Comments on: Out of Season: Kenrokuen Gardens of Kanazawa http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759 Not a photo blog. A personal blog with photos. Tue, 22 May 2012 20:20:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Nick http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-20187 Nick Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:24:02 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-20187 "The practice of pruning trees until they are so structurally unsound and unbalanced that they require elaborate scaffoldings to hold them up is, to me, kind of comic / grotesque. Anything but beautiful. Nice photos, though." Is that what they do? I read the struts are there to support certain trees under the weight of winter snow? I was a little underwhelmed by Kenrokuen too I must admit. I was there in the height of Summer thought. I'm sure that it would be more impressive at other times of the year. “The practice of pruning trees until they are so structurally unsound and unbalanced that they require elaborate scaffoldings to hold them up is, to me, kind of comic / grotesque. Anything but beautiful. Nice photos, though.”

Is that what they do? I read the struts are there to support certain trees under the weight of winter snow?

I was a little underwhelmed by Kenrokuen too I must admit. I was there in the height of Summer thought. I’m sure that it would be more impressive at other times of the year.

]]> By: Zak http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15468 Zak Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:26:03 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15468 I remember visiting Kenrokuen a couple years ago and being completely underwhelmed. Actually, I had a visceral disliking for the place. The practice of pruning trees until they are so structurally unsound and unbalanced that they require elaborate scaffoldings to hold them up is, to me, kind of comic / grotesque. Anything but beautiful. Nice photos, though. :) I remember visiting Kenrokuen a couple years ago and being completely underwhelmed. Actually, I had a visceral disliking for the place. The practice of pruning trees until they are so structurally unsound and unbalanced that they require elaborate scaffoldings to hold them up is, to me, kind of comic / grotesque. Anything but beautiful. Nice photos, though. :)

]]> By: Jon http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15467 Jon Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:11:41 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15467 Very earth toned images. Green and brown, full of life and death. That might be too deep. Very earth toned images. Green and brown, full of life and death. That might be too deep.

]]> By: Peter http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15446 Peter Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:28:50 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15446 Japanese plum is not the large-fruited sweet plum (Prunus domestica) that we grow in the West, but is Prunus mume, also called Japanese apricot. It flowers earlier than "our" plum, has beautifully sweet-scented flowers, and small, finely downy, sour fruits that are preserved with salt as umeboshi; also dried. I understand that two 'lines' of varieties have been developed over the centuries, mi-ume cultivated for their fruits, and hana-ume, for garden decoration. The downy fruits distinguish apricots from plums. It is a beautiful small tree, flowering earlier than most of the Japanese cherries, and its simple, round-petalled flowers are often depicted in Japanese woodcuts, printed fabrics, and so on. Although cultivated in Japan since the 7th century or earlier, it originated in China. For the record, I don't know all this, of course! It is mostly derived from a wonderful book called rather ponderously 'History and Principle of the Traditional Floriculture in Japan', by Seizo Kashioka & (my erstwhile colleague) Mikinori Ogisu. Lovely to see this garden; I also much enjoyed your friend Katsunori Shimada's plum blossom shots from a few days ago. Japanese plum is not the large-fruited sweet plum (Prunus domestica) that we grow in the West, but is Prunus mume, also called Japanese apricot. It flowers earlier than “our” plum, has beautifully sweet-scented flowers, and small, finely downy, sour fruits that are preserved with salt as umeboshi; also dried. I understand that two ‘lines’ of varieties have been developed over the centuries, mi-ume cultivated for their fruits, and hana-ume, for garden decoration. The downy fruits distinguish apricots from plums.

It is a beautiful small tree, flowering earlier than most of the Japanese cherries, and its simple, round-petalled flowers are often depicted in Japanese woodcuts, printed fabrics, and so on. Although cultivated in Japan since the 7th century or earlier, it originated in China.

For the record, I don’t know all this, of course! It is mostly derived from a wonderful book called rather ponderously ‘History and Principle of the Traditional Floriculture in Japan’, by Seizo Kashioka & (my erstwhile colleague) Mikinori Ogisu.

Lovely to see this garden; I also much enjoyed your friend Katsunori Shimada’s plum blossom shots from a few days ago.

]]> By: sgazzetti http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15445 sgazzetti Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:55:30 +0000 http://regex.info/blog/2008-03-10/759#comment-15445 Thanks for identifying those "first deep pink plum blossoms". The part of Slovenia where I live is covered with blossoming fruit trees (cherry, plum, apricot, etc.) and I can never remember which ones appear first. They're all gorgeous, of course, but I do like to know what I'm admiring. Though I'm enjoying everything you post, I'll be looking forward to the explosion of sakura in the next few weeks! <span class='jfriedl'>My rule is "if it's not cherry, it's plum". Do other trees blossom? Are there even other kinds of trees? I dunno. I think we've reached the limits of my botanical expertise. I wouldn't pay attention to anything I say on the subject, except for this sentence itself. :-) —Jeffrey</span> Thanks for identifying those “first deep pink plum blossoms”. The part of Slovenia where I live is covered with blossoming fruit trees (cherry, plum, apricot, etc.) and I can never remember which ones appear first. They’re all gorgeous, of course, but I do like to know what I’m admiring.

Though I’m enjoying everything you post, I’ll be looking forward to the explosion of sakura in the next few weeks!

My rule is “if it’s not cherry, it’s plum”. Do other trees blossom? Are there even other kinds of trees? I dunno. I think we’ve reached the limits of my botanical expertise. I wouldn’t pay attention to anything I say on the subject, except for this sentence itself. :-) —Jeffrey

]]>