emphasis is on the grandeur of the overall estate, and on the ancient stone walls and moats and turrets. It's all a little overgrown, with a slightly forgotten air, and some wonderful scraggly bits. The wild(ish) hydrangea above gives you an idea of it. I found it in the Nishinomaru Garden, which is where the estate custodian used to live, centuries ago. Outside the toilets, though, I found the usual attempts to tell the trees what to do.

There was another example of this arboreal hyper-manipulation just outside the garden gate.

But look who's there! This guy was sending some very malevolent glares my way. I'd already annoyed him by trying to get a photo of him in his first hiding spot.

After a few more irritated glances, he disappeared into the shrubbery. I also found a Zen garden, tucked way in behind a shrine and some (modern) maintenance sheds. You can even see the rake lines in the sand. Kind of spooky, since the place was completely deserted.

On my way out of the park, heading towards the subway station, I passed on office building surrounded by more beds of the amazing pink azaleas, only to find this sign telling me they're in fact rhododendrons. So now I know.

Iris garden (アイリス庭) at Shirokita Park

Imagine my delight, when, surfing the web for gardens in Osaka, I came across one with a description that said, "For 11 months of the year, this is a pleasant but otherwise unremarkable open space close to Yodogawa Park. But every year from late May through mid-June, it is home to a magnificent display of irises." Hey, it's late May now!

The garden was not quite at its prime, but that made it easier to really see the ones that were in bloom. It's a lovely, peaceful spot, nestled in a park between two freeways. Strangely, I was not the only person there taking pictures.

We saw some wildlife, too.

Having trouble seeing the wildlife in the last photo? Here's an expansion:

They sure make a lot of noise for their size! and they're not actually very pretty. So here are some more iris to finish up.

Japanese gardens (日本の庭)

I am visiting the geek during his study leave at the University of Osaka. He's staying on the Toyonaka campus, and we walk past this street garden on our way to the Ishibashi train station each day.

Also on our route through the Toyonaka campus from the residence to the train is this fabulous expanse of azalea hedge. The geek wants to plant something similar at home.

Today I visited Kyoto, and went to the garden of the Heian Jingu Shrine, where I saw lots of water lillies and more azaleas and a heron.

In a Japanese garden "careful maintenance" is taken to extremes. Nothing is left to chance! Here is a tree being shown precisely the canopy it is supposed to become:

Ah well, it's all good fun until somebody gets hurt. And so on.

As the tulips fade

Did you ever see a rosemary that looked so freaking happy to be alive? Even Oz is impressed!

Actually, I had to pinch off some of the catmint (see right) and scatter it under the rosemary to get Oz to look interested. Otherwise he just follows me around and refuses to pose, like this:

Colour combos

I love this combination of dark purple-black tulips and ribbon grass, and wonder if Joan actually chose to put them together, or if they have just evolved this way as we randomly hack away at the ribbon grass and the squirrels move the bulbs around.

Sadly, this placement of the pink rhododendron in between two rusty pieris (sp?) just doesn't work. In March, Mum kept asking me what colour the rhodo was, and I simply could not remember. I think this is why. We are now full of schemes for prepping it for a move to someplace else in the garden instead, perhaps next spring.

Here's another nice combo.  Is this a phlox, blooming already?

And here are some wind anemones.

And H with some leftover mums from the big party a couple of weeks ago. Nice blurry combo!

Ranunculus "Brazen Hussy"

Just finishing up, surrounded by (from left) columbine, tulip, spanish lavender.

And while we're on the topic...

Tragedy

We had a very gusty day on Thursday, and I came home to this scene of devastation.

Can you see the two little eggs at the top centre and left? There was a third as well, under the leaves nearby. Oh, the poor kinglets! I checked out the scene pretty carefully - didn't find any wee bird corpses, so I think it really was just the wind that knocked down the nest. 

Sigh. Here is a cleansing pair of tulips, to cheer us up.

Olga's in bloom

This is not Olga, this is the arabis in the pot by the front door. A wonderful springtime display. And as you walk around the arabis toward the back yard, you notice that I've not yet trimmed the dead flower heads from the hydrangea. Here's why:

A pair of golden-capped (or crowned) kinglets are trying to raise a family. I wish them all the best, and am happy to look at the dead flower heads for a while longer.

Here's a particularly pretty tulip in the back border back by the elderberry tree:

And here's a bit (over to the right) of Olga (rhododendron Olga Mezitt), which Mum planted for me in March:

She's got lovely dark, aromatic leaves, and is blooming up a storm. I'm curious, though, about the stalks of white flower next to her - they look like a really stretched out lilly-of-the-valley. Anyone know what they are?