Visit to Asian Art Museum

Coins hanging from branches

My visit to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco Sunday was full of discoveries.  Such as, money does grow on trees.

Secondly, the term 'Asian' dates back to the Greeks and Romans who decided they would call anything East of the Ural River [flows into Caspian Sea] Asian.  This geographical concept masks the religious, cultural, ethnic, and yes gardening, diversity within this area.

As populations moved out of Mesopotamia, and later trade routes developed, communities adapted and borrowed rituals and customs from other regions.  We are still adapting and borrowing from other cultures.

Creating a 'California Garden' can be as Japanese as an 'Indian Garden' is Persian.

Stare at the clouds and puzzle on that for awhile.  Oh, in one Hindu belief system elephants resemble clouds.  Therefore, they symbolize prosperity and fertility.