We spent about 2hrs here on a saturday morning, but should have spent more. Possibly the most beautiful garden I've ever visited. It all encompasses a fairly large lake, the pathways are manicured with pebbles, picturesque bridges, and the more than frequent bench. Theres not too much color, but the lushness of the gardens, as well as the tranquility the gardens somehow magically create are more than enough to set ones soul at ease. There are definate styles or maybe periods of gardening that we strolled through, and each is strangely unique. The best was the colection of bonsai trees. Theres an array of wildlife around the lake, Koi, birds, etc. They try really hard to capture the history of it all, but it was a little confusing and uninteresting to me. Theres also a fine looking library of all things asian, and a small museum of artifacts to browse. I wish we would have taken time to eat at the cafe.

Not only were the gardens beautiful but we appreciated learning the history of the Japanese community in the area. The bonzai garden was one of the best I've seen and feeding the huge koi was fun. The orchid society gardens on the adjacent property were also worth a visit with spectacular orchids in the greenhouse.

We arrived late in the day, so we didn't have time to do anything except tour the gardens, but I suspect that is the best part anyway. It is difficult to describe in print the effect this place has on the visitor. Don't miss it.

We visited the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens on April 9, 2005. We started off by attending a tea ceremony. There is one ceremony each month, and we got lucky with ours. It is $5 per person. You walk into a small room, sit down, and a group of 2 people (one playing the host and one playing the guest) reenact a tea ceremony, explaining what each element and action means along the way. Then, the spectators are served bowls of green tea (only a little bit of tea in them though and not what we Westerners normally think of as tea; this tea had ground up tea leaves mixed with water - I love green tea so I was happy) andd Japanese sweets.
The ceremony lasted about 40 min.
After that, we had lunch at a cafe - very nice, good selection of Japanese food (sushi, bento box for lunch, miso soup, green tea ice cream) and very, very reasonable prices. We paid $12 each for a good size bento box with tempura, a few rolls, teriyaki salmon and chicken, rice, etc.
The gardens are very nice. For a few dollars you could rent one of these audio devices that tell you about each particular garden, but we decided to explore on our own (by the way, admission is $9, but if you are a AAA member, you get a discount, so don't forget to ask!).
There are many bridges, bamboo groves, and individual gardens - next to each of them there is a plaque explaining the time frame and the style of the garden. It was hot, so we really appreciated that they had cold water available throughout the gardens. We saw many turtles, a big iguana, several interesting birds and lizards. There is a great bonsai collection and a couple of beautiful waterfalls. There is also a small museum (actually two - one in the gardens themselves, the original Morikami museum, and another - the new museum building with the gift shop, the cafe, etc.)
At the end, we bought some wonderful green tea and two noodle bowls in the gift shop (again, very reasonably priced - $5 for a bowl, $8 for a good size tin of great tea).
Highly recommended!