The Blogger's Garden

OK, finally, a GARDENING post! Had the arborist here to look at a couple of the cedars and the world’s largest weed cherry, and he gave me a bid of $2K to remove the cherry and grind out the stump. It’s a lot, but I’m not climbing that 75 foot, 3-trunked hydra to do battle. He also recommended removing the cedars damaged in the storm, but I’m going to have them cleaned up and lightened and see how that goes. Like most things in the yard, the previous owner never pruned them, and they’re doomed. Still, I hate to take them out until I have a good idea of how to replace them.

Partnering with I. M. Pei Architect, Pei Partnership Architects is currently designing the 15,000-square-meter Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, China. The museum will house the rich treasures of the 2,500-year-old city, and will complement both the artifacts and Suzhou itself with its traditionally inspired yet contemporary architecture. The museum will be equipped with 7,000 square meters of exhibition galleries, a 200-seat auditorium, a museum shop, administrative and curatorial offices, a research library & study center and extensive art storage facilities and several Chinese gardens.

In Central Kyoto there is the old Imperial Palace which was the Emperor’s residence before the capitol was moved to Tokyo, and the Nijo Castle, which was the castle of the Shogun. The old Imperial Palace includes many interesting old buildings and several gardens on 27 acres. The Kyoto Imperial Palace clearly shows the Japanese taste for simple decor at the residence of the Imperial family until the capital was relocated to Tokyo in 1868. The Nijo Castle is a huge area complete with stone walls, and gardens, and was the castle of the Tokugawa shogun.

In Stamford, Lincolnshire,Elizabethan stately home Burghley House – which has starred in films such as Pride and Prejudice and The Da Vinci Code, is creating an Elizabethan style Garden of Surprise (opening in the spring) containing more than 30 water features, a mirror maze and revolving Caesars’ busts!

One of the earliest references to the fir tree as a symbol of Christmas involves the British monk and missionary St. Boniface (born Winfrid in A.D. 680). Boniface was preaching a sermon on the Nativity to a tribe of Germanic Druids outside the town of Geismar. To convince the idolaters that the oak tree was not sacred and inviolable, the “Apostle of Germany” felled one on the spot. Toppling, it crushed every shrub in its path except for a small fir sapling. Legend has it that Boniface, attempting to win converts, hailed the fir tree’s survival as a miracle, concluding, “Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child.” Subsequently, Germans celebrated Christmas by planting fir saplings.

These are all important criteria when you shop for your garden sheds and it doesn’t take much researching to find the garden sheds that will suit your budget and your home.

What are the Seven Wonders of the World? Think fast. Well, if you think you knew, you might want to reconsider. Ok, so there really isn’t just one list of wonders. The best-known lists are those of the 2nd-century-BC writer Antipater of Sidon and of a later but unknown observer of the 2nd century BC who claimed to be the mathematician Philon of Byzantium. Included on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were: the Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pharos of Alexandria.

Positively inspiring. Visit this site and see how they grow their own food and more in Pasadena, CA!