Still Raining

Just across the street from the rose garden 

was the Japanese Garden sitting on 5 acres of Washington Park

I arrived just in time for the 1:00 tour, it was a wonderful guided tour through the garden that lasted over an hour. I learned so much about the importance of balance and appealing to all the senses when designing a Japanese Garden.  It was built on the site of the old Portland zoo in the late 50's, though you would never believe it.  There were 5 separate gardens intertwined there including water, sand, and gravel.  The trees are pruned specifically to show space and appeal to people on their own level and height.  The pathways change to appeal to your sense of touch and cause you to stroll through the garden rather than rush.  Plants and trees offer various textures, shapes and heights.  

The entry 

  

Three pictures of the beautiful water portion that was connected by the full moon bridge. This is designed to be viewed in the night of a full moon so the moon can reflect into the water as you gaze upon it standing at the crest of the foot bridge.  

Japanese Maple...my favorite tree

A deer catcher designed to scare off beasts and evil spirits

A beautiful waterfall feeding into the coy pond

Its nemo!! :)

the zig-zag bridge through the coy pond

Iris blades were floated in the bath water of 5 year old Japanese boys to give them the strength of the Samuri

The large community house reserved for exhibits and lectures

The view from the house the two patches of earth are a sake glass and bottle. (this was formerly the monkey area of the zoo so it was a challenge for most things to grow in this area, hence the gravel)

the Zen garden-raked only when it is disturbed

There are 7 stones in strategic places meant to be interpreted as you wish. Islands within an ocean, mountains peeking through clouds, the beauty of Zen is that it is up to you.

The view from the back of the house overlooking the city. The fog and rain made that slightly difficult to see...but I swear its right there!