The Green Pages: REFLECTIONS OF THE SPIRIT (Printed Media, Books, Magazines)

Subtitle : Japanese Gardens in America

Back in the day... when I was buying quite a few books on gardens... I never had any trouble finding books on Japanese gardens in Japan. It was more challenging to find a book on these gardens in America... and I was very happy to discover this one.
Mr. Oster's photography consists almost exclusively of photos of public gardens. Luckily for the reader she is an excellent photographer... her photos clearly illustrate various aspects of Japanese garden design.
And instead of chapters dedicated to a particular public garden... with all the photos of it gathered within that chapter... The chapters are instead dedicated to those aspects of design that make up a Japanese garden: hill and pond, courtyard, stone, dry landscape, water, ornaments, structures, paths, plants.
Within those chapters she uses photos from lots of public gardens to clearly illustrate the principle she is discussing.
To be honest... I picked the book up at the bookstore and liked what I saw surfing through it... BUT I bought the book because there are lots of great photos of Seiwa-en, the Japanese garden within the Missouri Botanical Garden. Great photos of a great garden !!!

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