Camellias. Tsubaki. The Japanese call them 'Samurai Flowers' because of their propensity for losing their heads whole.
Potoro Potoro
I love them; possibly because they flower in the middle of winter. Harbingers of the much longed-for warmth of spring. Soon we will emerge from fuyu gomori 冬篭 - our warm cuddly winter hibernation - and enjoy days in the sunshine once more.
The camellia reminds me of that.
Jeanne: the only thing I don't like about camellias is they have no real scent. All that glorious beauty & no scent to boast of. ☺
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteWill I ever get used to being on opposite sides of the seasons?
I think camellias are most beautiful in a vase. The bush doesn't look nice when the "heads" start rolling, so to speak. They sure are photogenic, though! I love your photos.
ReplyDelete" All that glorious beauty & no scent to boast of. ☺"
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's a moral to Ganeida's observation.☺
I'd not heard them called 'Samurai Flowers' before - made me laugh - they can lose their heads like that!(and those that do, tend not to leave the bush a mess of unsightly dead heads) Although I once worked in an azalea and camellia nursery, they've never been my favourite flower but this year I made a similar observation that really if they are going to go to all that trouble to light up the garden in winter I ought to appreciate them more - scent or not!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous Jeanne. Camelias are a beautiful flower and are very important in our family. My mother grows her many camelias in a special cool and shaded place near her home in Moree, NSW where it does get very hot. My gran also grew them there. She developed her own variety which we aptly name 'Susannah'. It is a beautiful soft pink. It is interesting that Ganeida pointed out that they have no, or only a slight, scent. My Gran had no sense of smell so perhaps the visual beauty was stronger for her as a result of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking me on a little journey back home.
Blessings
Cee..xx
I just went and googled the 'Susannah' camellia, Cee, but couldn't find it. You must post a pic.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I agree with those of you who hate the look of the mouldering flowers below the bushes. Lucky that I'm obsessive compulsive and sweep them up every week! :)
I am trying to grow a hedge of these but they are being very slow about growing. I think I will need to give them more fertilizer. They grow very well where I live and quite popular
ReplyDeleteI'll keep that in mind Jeanne yet as the bush and my Mum are so many miles away it might be a challenge. She's not so computer and photo savvy :)
ReplyDelete