Presents the story of Eliza Scidmore, a world traveler, writer, photographer, and peace advocate who, after years of persistence, planted cherry trees all across Washington, D.C.
This book is a stunningly beautiful record of the nation's biggest springtime festival. As the 100th anniversary of the National Cherry Blossom Festival approaches in the Spring of 2012, millions of people from across the country will gather to revel in the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms. Capturing the true essence of spring, Blunt's striking photography will also allow those who are unable to travel to the festival the chance to experience the splendor of the blooming cherry blossoms through his photography.
The most significant of the more than 175 varieties of Japanese ornamental trees featured, along with a discussion of Japanese garden design, and cultivation tips for home gardeners.
Each year, the flowering of cherry blossoms marks the beginning of spring. But if it weren’t for the pioneering work of an English eccentric, Collingwood “Cherry” Ingram, Japan’s beloved cherry blossoms could have gone extinct. Ingram first fell in love with the sakura, or cherry tree, when he visited Japan on his honeymoon in 1907 and was so taken with the plant that he brought back hundreds of cuttings with him to England. Years later, upon learning that the Great White Cherry had virtually disappeared from Japan, he buried a living cutting from his own collection in a potato and repatriated it via the Trans-Siberian Express. In the years that followed, Ingram sent more than 100 varieties of cherry tree to new homes around the globe. As much a history of the cherry blossom in Japan as it is the story of one remarkable man, The Sakura Obsession follows the flower from its significance as a symbol of the imperial court, through the dark days of the Second World War, and up to the present-day worldwide fascination with this iconic blossom.
Wybe Kuitert has written an account of Japanese cherries that spans disciplines as far ranging as history, geography, botany, and, of course, horticulture. Confusion and misunderstandings, particularly regarding the names of the plants, have hampered their appreciation in the West. Fluent in Japanese and a professor of landscape architecture at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, Wybe Kuitert consulted many sources and references never before translated into English, some of them ancient. This book will become an indispensable resource for sorting out incorrect and improper plant names that have stymied nurseries, collectors, and amateur gardeners. Full and complete information is also provided for the cultivation and propagation of cherries. A complete botanical key to the classification of Japanese cherries has been contributed by Dutch plant breeder Aric Peterse.
Looks at the life cycle of a cherry tree, the history behind the gift of the Japanese cherry trees to our nation's capital, and the association of cherry trees and spring.
A warm, gorgeous exploration of a little girl's experience immigrating to a new country and missing her home and her grandmother, who still lives far away. Sakura's dad gets a new job in America, so she and her parents make the move from their home in Japan. When she arrives in the States, most of all she misses her grandmother and the cherry blossom trees, under which she and her grandmother used to play and picnic. She wonders how she'll ever feel at home in this new place, with its unfamiliar language and landscape. One day, she meets her neighbor, a boy named Luke, and begins to feel a little more settled. When her grandmother becomes ill, though, her family takes a trip back to Japan. Sakura is sad when she returns to the States and once again reflects on all she misses. Luke does his best to cheer her up -- and tells her about a surprise he knows she'll love, but she'll have to wait till spring. In the meantime, Sakura and Luke's friendship blooms and finally, when spring comes, Luke takes her to see the cherry blossom trees flowering right there in her new neighborhood. Sakura's Cherry Blossoms captures the beauty of the healing power of friendship through Weston's Japanese poetry-inspired text and Saburi's breathtaking illustrations.
Provides a historical narrative documenting in detail the origin & history of the Japanese flowering cherry trees in Washington, D.C., discussing in particular their introduction & planting along the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. Of historical as well as scientific interest, this multifaceted story is accompanied by vintage photographs, biographical profiles of the major participants in the introduction of the trees, transcripts of correspondence regarding the original shipment of trees from Japan, a glossary of terms, a descriptive list of the tree shipments, & notes & selected references.