I love the Himeji Japanese gardens, which are in the parklands that surround our city, on the southern side.
I was passing on my way home from something, in the daytime, by myself (no passengers to convince)–so I pulled over and went in to see what I could see.
The gingkos had turned yellow and begun to drop their leaves.
The maples were in various stages of colouring and falling.
The camellias had begun to flower (the same is true at home).
The water features were as glorious as ever. I managed to glean a few dead daylily leaves which made lovely string.
I collected fallen leaves and the odd twig that had come down in the wind. At home, I added prunus leaves from trees in the neighbourhood and some dried eucalyptus leaves… and rolled experimental bundles too.
I love the maple prints on linen.
The prunus leaves came out pretty too–and in some places I did get gingko leaf resist prints. If you look carefully!
This bundle was an experiment–maple/prunus/eucalypt on some gifted silk fabric.
I tried woad leaves (and japanese indigo leaves and the odd soursob leaf for good measure) but clearly I’ll have to try that again! The fabric is wet here and by the time it dried there was almost nothing to see. On the other hand… the woad is leafing up, and my woad seed is germinating!
Local & Bespoke 
NEVER miss a chance to get some leaves, haha I do like Ginko, despite the ‘stench’ ! but I guess only the female plants produce the smelly fruit. and there is one tree over 3000 thousand years old in China. Your Maple leaves are so different from ours. Mother Nature is quite the gal 🙂
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I think that is a Japanese maple–but it is such a big family of trees! You’re right, never miss an opportunity! I have come across female gingko trees here, but not very often. So I have more often heard about the smell of the fruit than encountered it. Such a beautiful tree, and such glorious leaves.
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I love “Himijimi” Gardens ( as the Kids used to call it ).. Lovely to see the prints.
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a little memory brought home
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They are a little treasure trove tucked away in the gardens there. Years ago I lived in that quadrant of the city and they were walking distance from home. That’s when I fell in love 🙂 Come to think of it, I have learned a lot abut plants since then!
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I’d love to see some wider views too next time you go! 🙂
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Each time I go, I struggle to figure out how I could capture it in pictures. It’s arranged into ‘rooms’, smaller spaces within the walls of the garden. I’ll see what I can do, Pia!
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the color gradation experiment is wonderful.
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Thanks! It didn’t come out quite as I had hoped, but I like it too, and it has made me think I would try this again.
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Japanese garden in your neighborhood! How lucky. I have never visited Adelaide, but the Himeji Japanese gardens would definitely takes me there. Lovely dye result! It’s nice to have just faded prints. Your way of gathering dye able materials is like what I would do. I work in a large university campus in Melbourne. I would be roaming around the garden most days on my breaks. My bag is full of treasure from the garden. You are so inspiring, thank you – Nat
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I feel very lucky to have access to the Japanese garden! Thanks for your lovely compliments… Isn’t it a fine thing to learn about the plants in our neighbourhoods this way?
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