In winter, when most garden plants retreat, sasanqua blooms. In Japan, it is also valued for something less visible: its resistance to fire. What does it mean to design a garden that protects as well as pleases?

March 2 is Sunny Lettuce Day in Japan. Loose-leaf lettuce like Sunny is one of the most beginner-friendly vegetables for home growing — here is how to keep it producing through the season.

Every year in Japan, poisoning incidents occur when people mistake toxic plants for edible ones. The most common vegetable garden confusion involves garlic chives and look-alikes. Here is what to know.

In a mast year — when fruit production is unusually heavy — persimmon trees provide an exceptional resource for birds through winter. What makes a mast year, and which birds use the fruit.

March 10 is Cactus Day in Japan. The plant has acquired a reputation for luck and warding off negative energy — here is the folklore, the actual care requirements, and what cactus placement can and cannot do.

A pour nozzle delivers water, fertilizer, or treatment directly to the root zone of a tree, bypassing the surface layer. Here is how the technique works and when it matters.

Henri Matisse is credited with the line: 'There are always flowers for those who want to see them.' A reflection on attention, seasonal observation, and what it means to look at a garden.

A garden maintenance visit in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture — weeding in a traditional Japanese garden section, fertilizer application, lawn care in the Western-style section, and repairing a damaged tree.

Rhodanthemum 'Apricot Jam' produces soft apricot-pink flowers that bloom through spring and into early summer. A low-maintenance perennial with a daisy structure and unusually warm coloring.

On the same day, we entered two forests — one for the first time, one for the third year. A first visit and a third year look completely different. A field report on laurel forest clearance and mixed woodland care in Mie Prefecture, Japan.

Roman chamomile appears in Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit as the remedy Mrs. Rabbit gives after a stressful day. The plant has a long history as a calming herb — here is what we know.

A sucker growing from the base of an Oshima cherry produced flowers — an unusual occurrence, and even more unusual: the sucker showed signs of albinism. A field observation from Mie Prefecture.

April 18 is Gerbera Day in Japan. The flower's direct, open face and wide color range make it one of the most versatile gift flowers of spring. Here is what makes gerbera distinctive.

The first lawn mowing of spring and the maple seedlings that appear every year in the beds alongside it. A record from regular garden maintenance in Komono, Mie.

Bamboo charcoal and wood charcoal are made through the same process but produce materials with different pore structures and properties. Here is how they compare for soil amendment use.

The way a garden looks at night changes completely with the season. These are notes from maintenance work after dark — and thoughts on how lighting design can follow the garden's own rhythms.

At Hoin-ji Temple in Mie Prefecture, we managed a madake bamboo slope and installed shigara wattle structures to slow erosion. This is a record of that work — and the thinking behind it.

In 2026, cherry blossoms in central Japan began opening in mid-March — one of the earliest starts on record. What drove the early season, and what it tells us about the future of spring.

Ranunculus blooms in late winter through spring with dense, layered petals that look almost artificial. Here is what makes this flower a good choice for gifts, and how to keep it longer.

An oak at the Matsumoto Castle ruins site in Yokkaichi showed two stages of shelf fungi and a darkened root zone. What we found, and what it means for the tree's future.