Kubota Gardens

Japanese bridge at the Kubota Gardens

This week's (mid June) adventure was to go to Rainier Beach/Seward Park south of downtown Seattle.  Another long bus journey so I broke my journey for breakfast again at Portage Bay Cafe. What I hadn't accounted for was the U-dub graduation day which made it very busy but I sat outside with a blanket and a little benefit from the outdoor heaters and enjoyed some yummy food which, once again, I couldn't finish. 

 

Left over "farmer's hash"

Arrival Selfie

Entering the Kubota Gardens

 After breakfast I hopped on a bus to the downtown Seattle then hopped on another bus south. It may have taken me three buses and one and half hours of travel but the bus dropped me off a few yards from the back entrance to the gardens which is a public transport win in my book. 

The Kubota Gardens are part of the Seattle Public Parks so they are free. They are inspired by Japanese Gardens and named after their creator Fujitaro Kubota who lived in Seattle after emigrating from Japan. He was an amature gardener but designed and built what is now a 20 acre park. The intention to share a little of Japanese culture with his new American home; the first part of the gardens was completed in the 1930s. There is a garden society that still funds projects, helps maintain the grounds, and, very nicely, makes a small guided tour leaflet available to visitors for free. 

I entered the gardens from the back so it took me a while to find the guided tour but I knew it existed because other people were carrying sheets of paper. The first thing that struck me was the quiet. You could hear the occasional car on the nearby road but the predominant sound was peace and birdsong.   

A path disappearing between the shrubs 

 One of the things I started to appreciate about 5 mins after I entered the park was the wealth of little pathways winding through the garden, little hidden passages to unknown riches. I spent a happy couple of hours exploring the secret trails like an excited little kid. Although the later arrival of actual excited little kids did somewhat mar the tranquillity of the gardens it was nice to see them enjoying the place. 

One of the hidden riches, a bench in a small forest

A little bridge across a pond

What might lurk beyond the bamboo lined path?

A hidden tree topped home with jewels of sunlight
threading through the ceiling

What might lie at the top of the stepping stone staircase?

Stepping stones over one of the ponds
 in the 22ft waterfall

A garden full of the Northwest

  One thing that adds to the appeal of the Kubota gardens is how well established the tree and plants are. The garden has been growing for over 80 years so it feels very much at home now. Also many of the plants are native to the Northwest so everything seems to be thriving. 

Oh look a flow and pine cone perfectly
positioned on the ground,
time to make a fool of myself again!

Sometimes a little too thriving, this is where you are supposed to experience your first view of the whole gardens!

Everywhere you look a different shade of green

Moon bridge

Moon bridge

Like all good Japanese Gardens this one features a lot of bridges to cross over water. There are two red bridges in the park, made of concrete and metal but still traditional looking. One is the moon bridge, symbolising the difficulty of living a good life, it is extremely steep, hard to walk up and hard to walk down. The other is the Heart Bridge which is similar to one found on Mr. Kubota's home island of Shikoku. 

Heart Bridge

Heart Bridge

Bell

 The garden features some other interesting features like this bell near the entrance and a memorial stone remembering Mr. Kubota's work in bringing the garden into being. 

Memorial Stone

The history of the garden was once inscribed on the back of the stone
but alas the North-western weather has done its work

Entry way to stone garden

Stone Garden 

 

It was such a clear day that the shadows from the trees looked like they were projected up from the ground. 

 
The acers were producing some lovely colours especially against the bright blue sky.

right shape, wrong colour

The garden noticeboard told me to look out for male American Goldfinches which should have shed their dull winter coats for something more attractive to the ladies i.e. bright yellow. This little guy was the best I could do!

 I'll leave you with another tumultuous section of the garden with hidden paths. It was a fun morning ramble through the garden... next blog Seward Park in the afternoon... 

Another hidden passage