Japanese plants have had an
unmistakable influence on the
gardens of the world. Who can
imagine gardens
without flowering cherries, hostas,
Japanese maples, or magnolias? For all the
popularity of these plants in international gardens, however, few gardeners know the full story of Japanese plants—their history and uses in gardens in Japan, their horticultural merits for gardens of all kinds, even the meaning and symbolism of their native names. Now for the first time, a color encyclopedia provides an authoritative overview of the Japanese garden flora.
Authors Ran Levy-Yamamori and Gerard Taaffe are uniquely suited to the task of writing Garden Plants of Japan. Both are fluent Japanese speakers as well as expert horticulturists and journalists. Both have spent years studying and photographing plants in their native habitat, as well as non-native plants (such as tulip trees and florists’ chrysanthemums) that the Japanese have come to treasure and adopt as their own. The authors even document little-known wild plants that show potential for Japanese and foreign gardens alike. Several thousand species and cultivated varieties are described in all, with more than 775 dramatic photographs to illustrate them.
Garden Plants of Japan serves as a manual for horticultural advice, a source of inspiration for armchair gardeners, even a guidebook for travelers to Japan. Sumptuously illustrated, it explores the entire palette of plants cultivated in Japan, from mosses to hepaticas, ferns to magnolias, and bamboos to cherry trees, carefully noting which plants are authentically Japanese and which are transplants. The selection of plants and the amount of detail and insight are unprecedented..
Price: $15.60
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