Everyone that lives in an area of four distinct seasons is certainly aware of their coming and going, but even those that live in less distinct climactic areas can appreciate and anticipate these times. Like an endless staircase of up and down steps, the seasons bring us new life each spring, rapid growth each summer, a time for harvest in the fall and a period of rest in the winter. Each of these seasons has its own beauty and has influenced nearly every aspect of human life since the beginning of time.

The garden provides an excellent platform to showcase and celebrate these seasonal changes. Weather and daylight changes are our first clues of a seasonal transition, and the transformation of the plants is a beautiful and hypnotic reinforcement of the seasonal change. The Japanese garden has distilled and exploited the use of these seasonal plant displays more than any other garden form. At its best, the plant selections provide us with not only with subtle beauty, but also the ability to change our mood. This is done by preferring the fleeting beauty of seasonal display like spring flowers or fall colors over the selection of plants that display these characteristic throughout the growing season. In this way the experience is made more memorable and likely not to be repeated again in exactly the same way.

*Fall Foliage at Rabkin Garden (Pennsylvania)
*Cherry blossoms at Japan House at University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign