Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Stop and Smell the Roses(and other flower royalty)

My friends and I had long been planning and looking forward to visiting the Tsukuba Botan-En(つくば牡丹園), the nationally renowned peony garden located in Kukizaki own.Unfortunately,
the weather kept putting us off. One day in early May,we actually drove out to it and walked up to the front gate, but decided that it was too cold and wet of day to spend strolling in a garden (especially with an 800 entrance fee!)

Spring had nearly passed when finally the perfect opportunity arose. A few free hours and weather that was just right. The only worry was - would there be any peonies(牡丹、botan) still in bloom?

This time when we got out of our cars at the gardens parking lot, we stretched our arms out ,taking in the warm fragrant air,then exhaled with satisfied aaahs. Conditions could not have been better. But when we checked the IN BLOSSOM BOARD posted at the front gate we were disappointed to find that only a couple of dozen botan(peonies) were in bloom, all of these being indoors in the COOL HOUSE.

There was no cause for consternation ,however, because the information board also showed that thousands of shakuyaku(芍薬), a smaller type of peony,and hundreds of roses were at their best on that day!

We drawn in by the color and fragrance we could glimpse from out side, we paid our entrance fee and picked up our maps of the grounds. My Japanese friends stamped their stamp books with commemorative seals (just as pilgrims in earlier ages in Japan would have their books
stamped,providing both a unique momento and offical proof that a temple had been visited. A precursor of the kinen shashin or commemorative snapshot).

The cool house is located about 50 meters from the front gate, and inside we were treated to a fine selection of impressive botan, the KING OF ORIENTAL FLOWERS. These large yet delicately petaled flowers were originally introduced to Japan from China in the Nara Period(710-794)as a medicinal plant.
On the continent the peony had not only been important for its pain killing and anti-convulsion powers, but also as a subject of painting and poetry and as a popular decorative motif.
It was actually adopted as national flower of Ching China. They were also very much enjoyed as a garden flower.

In Japan, the peony never achieved such high status as it did in China, but it has certainly thrived here. it was especially popular during the Edo Period(1600-1868)when many new varieties were cultivated.

We spent about 30 minutes in the dimly lit and chilled room. Numerous visitors passed through. In fact,we were interupted as a bus load of tourists from Saitama Prefecture breezed through, cell phones snapping away with their artificial click.

The grounds of the garden are extensive and lie at the foot of the ruins of the local castle.The large trees abound are now fresh with new leaves.There are also ponds, a red bridge and
a rustic deck for viewing the scenery.

The thousands of shakuyaku in bloom now are overwhelming in number and variety. These flowers were also imported from China as medicine(as was tea)and have been given the nickname Prime Minister of flowers. They are also famed for their beauty, which they have come to symbolize.

If you mention botan or shakuyaku to a Japanese, they often will repeat a popular idiom used to describe a beautiful women- Tateba botan, suwareba shakuyaku, aruku sugata wa yuri no hana (standing she is a botan,sitting a shakyaku, when she walks she is a lilly.

Keep in mind the TenGooz song- Almost Out of Time. Stop and appreciate the bounty of nature.
Savor every moment but keep GROUNDED IN GROOVE

Avi Landau

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