a visit to South Korea

In July, we visited our son, who teaches English in South Korea.  The weather was hot and humid, and we enjoyed the overcast days and the rain, and I loved the flowers and trees and the unique aestetic of Korean architecture both old and new.

A garden on the grounds of the National Museum of Korea
is a cool oasis in a hazy city of skyscrapers.

The site of the 1988 Seoul Olympics has beautiful gardens 
ringed with the flags of the world. The purple flower is phlox.

Olympic park has huge pieces of art framed by hedges

Another piece of art at Olympic Park - foot bones

The national flower of South Korea is the Rose of Sharon (mugunghwa in Korean),
 which blooms across the country from July to October.  
This small tree is very hardy and is not bothered by disease or insects.

Other varieties of rose of sharon include doubles in pink and white,
and my favourite, white with with a red eye.

Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) grows everywhere.

Korea has been experiencing drought this summer.
Many trees have been fitted with bags of water that slowly irrigate them.

I thought this was a toad lily - but I'm not sure.  The leaves look like a small iris, and it forms big seedheads after the flower fades.

Loud raucous screeches of the Korean magpie, or "kkachi" in Korean 
are drowned out by the sawing of cicadas high in the trees.

The rose garden at Olympic Park has many varieites of floribunda and tea roses.

framing our son Dylan in the roses

The roses were beginning to fade in the summer heat, 
but the display of varieties was stunning.

The rear garden of Changdeok Palace in Seoul. 

An egret posed at the edge of the lotus pond at the rear garden.

glorious tiger lilies

The beautiful colours and patterns of the underside of this pavilion 
is a motif found in traditional structures all over Korea.