238 THE LOTUS OF THE GOOD LAW 



of the style except that there was an irregular 

 lake with an island and a little bridge connecting 

 it with the shore. But the Plum and Orange 

 tree right and left of the entrance to the palace 

 are strangely reminiscent of the ancient Hindu 

 marriage of the fruit trees by the garden well. 

 The flowers show still more strangely the per- 

 sistence of the old ideas, for in a land of wonderful 

 wild flowers half the gardens in Japan are green 

 gardens, and, except for the blossoming trees and 

 shrubs, the lotus in the pond, the iris fringing its 

 margin, and the wisteria on the trellis overhead, 

 all the garden flowers are in pots. The old 

 traditional flowers seem the only ones to take 

 root in the garden soil. Peonies, lilies, asters, 

 and other more recently introduced flowers are 

 all planted in pots. Even the national chrysan- 

 themum, whose curving petals represent the 

 wheel of the Buddhist Law and the rays of the 

 rising sun, is not grown in the ground, but is 

 invariably set out in blue and white or pale green 

 flower pots. 



It is still more interesting to trace the influence 

 of climate on Buddhist garden building, how it 

 expanded in the moist atmosphere of Japan 

 where the rainfall is twice as heavy as it is even 



