# Japanese Azalea Garden, Daikozenji



## KyushuCalanthe (Apr 30, 2010)

Yesterday my girlfriend, her friend, and I went to a shrine that is best known for its azaleas and maples. The shrine is on the slopes of a small mountain and is literally covered in planted azaleas. Needless to say, when in flower it is an awe inspiring sight, however due to the continued cold weather we've been experiencing, only about 40% of the buds were open. The garden was ablaze with other things, as you'll see.

Here's a pretty typical view of garden - thousands of azaleas with a subcanopy of maples overhead, and an overstory of hinoki cypress. 







Flowers are the main attraction to the garden. Here is an azalea that caught my eye, plus a lovely _Calanthe_, possibly _C. discolor_, but more likely a hybrid with that species.









The whole _Calanthe_ clump. Very nice coloring on this baby.






Maples of all varieties abounded. Here is a lovely red form. The conifers in the background are hinoki cypress (_Chamaecyparis obtusa_) and sugi (_Cryptomeria japonica_).






The core of the garden is a lovely cove forest of older hinoki and sugi with lots of amazing maples. On a sunny day this place is just heaven on earth. Lucky us, it was a sunny, cool day!






Within this cove forest garden were several traditional design houses you can rent for private parties. Pretty beautiful stuff. Partying in the garden! Pricey, I'm sure.


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## parvi_17 (Apr 30, 2010)

I love seeing all your photos of Japan! They make me want to live there.


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## JeanLux (Apr 30, 2010)

Very nice pics of those maples, azalea blooms and of course calanthe!!! I like all of these a lot!!! Thanks Tom!!! Jean


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## etex (Apr 30, 2010)

Awesome scenery and great blooms! The calanthe and the eye-catching azalea are amazing! Great photos! Thanks, Tom for showing us this beautiful and serene place!


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## Dido (Apr 30, 2010)

Nice pictures as always. 

Like the Calanthe, hope one of my ones get so big one day.


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## Lanmark (Apr 30, 2010)

For a very long time I've wanted to live in Japan. Your photos show the parts of Japan which make me feel this way.


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## Hera (Apr 30, 2010)

Enchanting!!


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## SlipperFan (Apr 30, 2010)

I've always been amazed at how beautifully "put-together" Japanese gardens are.


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## goldenrose (May 1, 2010)

:drool::drool::drool:


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## biothanasis (May 1, 2010)

Very beautiful scenery and great shots!! Thank you Tom!!


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 1, 2010)

Glad you all enjoyed the shots.



Lanmark said:


> For a very long time I've wanted to live in Japan. Your photos show the parts of Japan which make me feel this way.



I can understand your interest, but I highly recommend visiting first. It is crowded beyond belief and that takes time getting used to. What you don't see in these photos are the thousands of people all over the place. I waited to take several of the shots for people to move, or shot the pics just above all their heads, or had to hurry up to get out of way of the streams of people. Asia is an intense place, packed to capacity. If that ain't your thing, well, it's tough going....


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## goldenrose (May 2, 2010)

The splendors of spring!:clap::clap::drool: 
and captured so well!


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