The most favored Japanese cherry tree is the hybrid known as Somei-Yoshino, for the fantasy and romance of their cloud-like blossoms. Almost always, the trees bloom in Tokyo just in time for school entrance ceremonies in early April.
Why is it that all the trees in any given geographical area tend to bloom at the same time?
Answer: because they share the same genetics.
Somei-Yoshino is a hybrid tree, propagated by cuttings, not seeds. Recent research indicates that every Somei-Yoshino alive today originated from one ancestor. One branch of ancient lore suggests that the beautiful tree resulted from combining the best of two beautiful trees from rival districts in Japan. Another source suggests that Korean and Japanese trees were combined.
Joining forces to create something new and beautiful! At least in the world of cherry trees, there is a lot to be said for making love, not war.
2012年3月31日土曜日
2010年4月7日水曜日
Flower Time
Everyone knows that the end of March/beginning of April is cherry blossom time in Japan. But what about the other flowers? Is it fair that the word "flower" in a Japanese poem almost always refers to cherry blossoms?
Some people think not.
There are some flowers that are so lovely, if they were blooming all by themselves in an otherwise forlorn location, the people who saw them would swoon for joy.
I love the cherry blossoms as much as the next person, but in deference to the others who also bloom, the photo I am posting is not of a cherry tree. It's of a type of chrysanthemum that gives until there's nothing left to give from December to April, even blossoming through the snow.
Some people think not.
There are some flowers that are so lovely, if they were blooming all by themselves in an otherwise forlorn location, the people who saw them would swoon for joy.
I love the cherry blossoms as much as the next person, but in deference to the others who also bloom, the photo I am posting is not of a cherry tree. It's of a type of chrysanthemum that gives until there's nothing left to give from December to April, even blossoming through the snow.
2009年4月9日木曜日
The Grandfather Tree
Japan's recorded history goes back some three thousand years, and for two thousand of those years, a single cherry tree has been blooming its heart out in Yamanashi Prefecture. Two thousand years!
It's huge. It would take something like 18 grown men all holding hands to make a circle around it.
It looks every bit its age--wrinkled, knotted and bent low to the ground--and it still blooms in a spectacular way.
Nothing is more amazing than the tenacity of life.
It's huge. It would take something like 18 grown men all holding hands to make a circle around it.
It looks every bit its age--wrinkled, knotted and bent low to the ground--and it still blooms in a spectacular way.
Nothing is more amazing than the tenacity of life.
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