Linnéträdgården – The Linnaeus Garden Uppsala

This is the house where Linneaus used to live. Today it houses the Linnaean Museum. Carl von Linné (Linnaeus) took over the responsibility for the garden in 1741 and rearranged it according to his ideas. Today, the garden is still kept as an 18th century botanical garden. Linnaeus documented his work in Hortus Upsaliensis (1748). Vitsippa – wood anemone

Cut and trim, and trim again…

Still, there is time to trim the garden and garden days or weeks have been announced for some time and are almost over. For those of you familiar with the art of ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) you know that trimming is an essential skill. Ma or space is crucial to the arrangement, so even in the garden. Negative space (the space around and between the subjects of an image) is particularly appealing if it forms an interesting shape, which might be incorporated in the arrangement as an artistic effect. Ma is a key element when it comes to artistic composition. 

There are similarities, right? Pruning in Japan is just as artistic and mostly revolves around controlling and shaping. It involves the selective removal of for instance branches, buds or roots. You do it to remove dead wood, shaping by controlling or directing growths and maintaining the health of the tree, to mention but a few of the reasons. Western style would typically be to use a saw or chainsaw, but here arborists and orchardists tend to use hand pruners, loppers and/or a smaller hand saw.

Rather brutal trim, don´t you think? Have a great weekend! 

Autumn koyo – colour spotting

The Japanese truly embrace their seasons. With a click on the keyboard you may find the best spot for almost anything: “Autumn Colors – Japan Guide”, “Autumn Color Report (year) – Japan Guide”, “Autumn Leaf Spots in Tokyo – Japan Guide”. In the Tokyo area, colours are often best experienced from late November to early December. Enjoy!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea or hortensia bloom roughly around May to July during the rainy season in Japan. Most are shrub like and one to three meters tall. This mophead flower with its large round flowerhead was in bloom the other day in our neighbourhood. 

Box is popular as ornamental plant, particularly for topiary because of its leaves and evergreen foliage. Instead of box, this hydrangea, which took about a week to dry, makes a nice table decoration. 

Feast your eyes

Around midnight Foodies TV (Channel 545) comes alive with popular Giada at Home. Eating with your eyes is definitely calorie free, something I desperately need at the moment. Although I wish I had this raspberry cake on the table, I went for something not quite in the same delicious category but still a category full of fulfillment. A salad made out of the lettuce and herbs in my urban balcony garden. To top it off, I added some feta cheese and grapes and a slight hint of extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar. Yum!

Urban Gardening

“We gotta flip the script on what a gangsta is — if you ain’t a gardener, you ain’t gangsta.” (Finlay)

http://ronfinley.com/

http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_ central_la.html

I watched a TED-talk with artist and fashion designer Ron Finlay presenting A guerilla gardener in South Central LA. As an artist he sees gardening as graffiti and art. Together with a group of volunteer gardeners he plants vegetable gardens in abandoned lots, traffic medians and along the curbs around South Central LA. This is done mostly to offer some alternative to fast food in the community where “the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys” but also for defiance and beauty.

I thought why not? So I have tried to spice up my own balcony, not so much with the intention of transforming my own life into a gangsta’s paradise but simply because I believe it makes sense. 

I started out with beginners’ kit of lettuce, radishes, chives and various herbs. Everything you need except for water comes with the kit and it seems fool proof enough. I’m in Japan, after all. One typhoon and it goes from nothing to this. I would like to believe that what I’m doing is purely organic but who knows what rain and air pollution contribute. Still, it’s a great feeling not to have to raid traffic medians and curbs and just my own balcony. What do you think?

Ravens beware!