The Organizer's Garden: Smile Garden

This garden is an exhibition garden by the Prefecture of Shizuoka, the organizer of the international horticultural exposition Pacific Flora 2004. It was constructed to symbolize the expo's philosophy ― dialogue, creation, and nurture ― and to be the starting point to create a land where people and nature coexist in the 21st century. It is composed of three garden areas: [1] The Symbol Garden: a large panoramic garden that expresses the sceneries, colors, and shapes of Shizuoka such as Mt.Fuji, waves of the ocean, etc with vertical flowerbeds. [2] The Colored Garden: a flower garden by a group of horticultural enthusiasts in Shizuoka Prefecture, using the techniques of knot gardens. [3] The Shaped Garden: a topiary-like sculpture covered with bedding plants that embodied children's creative ideas of "creatures in a fantasy land" which were selected among the submissions from the local elementary and junior high school students. These three areas are linked to each other over semicylindrical objects covered with green plants, named "Une" meaning hedges of tea plants after green tea is a specialty of Shizuoka Prefecture. During the expo, this garden entertained the visitors and made them "smile" as a highlight of the expo.