Botanical Garden in Bloom

For those of you who read some of my posts from when I first moved here you will remember there is a botanical garden on the campus of my university here. I didn't spend too much time in the garden over the dark, rainy winter but these days it is one of my favorite places in the city. On sunny days when I have class I eat my lunch in the garden, its the perfect place to relax and appreciate the sights and scents of spring. Here is a pic of the brilliantly colored tulips in the garden










Fortunately, and much to my surprise, the garden has some sakura no ki - that is cherry trees. Cherry trees are a symbol of spring in Japan and are greeted with enthusiasm and much celebration in Japan. Here is a pic of the biggest sakura tree in the garden
















and a close up of the delicate petals.















The Danes also have a tree that they appreciate the spring beauty of, the beech tree. Beech is very much a part of the culture here. When I first arrived I was introduced to the Beech Pillar Hall, essentially a forest area with beech trees of all the same age and size roughly with the big branches all at the top so it has an open hall like feeling with the trees as the pillars. The man-made formation makes an ideal place to have a picnic with a dry grassy area below and enough shade to keep the sun at bay. Surely this is a culturally constructed forest but either way the bright spring green leaves that are bursting now with the last two week of sunny weather are wonderful.