The true meaning of Ikebana--the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement--is the ability to take a few beautiful flowers and plans and tastefully present them in very simple containers to decorate your home. Whether for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, or a special birthday or anniversary--"Japanese Ikebana for Every Season" simplifies and demystifies this ancient art by presenting 53 elegantly simple arrangements that anyone can create at anytime at home.
The key to good Ikebana arrangements is to understand a few very simple principles--like the idea of "mitate"--seeing old things with new eyes, as well as learning a few very easy techniques of flower stabilization and how to support plants and flowers inside a vase or container. Using simple, common flowers and plants from your garden, from a nearby field or forest, or from your local florist--you can easily create these lovely Ikebana in just a few minutes if you know how.
Authors Rie Imai and Yuji Ueno explain how to select the flowers and the containers by simply using things that are already around you--and then they show you how to turn them into something special. The basic instructions in the book cover a wide range of styles that encourage readers to use their own creativity rather than copying traditional and highly technical Ikebana design concepts.
No matter what time of year it is and regardless of your taste or budget--the arrangements in this book will lend a touch of Japanese elegance to your home

Featuring beautiful photographs and insightful commentary this Japanese gardening book is a must-have for any gardening or zen enthusiast. At the heart of a Japanese garden is harmony with nature. More than simply a landscape of trees and flowering shrubs, a Japanese garden provides a place of serenity and rest, filled with peaceful spots that lend themselves to meditation and contemplation. Japanese Gardens celebrates and illustrates this ideal, showcasing the exquisite natural beauty of more than 20 quintessentially Japanese gardens--big and small, urban and rural, traditional and contemporary. The expert author-and-photographer team behind this book excels at capturing and explaining the essential elements and techniques that distinguish Japanese garden design from that of other countries. The featured sites reflect a cross-section of Japanese culture and history including large feudal period gardens, temple and Zen gardens and private countryside gardens. The mountain flower garden, tea garden, rock garden and bonsai garden alike are all celebrated and appreciated in this beautiful book.