Japanese Flowers

By creating a miniature version of a natural landscape, traditional Japanese gardens feature several symbolic focal points.

The placement of stones and water features are key elements in the design. Evergreen trees and bamboo are strategically placed to imitate nature in the landscape design.

It follows that the key to incorporating Japanese flowers into the garden is to keep it simple, creating additional focal points throughout the landscape.

Plantings of any kind represent the passage of time and the changing of seasons. What you plant should represent this flow as well.

Flowering Trees

In Japan, beginning in early spring, the first of the flowering trees blossoms.

The plum tree blooms even before its leaves appear, while snow may still be on the ground. Peach trees bloom next, followed by the Japanese cherry, again creating a flow throughout the season.

Among the most beautiful and unique of Japanese flowering trees is the white egret orchid, a small perennial tree with flowers that resemble the egret in flight.

Wisteria, with its lush hanging fronds of flowers, can be trained over arbors, adding additional sculptural grace to the landscape.

Several other flowering trees can be considered, in a variety of sizes and colors, including pear, crab apple and magnolia. By adding even one or two of these elements to the garden, you are once again imitating nature's flow.

Flowering Shrubs

For early spring blooms, a Japanese garden should include camellia.

Since the Japanese garden should be low maintenance, allow it to grow naturally into a large shrub rather than pruning it into a small tree shape as is common in the west.

Add additional color by including azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangea and the wood poppy.

Flowering Plants

Water loving flowers are the most popular of Japanese flowers in gardens with ponds, including water lilies and lotus.

For seasonal color, Irises abound in the Japanese garden, flowering in early summer as they do in fields in Japan.

Hibiscus and chrysanthemum follow into summer and fall, with camellias later in the season.

When adding flowers and flowering plants to the garden, remember that flowers are secondary to the essential elements of the Japanese garden, and all elements should imitate a natural landscape.

By including traditional Japanese flowers in the garden, you will create a serene landscape that reflects the true spirit of the Japanese garden.

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