The interview with Okada Masao, a senior horticulturist from Japan, took place on a sunny day in early May at his rose garden, rose de mai, where he related his story of roses and the city, in the pleasant ambience with delightful sights and fragrant aroma from the flowers.
The Old Man and His Roses
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Occupying an area of about 67 hectares, rose de mai is a large rose farm made in the style that represents a semblance of a combination of Palace of Versailles and Shugaku-in Rikyu in Kyoto Japan. Various roses are in full bloom, attracting bees, butterflies and crowds of people coming to enjoy themselves at the romantic and exquisite site.
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Okada Masao would take a stroll around rose de mai every morning, stop now and then and take a look of the flowers. In the eyes of the 68-year-old horticulturist, the garden is his home and the roses his children, he said.
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"I never get bored with all the tilling, watering and all the work in the field," Okada Masao said, "I often feel I'm walking on the clouds when taking a stroll in the garden."
2014 Chengdu Sansheng Flower Show Lily Festival
The 2014 Chengdu Sansheng Flower Show Lily Festival is held at the Bailuwan Ecological Wetland. More than 400,000 lilies are being showed during the festival.
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Shixiang Lake: Green Lake, Deep Forest and Dazzling Flower Farms
The Shixiang Lake (Stone Elephant Lake) Scenic Spot crowns the ecological environment of Pujiang County in southwestern Chengdu.
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Pear Blossom Valley: A Vast Sea of Pure White in Spring
A vast land of thousands of pear trees, Pear Blossom Valley covers an expansive area of almost 8 sq.km, and is a hot spot especially in spring when the pear flowers come out, making the valley a white sea.
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Shuangliu Xincheng Park
The park brings fresh air, open space and natural environs close to urban dwellers and provides exciting sights with lush vegetation, gorgeous flowers and fish swimming in the ponds and streams.
