Flowers in Beautiful Bloom in Early Summer

Speaking of flowers in bloom in early summer, what comes to your mind? There are many plants such as lavender, dayflower, granadilla, and others. This time, I’d like to take up the Japanese iris and hydrangea, which are very popular in Japan.

1. Japanese Iris
In an iris garden in Shirokita Park in Osaka, many flowers of Japanese iris come out from late May to early June every year, and many people come to see them. The iris garden is famous in Osaka, and I visit the garden every year during this period. It is a classical Japanese garden, called a circuit style garden, in which circulating walking paths are provided around a big pond in the center, and many Japanese iris plants grow along the pond. The garden opened in 1964 and has an area of about 1.3 ha. Japanese iris has been cultivated for appreciation since long ago, and its breed improvement has also been actively performed. The iris garden has about 250 kinds of species, with about 13,000 roots.

There are so many kinds of flowers around the pond. A small gazebo having a Chinese style roof stands around the center of the pond, and also a big rest house is situated at the east side of the pond. The garden is always crowded every time I visit; the number of elderly persons is more than that of younger people, though.

I’d like to introduce some iris flowers I saw. There are many colors of the flower, such as purple, pink, white, and a mixture, and there are many kinds of purple, such as pale purple, blue purple, and red purple. The size of the flower is relatively large, and so you feel that it is worth seeing even if there is only one flower, but the clouds of blossoms are very beautiful!

The flowers reflected in the pond are also beautiful! The water was very clear and so I got beautiful photos of reflected flowers. Ducks live in the pond, I saw they were swimming before, but they took a rest at the waterside on that day.

2. Hydrangea
I saw often flowers of hydrangea here and there when I was a child. The flowers are the size of baby’s head, and the color changes firstly from blue via purple to finally pink. I have a memory in which I wondered why the flower color changed when I was an elementary school student, and I checked it in the library because there was no internet at that time. (The color of the flower depends on the acidity of the soil in which the flower is planted.) My childhood impression of this flower was not so good, because the shape of the flower was closely associated with a baby’s head and its floriography is fickleness or unfaithfulness due to the change of color of flower.

Recently, various breed improvements have been performed, and we can see various shapes and colors of hydrangea flowers. Many hydrangea gardens have been made in temples, parks and areas along rivers, and others.

I went to Kyuanji Temple, which is famous as Hana-no-Otera (Flower Temple) in Ikeda City in Osaka this year. Kyuanji Temple is located in the mountains, reached in about 20 minutes by bus from Hankyu Ikeda Station, and holds Ajisai Matsuri (Hydrangea Festival) every year. In recent years, the temple has performed Ajisai Ukabe (Floated Hydrangea), the event in which hydrangea flowers are floated on a pond, and the event has gained a reputation. Honestly speaking, I went to the temple twice, because Ajisai Ukabe was not held yet when I first visited the temple (the event would be held on the day after the day I visited). I couldn’t accept my bad luck, as I went to the temple again to take photos of flowers floated on the pond after a few days.

Please let me show you hydrangea flowers in the precincts of Kyuanji Temple. When walking in the precincts, you can see not only hydrangea but also various kinds of tress and plants, and you can feel that you are in the nature of mountains. The temple was established in 725, and has an area of about 6.6 ha or 16.3 acres. In particular, there are so many hydrangea bushes are planted on both sides of a road leading to the tower gate of the temple, the road was covered with the hydrangea flowers.

The followings are hydrangea flowers in Kyuhoji Temple. There are various kinds of hydrangea flowers. The flowers pelted with rain are good, and the flowers illuminated by the sun were brilliant.

Almost dead flowers were floated on Gusokuike Pond of the temple, which is called as Ajisai Ukabe.

This is Gusokuike Pond that we usually see.

When Ajisai Ukabe is held, the pond becomes cheery.

I felt anew how big the flowers of hydrangea were when I saw the flowers floated on the pond. Almost dead flowers looked like they resumed breathing again.