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| This is a very typical house and yard in our area. |
So many of the Japanese homes here have such beautiful landscaping that I have to devote an entry to the plants I've seen. It's very common here to have tidily shaped plants, especially trees that are turned into evenly spaced pillows of green that rise to meet the rooftops.
Japanese camellia is everywhere here. If you've ever been to California and seen the oleanders, this is the Japanese version. They are used as hedges, screens, topiary, potted plants, you name it and it's here. It's really a very pretty plant, and I can understand its popularity. It's an evergreen, and new growth shoots are a very pretty dark red color. Flowers range from red to white and can nearly cover the plant in the right conditions. I've seen it grown as a bonsai and a 15' high "tree," so it is versatile as well.
I've been pleasantly surprised to recognize quite a few familiar flowers here. Sunflowers, of course,marigolds, and cosmos are surprisingly ubiquitous, too. Most of the herbs I recognize are easily grown here, and I'm delighted to add the shiso herb to my list of "must-have" flavorings (it tastes exactly like cardamom, to my mind, and I love cardamom).
Other plants on the list of "Japan is our happy place" include hydrangeas, yuzu (so far this seems like an underappreciated fruit that is somewhere between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange in flavor, even though it looks like a lemon), and persimmons. It's fun to see these "exotic" (well, to me anyway) plants grow so well here!
Japanese camellia is everywhere here. If you've ever been to California and seen the oleanders, this is the Japanese version. They are used as hedges, screens, topiary, potted plants, you name it and it's here. It's really a very pretty plant, and I can understand its popularity. It's an evergreen, and new growth shoots are a very pretty dark red color. Flowers range from red to white and can nearly cover the plant in the right conditions. I've seen it grown as a bonsai and a 15' high "tree," so it is versatile as well.
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| Japanese camellia with new growth |
I've been pleasantly surprised to recognize quite a few familiar flowers here. Sunflowers, of course,marigolds, and cosmos are surprisingly ubiquitous, too. Most of the herbs I recognize are easily grown here, and I'm delighted to add the shiso herb to my list of "must-have" flavorings (it tastes exactly like cardamom, to my mind, and I love cardamom).
Other plants on the list of "Japan is our happy place" include hydrangeas, yuzu (so far this seems like an underappreciated fruit that is somewhere between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange in flavor, even though it looks like a lemon), and persimmons. It's fun to see these "exotic" (well, to me anyway) plants grow so well here!
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| Japanese camellia in bloom |
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| Just one of the thousands of persimmon trees that I've seen here in Japan |
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| I have no idea what this tall purple flower is. Anybody know? |
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