A delightful stroll at the Seattle Japanese Garden

Photos by Lorie and Cipp Tais

Words by Lorie Tais

Next month, this trellis will be crawling with blue wisteria in full bloom! 

If you’re in or near Seattle and happen to feel weary, I suggest that you take a stroll around the Seattle Japanese Garden at the Washington Park Arboretum. Every second you spend there will definitely soothe your soul.

I’ve been to the arboretum a few times before to run with friends, but I’ve never visited the Japanese garden until last Saturday. It was an unplanned visit late in the afternoon. We just wanted to be outdoors, take a walk and enjoy the sunshine. And, wow, it was the first time in months that I was able to wear flip-flops outdoors! I felt like I was in the tropics again.

The arboretum parking lot teems with flowering trees. Oh look! My date is here!

Upon entering the gate and courtyard, we were greeted by a Japanese maple tree. Its leaves were the miniature version of an ordinary maple's. Its tiny flowers were surprisingly fragrant.

A Japanese maple tree, also called Acer palmatum or Koto-no-ito.

Ubiquitous snow lanterns (yukimidoro) adorned various parts of the garden and made a great accent to the assortment of beautiful spring blooms, flowering trees and bodies of water. There were also lots of little nooks to rest, read a book, reflect or converse.

One of the many benches scattered around the garden

The garden is currently a splash of pink and white. Camellia japonica, azaleas and rhododendrons are just a few of of the flowers that are currently budding or in bloom this time of the year. There were ferns, flowering cherry trees, magnolias, maidenhair trees (Ginko biloba), pines and a blue wisteria tree hat was not yet in bloom. Of course, flowering cherry and cherry plum trees were also present. Looking back, it's quite funny to think that we literally stopped to smell the flowers.

The cherry orchard

The streams converged to form a lake where koi fish and turtles swam freely. Bridges made of earth, stone, wood and bamboo also spanned the lake and portions of the garden close to water.

A snow lantern stands beside an arched stone bridge 

It's quite amazing to see the garden so full of life, knowing that, just like the rest of nature, it went through the past two seasons too. The Japanese garden has only recently reopened after winter. I'm sure that a lot of work was put into making it ready for public viewing again. I'm thankful for the minds that envisioned such a garden and the hands that continue to care for it so that we may have such a place of sanctuary.

A couple of blog entries ago, I wrote about my thoughts on patience. The visit to the garden reminded me of another quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."