by On Google maps it reads: “Japanese Tea Garden”. But at the entrance to this unusual garden in San Antonio, the gate reads: “Entrance to the Chinese Tea Garden”. And as I walked up the stairs I got the impression of entering one of those ancient Japanese fortresses where samurai warriors stood guard at the top.
This entrance gate was created decades after the garden itself was founded during a time when the original Japanese caretakers had been removed to internment camps during World War II. The U.S. was friendly with China at that point in time, so the Japanese identity was eliminated and Chinese identity installed.
A few more steps up and even that image vanished as I came to the pavilion level of this unusual garden which really does not look like any Japanese–or even Chinese–garden I’ve ever seen. So the photos below are an attempt to recreate the sense of walking through this sunken garden. Be sure to read the captions.
Above, the building on the left has the massive feeling of an ancient castle built with stone. In fact, it is, in part, a Japanese cafe/restaurant.
This large open pavilion overlooks the garden. And, yes, the roof is covered with palm fronds.
Walk to the edge of the pavilion and look down into a sunken garden with a large pond in the middle. Asian gardens often have water features surrounded by carefully groomed plants. This does not give off that impression at all.
An explanation: The wall directly ahead in this photo reveals that the garden was originally a limestone quarry. According info on the city website, the company that leased the site decided to abandon this quarry back in 1899 and the property became the responsibility of the the San Antonio Parks Dept. The head of the Parks Dept. decided to build a “lily pond”. Since then the garden has gone through one incarnation after another.
Looking back at the pavilion from down in the garden. The massive stone columns extend right into the pond. The plants in the garden are obviously well cared for, but the design, the arrangement of plants is not in either Japanese or Chinese style.
What would a Japanese tea garden be without Koi?
Then I began to notice the unusual selection of plants in the garden. This Mexican Feather grass is a very popular plant for hot dry desert gardens.
Geraniums (Pelargoniums) native to South Africa are blooming side-by-side with yellow violas, that originated in Kenya. Very odd horticultural choices for a Japanese garden.
These plant islands in the pond are also quite odd.
This walkway on the other side of the plaza from the pavilion leads to a viewing tower away from the sunken garden.
Then, to end a visit to the garden, have a Bento box lunch.
We were both very disappointed with our visit here three years ago. This was after previously visiting the Butchart Gardens in Victoria and their Japanese Gardens area. Was magnificent so we were spoiled. So, this place was a big disappointment. Did not get a real Japanese cultural experience at all.
As I walked through it, I decided not to think about it as a true Japanese garden, but rather as a sunken garden–of undetermined style. But the one thing San Antonio has that is wonderful are all the trees–in such variety–filled with twittering, singing birds.