Here’s an eclectic bunch! These are currently blooming/growing in the garden. First, another one of those warm (hot?) growing Rhododendrons known as vireyas. This one is called R. Pink Delight. Surprisingly its exact parentage is not known even though it is commonly grown.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/VPinkDelight.jpg

And the heart stopping peacock spikemoss, Selaginella ucinata. No, that’s the real color of it in new growth. Yowzers!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/PeacockSpikemossSM.jpg

And a Dendrobium sold to me only as ‘shuyo’. I think it is a hybrid plant with one parent being the native D. moniliforme. I’ve got two out in the garden now. I’m interested to see how they will take a Fukuoka winter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/DMShuyo.jpg

Finally, I bought a little nagoran, Sederia japonica, a couple weeks back to give it a try in the garden this year. I don’t know if this species can handle the winter lows here (and all the snow and ice), but I figure at $6 for the plant, it is worth a try. It looks lovely next to a rabbit’s foot fern, Davallia mariesii, in the plum tree by my office.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/NagranGarden.jpg

Hope you enjoy the shots.

Tom

Really nice pictures. I love Lycophytes, Living Fossils! (or rather closely related to fossils, but they are cool too)

Beautiful photos, Tom! I love that peacock spikemoss. Thanks for posting!

WOW...AMAZING photos...your photography is excellent...thnx

Nice photos, pretty plants, lovely textures and colors. Good job!

so nice pretty flowers

WOW the peacock moss is gorgeous! You have a spectacular garden Tom! It seems you have SO many plants! I would love to see shots of your whole garden. It can't be that big, right? I've heard space is such a premium in Japan that all of the yards are very tiny and very well tended. You have certainly made excelent use of yours!

Lovely shots Tom!
Thanks for sharing

WOW the peacock moss is gorgeous! You have a spectacular garden Tom! It seems you have SO many plants! I would love to see shots of your whole garden. It can't be that big, right? I've heard space is such a premium in Japan that all of the yards are very tiny and very well tended. You have certainly made excelent use of yours!

Hey Teresa,

I never show full shots of my garden because, well, showing it all makes me feel kind of naked. I take my garden and plants way too seriously. If I see rot on one of the orchids, or some scale, etc. I take it personally! OH NO! It’s all a bit silly, I know.

Anyway here’s a shot of the back yard in late May:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/BackYard1.jpg

And the side garden, high and low shots, showing the plum tree outside my “office”. This tree is host to several neos, Dendrobium moniliforme, and most recently the Sederia:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/SideGarden2006.jpg

Just to show that it gets cold here in winter, here’s a shot off the back wall to the valley below. Those trees are cherries, and they make an incredible show in April.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/SnowyDay.jpg

Finally, a shot through my “living room” into the “office”. Of course traditional Japanese homes are quite different than western style ones, so these names don’t quite apply.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/SunWindow.jpg

Now you’ve seen my naked underbelly, albeit a well selected one!

Tom

BTW, if you keep it moist enough, the Selaginella should do quite well in the southern USA.

You have a beautiful place, Tom and thanks for sharing!

It is beautiful, and so serene. You've nothing to be ashamed of!!!

Awesome garden...awesome photos...thnx

Indeed, truly beautiful! Excellent photos and a fantastic yard!

thanks

your place looks beautiful Tom Thanks for sharing
Ray

That is simply breathtaking! Your garden is gorgeous! I would love to see those cherry trees in full bloom. Is that also your space with the covered plexiglass area?

I dated a guy in the Airforce a while back and he was stationed in Japan. It didn't last long enough for me to visit him there...but I must say I was rather turned off when he called me up and told me he had just eaten HORSE for dinner! :cheeky:

That is simply breathtaking! Your garden is gorgeous! I would love to see those cherry trees in full bloom.

Done. Here it is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/tvelardi/CherryRoad.jpg

Is that also your space with the covered plexiglass area?

Yup, that's the carport. I have no car, so I park my bicycle there, dry my clothing, and grow a few plants on one end.

I dated a guy in the Airforce a while back and he was stationed in Japan. It didn't last long enough for me to visit him there...but I must say I was rather turned off when he called me up and told me he had just eaten HORSE for dinner! :cheeky:

Hate to say it, but I had some last week. It is eaten raw with soy sauce and fresh ginger. Not bad really. I stop at whale meat. In Korea I ate dog, but I can't recommend it for flavor. It is reputed to have medicinal qualities by heating up the body. Not too tasty in my opinion.

Tom

Fantastic photos...beautiful garden...thnx

so pretty photos

The cherry trees really are gorgeous! They show them in bloom on CNN every year, a d I alwyas think *sigh* I have to see those one day. You are so lucky to have a view like that. Your carport is the nicest one I've seen!

Ugh! No way I could ever eat horse. It's a real sensitive issue with me because my horse was saved from going to slaughter...maybe to end up in a Japanese taco. I always poke fun at my husband about eating dog. When we first started dating before he understood my sarcastic ways, he would protest "they only do that in North Vietnam!" I would just start cracking up! Now he just gets me back telling redneck jokes.

Beautiful Cherry tree. They are always so spectacular in bloom!

Tom your place ROCKS! Makes me feel nostalgic all over again! I'm going to have to visit you when I go to Japan this fall. We can go orchid trekking!

Thanks Jason. Come August it looks like hell from the intense monsoon season (can you say ROT!?) followed by the intense heat of mid summer (can you say BAKE!?). By September me and my plants are crying for relief. It usually makes it here in the form of a "cold" front in mid September.

Come on down! I got lots of places I haven't seen yet, and quite a few that I have seen. I was rewarded last month by finding a plant on a local mountain that was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1999. It is Odontochilus hatusimanus, a Goodyera relative. Now that was cool!

Tom

Tom, spectacular garden. Next time you are visiting Peekskill (and Morris) I am going to show you a spot that is similar in size to your garden but only has grass, trees and a back wall - you can make a Japanese design and incorporate a goodly number of Cyp macranthos, Calanthe and so forth....

I really like the living room. Japanese design always looks so tranquil. Even the frenzy of Tokyo melts when one enters a building.

Ron Burch