The Delightful Floral Manholes of Beppu

Some places really make an effort with their manhole designs. Yuda Onsen in Yamaguchi with more than 30 different designs being an obvious choice (click here for some examples). Another place I recently discovered is Beppu, the famous hot-spring resort in Oita.
The first one features Cosmos (kosumosu) and Rose Mallow (Fuyou)

Crape Myrtle (sarusuberi) and Sunflower (himawari)

Plum (ume) and Daffodil (suisen)

Wintersweet (loubai) and Pot Marigold (kinsenka)

Bush Clover (hagi) and Canna Lily (kanna)

Peach (momo) and Pansy (panji)

Hydrangea (ajisai) and Daisy (maagaretto)

Another post later as this is not all the ones I found in Beppu.

More Flowers of Shikoku

Continuing with some more photos of flowers I noticed while walking around Shikoku on the 88 temple pilgrimage. This one was in the mountains of Tokushima the day after the typhoon had passed in early September.

These were growing in late September in the bank between rice paddies just across from bangai temple 4, Saba Daishi, where I spent the night in the free accomodation.

These were growing in early October down in Kochi after rounding Cape Muroto

These were a few days later a little south of Kochi City. I am afraid I am not very knowledgeable about what any of these flowers are..... maybe a reader can enlighten us?

Of course one place you will always find flowers are beneath buddhist statues and gravestones. These were at temple 32 Zenjibuji. Many times they will not be real flowers, but these were. I remember being very impressed with the flowers on diplay in Mitakedera in Hiroshima and marvelling at how dedicated the staff must be to have so many fresh flowers on offer and when I looked closely realizing that they were plastic.

Flowers of Shikoku

A long time ago a regular reader asked for more flower pictures, so.......

I dont often take pictures of flowers, but while on the Shikoku Pilgrimage I did try to keep a record of what I saw....

All these photos were taken in the middle of August, 2011, in the Yoshino River valley on the first two days of my pilgrimage.

Other than the first photo which is obviously a lotus blossom, I dont know what any of the others are called :)

Peony Porn

I am not usually a huge fan of photos of the sexual organs of flowers, but today I make an exception.

Yesterday we visited Daikon Island in the Nakaumi, the lagoon that straddles the border of Shimane and Tottori, to see the peonies in bloom.

They have been cultivated on the island since the Edo Period, and Daikon Island is now the largest producer of them in Japan.

Called Botan in Japanese, they were introduced into Japan from China as a medicinal plant in the eighth century. During the buddhist proscription against eating meat "botan" was a euphemism for wild boar meat.

Apparently they bloom all year round but the peak is around now.

A strange woman followed me around the garden so I asked her to pose next to a bloom to give an idea of the scale.

Weeds

It promises to be a dry day today so I have to get out and whack the weeds around the house and garden.

With the warmer weather and the abundant precipitation, a month away allows the vegetation to prosper.

But I thought I would take a few snaps before...

I'm ashamed (only mildly) to admit I have no idea what any of these flowers are

This one I do know, they are wild rasberries, so I must be careful to leave them.....