Five Japanese gardens in the Minnesota area will take center stage as the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) goes to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” on August 7 to 8 for its first regional event of the year.
“It’s All in the Details” is a two-day skills development workshop and garden education tour featuring the following gardens: Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, St. Paul MN; Jo-Ryo-En (Garden of Quiet Listening) at Carleton College, Northfield, MN; Normandale Japanese Garden at Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN; Seisui Tei (Garden of Pure Water) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN, and a private residential garden in St. Paul, MN attached to a Modernist house designed by American architect Ralph Rapson in the 1960s.
“Attention to detail is perhaps the most important thing in elevating
gardens in America to the lofty level of those in Japan,” says NAJGA
President Dr. Kendall Brown. “We are pleased to provide an experience
that meaningfully connects Minnesota’s most compelling Japanese gardens
to each other and to the large audience of Japanese garden lovers across
North America.”
Skills Development Workshop
On August 7, the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden will host
a workshop focused on teaching basic skills required of a Japanese
gardener in constructing and maintaining a garden. It will also teach
participants how to establish specific goals that enhance the
presentation of a Japanese garden.
Sessions include shearing of karikomi (massed or wave planting), deciduous tree pruning, pine maintenance, layout and installation of tobi-ishi (stepping stones) and nobedan (stone paving), and working with bamboo to create the basic nanako fence that keeps guests on the path, and the yotsume gaki fence used in tea ceremony gardens.
Participants
will also be introduced to design theory, construction and maintenance
of the Japanese tea garden and teahouse. After the workshop,
participants will also have a rare opportunity to visit the private
garden attached to the Ralph Rapson-designed house in St. Paul, MN. The
house and garden provide a good example of the sukiya living concept where Japanese garden principles are applied in a residential setting and rooms are integrated with the garden.
The workshop will be led by Japanese garden expert John Powell, the
first Westerner selected to train with the garden staff of the
prestigious Adachi Museum of Art, widely acknowledged as having one of
the world’s best Japanese gardens. Other garden experts from the region
and across North America will assist.
Garden Education Tour: Japanese Gardens in the North Star State
On August 8, a bus tour will visit the Jo-Ryo-en (Garden of Quiet Listening) at Carleton College, Normandale Japanese Garden, and the Seisui Tei (Garden of Pure Water) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Four distinct styles of Japanese gardens—hill and pond, dry
landscape, stroll garden, and pleasure boating garden—will be examined
in three Minnesota gardens adapted to the local climate through plant
choice and design. Care of Japanese gardens will be covered. Guests will
also be introduced to issues of garden care, and how gardens “care” for
people when utilized for therapy and meditation.
This two-day event is also open to the general public. For more details and to register, visit the event website HERE. Or contact NAJGA at info@najga.org, tel: (503) 222 1194.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
After 3,500 Hours And 22 Years, Como Zoo Greeter Ready To Retire
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
2015 Summer Flower Show!
The Summer Flower Show kicked off last weekend! Kare 11 took some time to explore all of the hard work that goes into making this show so special!
Friday, April 3, 2015
Light It Up Blue for World Autism Awareness Day
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Pollinating Vanilla!
Over the past few weeks I have been hand pollinating Vanilla planifolia flowers in the
North Garden. This is one of the vanilla orchids from which vanilla pods
are produced . There are over a 100 species of vanilla in this genus. Only a
handful of the species are used for flavorings.
When a vanilla flower is pollinated, the seed pod that is
produced is the vanilla “bean” that is used in the flavoring of food and as an
addition to many other products. It is not a true “bean” (like a green bean)
but actually an orchid seed pod. We have 3 different kinds of vanilla in the
North Garden, all climbing on the wall between the North Garden and the Palm
Dome. Two of the species of vanilla are blooming today. I have been hand
pollinating this flush of flowers on the Vanilla planifolia since March
5th. Vanilla grows in many parts of the world, like Madagascar,
where its pollinators do not live. The vanilla we have is native to parts of
Mexico. So it needs to be hand pollinated to produce fruits.
Flowers grow in clusters and a few open each day over about a 6
week period. The flowers are receptive to being pollinated for only 4-6 hours,
generally in the early morning. I have been pollinating the flowers about 10am
any day that I can get the lift and have access to open flowers. I have
attempted pollination of 45 flowers since March 5 and it looks like there are
at least a dozen pods that have formed!!! Yay!! Not fantastic odds but my goal
was to get one pod---so I am doing OK!! This is the first time that I have had
success pollinating vanilla!
Go vanilla!!
- Gardener Margaret
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
#MMC100
The Conservatory has been around for 100 years! We know that everyone
has a unique story and experience in this wonderful building, so now is
your chance to share them! Use the hashtag #MMC100 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share your pics and experiences with us!
The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory turns 100 this year! Use the hashtag #MMC100 to share your pics and experiences! pic.twitter.com/wfC8PYW9wm
— Como Zoo (@ComoZoo) March 9, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Fox 9 Stops By To Visit Tropical Encounters!
Monday, January 26, 2015
Como's Display at the Winter Carnival Orchid Show
Couldn't make it to the Winter Carnival Orchid Show this past weekend? Don't worry, here are some pictures from our amazing display! Thanks to our wonderful Gardeners for all of their hard work and Congratulations on all of your awards!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
The Voodoo Lily is Blooming! Yes, it kind of stinks!
When we came in to water the plants in this small greenhouse this
morning, there was the familiar smell of dead mice lingering in the air!
It is not that we have dead mice in the greenhouses --gross-but we do occasionally have a blooming Amorphophallus Konjac
at this time of year and that is it's tell tale smell! This plant has a
great inflorescence (a grouping of flowers) that smells stinky to us
but possibly lovely to it's pollinators.
Some of you may remember another stinky plant that we had bloom here at the Conservatory in 2011? Yep! It was the Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum, the cousin of the Voodoo Lily.
Come and see this fun plant in the Conservatory's North Garden.
Some of you may remember another stinky plant that we had bloom here at the Conservatory in 2011? Yep! It was the Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum, the cousin of the Voodoo Lily.
Come and see this fun plant in the Conservatory's North Garden.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Orange Is The New Red in the Sunken Garden!
The Holiday Flower Show tradition began in 1925 and continues to be the
most anticipated and visited flower attraction at the Conservatory
today. It is a visual sensation to behold featuring hundreds of
poinsettias. Orange is the new red in the 2014 Holiday Show and will
feature a new Poinsettia called Autumn Leaves, a beautiful mix of yellow
and pink bracts. The show will be complimented with the following
Poinsettia cultivars: Orange Spice, Maren, Marco Polo, Premium Apricot,
and Sparkling Punch to give the show more orange, pinks, cinnamon and
apricot colors. The two toned yellow Coleus Wild Lime will accent the
poinsettias.
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