Oh, what a beautiful morning!

     In late summer, from eight till nine is a glorious time to be in the Japanese garden.  The sun, at a low angle, pierces through the linden tree and lights up the moss mound and small pool next to the house.  Backlighting provides what I like to call an electric sensation, just stunning.  And try as I'd like, I cannot begin to capture with my camera the beauty the eye perceives.  You just have to be here.
     I built these mounds in 2013.  The moss is primarily Anomodon rostratus, but every year new species appear, so eventually it will be quite a mix.  The moss on the other side of the bluestone walk is Thuidium, of two species .

Yet another rock

     I just can't stop adding rocks to the gardens!  I am on my way to 11,000 (yes, I actually counted them).  This one, weighing in at 230 pounds, I found across the street at my usual rock-hounding place, widow Rosemary's rock pile.  In exchange for doing lots of work for her, I collect rocks.  I like split rocks with a flat surface the best, allowing for a spot for containers. The one shown is temporary.

Anderson Japanese Garden

     Last Thursday, I gave a lecture on the use of moss in Japanese gardens around the world at the Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, IL.  Attendees came from as far as St. Paul, MN, Sheboygan Falls, WI, LaCrosse, WI, and central IL.  Fun was had by all.  The next morning I led an hour tour around the moss gardens of AJG.  Even more fun.
     My wife, Dorothy, and I got to spend the evening on the grounds in a beautiful guesthouse, built in the Sukiya style (gardens and house blended as if one) and looking very much as one would in Japan.  Waking up and looking out the huge windows at the incredible garden was quite the experience.
     Anderson JG is ranked the second best Japanese garden in North America.  It deserves the rank--or even better.  It is 14 acres in size, and it just seems to go forever.  You just want to visit there again and again.  Tim Gruner, the curator, and his staff can be very proud of the job they do. 

    

My first moss garden

     I constructed my first moss garden in June 2006 in my Japanese-style garden.  It was a failure.  I took moss off a cedar shake roof on my neighbor's shed and laid it on mounds of loam soil, amended with aluminum sulfate and elemental sulfur to reduce the pH to acidic conditions.  By late fall, the moss did not look too good, and it had not attached itself to the ground (with attachments called rhizoids).  The following January had several days in the 50s, so I collected some other mosses about a mile north of my gardens and laid them on the mounds.  These did much better.
     Over the years, I added other species of moss, often to replace moss that was not doing well.  Today, there are about six species of moss growing there, and it looks nearly perfect.
     I added Thalictrum dioicum, or Early Meadow Rue, and Podophyllum peltatum, or Mayapple, to add another dimension and interest to the garden.
     The bench nearby had some mosses colonize it (without my help) about three years ago, mainly Brachythecium salebrosum and Plagiomnium cuspidatum.  It covers more of the bench each year, and I figure it will cover it completely in five years or less.

The Garden Conservancy tour

     Yesterday The Garden Conservancy sponsored a tour here, and 167 people attended, including some from California, Arizona, Washington, and Illinois.  It went from ten until four, so I had a hard time talking to even half that many of the visitors.  Then from four until five, I had a special tour, called "Digging Deeper," where I led 17 people on a tour of my moss gardens. 
     I had four volunteer, or docents, helping me by being posted at different positions around the gardens.  In addition, two more people collected admission and gave out information.  Two of the docents, Vic Schiegg (photos five and six,) and Nancy Parker (phone nine, on left with blond hair), appear in the photos.
     The two ladies in the early photos are examining (admiring?) a wooden structure I constructed two years ago, which is a 500-year-old design of Leonardo da Vinci. 

    

The southwest corner from above

     This post features the southwest corner of the property.  Most of the photos were taken from ten feet or so while on a ladder.  The first photo shows the entry from the back lawn, which follows a curving walk made of sandstone cobblestones.  Another curving walk is in front of the terraces that have about 70 hostas growing on them.  Next to that walk is the railing that was constructed earlier this summer.