{"id":7207,"date":"2025-11-12T12:46:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T17:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/?page_id=7207"},"modified":"2025-11-18T16:37:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T21:37:37","slug":"wanderings-november-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/resources\/newsletters\/neighborhood-gardener-november-2025\/wanderings-november-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Wanderings November 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"fullwidth-text-block\"><div class=\"container px-0\"><div class=\"row align-items-start\"><div class=\"col-12\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wendy&#8217;s Wanderings<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2024\/05\/wendy_wilber2021.jpg\" alt=\"Wendy Wilber\" class=\"wp-image-2859\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"intro\">Oceans apart, united by nature<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>November 6, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I visited Japan recently, I expected to be amazed by temples, bonsais and perfectly raked gravel gardens \u2014 but what really caught my eye were the plants. Walking through Kyoto and Tokyo, I kept spotting old friends from home: camellias, loquats, fatsia, farfugium, even the ever-persistent Japanese honeysuckle. It turns out that many of the plants we grow (and sometimes battle) here in Florida share deep roots across the Pacific. Whether prized ornamentals or troublesome invaders, these japonica species form a curious botanical bridge between our subtropical yards and the gardens of Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I couldn\u2019t help laughing as I strolled through temple gardens and back-alley courtyards, realizing that half the plants I was admiring were the same ones growing around my neighborhood. There was <em>Camellia japonica<\/em>, blooming demurely under the maples \u2014 the same glossy camellia that holds court in so many Florida yards come winter. Loquats (<em>Eriobotrya japonica<\/em>) dotted the streets, their fuzzy fruit just ripening, and even the shade-loving <em>Fatsia japonica<\/em> was thriving in the same kind of damp, dappled light I try to recreate under my oaks. Japanese maple (<em>Acer japonica<\/em>) that we sometimes struggle to grow in our heat and sandy soils grew effortlessly and beautifully in its native land. I even noticed familiar groundcovers tucked along stone paths \u2014 Liriope, Ophiopogon and Aspidistra \u2014 the quiet companions of so many Florida landscapes. It was oddly comforting \u2014 like running into old friends in a faraway place \u2014 though I had to chuckle when I also spotted a tangle of Japanese honeysuckle, proving that some plants just can\u2019t resist a good invasion, no matter what continent they\u2019re on.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/farfugium_japan400x300.jpg\" alt=\"A park-like area in a Japanese national garden, farfugium is growing as a groundcover among trees with some of its yellow flowers visible.\" class=\"wp-image-7279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/farfugium_japan400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/farfugium_japan400x300-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Farfugium in a Japanese national garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>As I wandered through those gardens, it struck me how plants quietly ignore borders. The same leaves that blow in a Kyoto breeze can rustle just as easily in a Florida backyard. Gardeners, of course, are travelers too \u2014 swapping seeds, stories and sometimes the occasional invasive mistake. Our shared fascination with growing things connects us more deeply than language ever could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But standing there among the camellias and maples, I felt reminded of how gardening connects us across oceans and climates. Whether we\u2019re pruning in our Florida humidity or in the Japanese mist, we\u2019re all coaxing beauty from the soil, one <em>C. japonica<\/em> at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":7213,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7207","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7281,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7207\/revisions\/7281"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}