Double "Sepaled" Lacecap Hydrangeas 八重額紫陽花（ヤエガクアジサイ）

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Double-sepaled lacecap hydrangeas are different from usual (single-petaled) ones. They're more gorgeous. If you love hydrangeas, read the posts below! 

Red mophead hydrangea
Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' (Annabelle hydrangea)

Hydrangea macrophylla Ayesha (Popcorn Hydrangea)

Hydrangea changing from pale green to white then to pale blue
Hydrangea blooming all year round (Hydrangea serrata var. yesoensis f. cuspidata cv.)

Purple and pink lacecap hydrangeas

Pink mophead hydrangea

Colorful tea of heaven (Hydrangea serrata)

Kurenai lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata var. 'Kurenai')

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Tea of heaven 'Mikata-yae' (blue Hydrangea serrata)

Nettle-leaved hydrangea (Hydrangea hirta)

2026/5/26

Hollyhock (Alcea Rosea) 立葵（タチアオイ）

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Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are native to Turkey and East Europe but can be found across Japan. The plant produces white, pink, purple, and red flowers (single and double flowered) from June to August in Japan. Their Japanese name is "tachi aoi," which translates into "standing mallow," and mallows have a special connotation in Japan. 

"Mitsuba aoi," which translates to "three leafed mallow," is the crest of the Tokugawa clan, who ruled Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). This is known nationwide even now because of a long run "samurai" television program about Mitsukuni Tokugawa (1628-1701), one of the grandchildren of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. This period drama was aired initially from 1969 to 2011 and is still rerun now.   

In the drama, Mitsukuni travels throughout the country incognito to discover and investigate injustice and in the end defeats and punishes corrupt samurai and merchants. At the end of each episode, Mitsukuni (or more specifically, one of his two samurai retainers) brandishes an "inro" pillbox with the "three leafed mallow" crest to reveal Mitsukuni's identity, i.e., a member of the Tokugawa clan. (By the way, although Mitsukuni existed and was a relation of the shogun, the drama episodes are all fictional.)

Interestingly, however, the Tokugawa clan's crest is not "three leafed mallow" actually but Asarum caulescens Maxim., which is a very plain, two-leafed or heart shaped plant. The Tokugawa clan's crest, three-leafed mallow, is said to be modeled on this plain plant.

Then, another question comes up. Why did someone who wanted to rule the country choose such a plain plant as their crest? One website says that many samurai clans during the age of warring states (1467-1615) chose plain plants as their crests to show that they were strong and hardy enough to survive in such harsh circumstances as these plants were. 

2026/5/27

Hydrangea Serrata Var. 'Kurenai' 紅山紫陽花（クレナイヤマアジサイ）

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Kurenai hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata var. 'Kurenai') is a type of mountain hydrangeas. It starts to flower in early May and at that time its sepals (not petals!) are white and then turn red as suggested by the name kurenai, which means red. Because of such a color change, I often assume a kurenai hydrangea as a white hydrangea at first and realize it's a kurenai one after it turns red a week or two later. 

2025/5/25

Showy Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa) ヒルザキツキミソウ（昼咲月見草）

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I thought that they were gigantic rosy evening-primroses (Oenothera rosea) at first and found at home they are not but showy evening primroses. This primrose is native to North America and was imported to Japan as an ornamental plant and can now be found across Japan. The primrose produces flowers from May to July in Japan, which are 4-5 cm in diameter and open during only the day. Because of that, its Japanese name is "hiruzaki tsukimisou," which translates into "primrose opening during the day." 

2026/5/26

Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia Glyptostroboides) メタセコイア

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Some plants are aesthetically pleasing throughout the year and dawn redwood trees (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) are one of them. In autumn, their leaves create a gorgeous view (scroll down) while from spring to summer, the leaves create a magnificent, fresh green view and the small deep green cones make me chuckle with their matcha chocolate like appearance. 

The dawn redwood is a living fossil species. They're tall and their leaves look like fern leaves, which explains to me why I feel like I were in the dinosaur era under the trees. If you're interested in their annual life cycle, scroll down!  

2026/4/15

2026/5/24

Goldencup St. John's wort (Hypericum Patulum) キンシバイ（金糸梅）

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Goldencup St. John's wort (Hypericum patulum) is native to China, coming to Japan in around 1760 and can now be found across the country. It produces bright yellow flowers from May to July, which resemble the flowers of Chinese St. John's wort (Hypericum monogynum) but can be easily distinguished by the length of stamens. The stamens of Hypericum patulum are much longer than those of Hypericum monogynum.

2026/5/24

Various Lacecap Hydrangeas 額紫陽花（ガクアジサイ）いろいろ

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It's almost impossible to classify lacecap hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla f. normalis) based on color. Each one has cream, yellow, blue, purple, green, pink, and red fertile flowers surrounded by green, pink, blue, purple, red, and even white sterile decorative sepals, changing their gradients as time passes. It's reasonable that one of its Japanese names is "shichi henge," which translates into "seven changes." To see lacecap hydrangeas in pink or purple, read this post! 

2026/5/24

East Asian Mallotus (Mallotus Japonicus) アカメガシワ（赤芽柏）

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East Asian mallotus (Mallotus japonicus) is native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. The tree is dioecious, producing male and female flowers on separate trees from June to July. The trees in this post are all female with female flowers, producing clusters of fruits and seeds (scroll down) in two months. 

2026/5/23 Female flowers

2026/5/23

Popcorn Hydrangea (Hydrangea Macrophylla Ayesha) ウズアジサイ（渦紫陽花）

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They're one of my favorite hydrangeas, popcorn hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla Ayesha). Needless to say, the hydrangea is named after the shape of its sepals, which resembles that of popcorns.

2022/6/16  

2022/6/16  

Blue Mophead Hydrangeas 青い紫陽花

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Hydrangeas attract not only people but bumblebees! These hydrangeas are cream at first, turning blue ultimately. If you like hydrangeas, read the following posts:

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha' (Popcorn hydrangea)

Hydrangea changing from pale green to white then to pale blue
Hydrangea blooming all year round (Hydrangea serrata var. yesoensis f. cuspidata cv.)

Purple and pink lacecap hydrangeas

Various lacecap hydrangeas

Pink mophead hydrangea

Kurenai lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata var. 'Kurenai')

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Tea of heaven 'Mikata-yae' (blue Hydrangea serrata)

Nettle-leaved hydrangea (Hydrangea hirta)

2026/5/22

2026/5/19

2025/5/18

Cogon Grass (Imperata Cylindrica) チガヤ（千萱）

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(I believe that) they are cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica). The grass is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Australia, Micronesia, Melanesia, and parts of Africa and can be found across Japan. It produces fluffy, white seed spikes from May to June.

Cogon grass is one of the most invasive weeds with a plain appearance but has been deeply appreciated and utilized in Japan for a long time, even mentioned in Kojiki (i.e., an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts, composed in the early 8th century) and Man'yōshū (i.e., the oldest extant collection of waka or poetry in Classical Japanese, compiled at the end of the Nara period [710-794]). The plant was also eaten in Japan after the war.

The flower means "affectionate," "guardian deity of children," and "we all want to be together" in Japanese floriography. 

2026/5/19

2026/5/19