~seasons, colliding~

  

~azaleas are opening up everywhere, explosions of color around each turn, down every road~    

~~~~~

 

~could I recommend just one camellia to someone, perhaps, yes - perhaps Camellia japonica 'Sea Foam'  - it is a late bloomer in my garden, revealing it's glorious white flowers when one is thinking of spring, but then gladly retreats back into the cool of winter to enjoy it's perfection~ 

~~~~~

~dogwood blossoms tease, inconspicious petals of green and brown slowly emerge and almost overnight reveal themselves~  

~~~~~

 

~the buds of Camellia japonica 'Nuccio's Pearl' cover the five foot plant, tiny specs of pink - waiting for the right time to open and reveal their formal form, not concerned about the azaleas or the dogwood - confident in it's own unique contribution to the garden even as the daffodils dazzle~ 

~~~~~

~how can one not simply, utterly - fall in love with the emerging leaves of the oakleaf hydrangea - the softest new leaf, craddled in bracts of rusty brown~

~~~~~

 

~this camellia of Skip's, it's name long forgotten - passed onto me during a walk one winter in a secret garden of camellias - it's beauty definitely not forgotten in my garden, with it's large flowers bowing gracefully towards the ground~

~~~~~

  

~I can't be sure who is happier about the emergence of the first tiny fig leaves - me or the mockingbirds that dream of sweet figs in mid-July~

~~~~~

~March in coastal South Carolina - when the seasons collide for a few glorious weeks, when the grace of winter embraces the freshness of spring~ 

   

Comments

[blossom]

I guess a lot of people are happy this time of year. So much beauty is emerging ...

[Joan]

You are taking such incredibly beautiful pictures.

[Les]

Spring looks as if it has arrived for you. Ours seems to be retarded (in the original sense of the word) this year, not that I am anxious, it will be what it will be, when it will be. I have fond memories of March in SC with trees cloaked in wisteria and jessamine, shed-sized So. Indicas and of course the camellias. One needs a long hot summer to decompress from a spring like that.

[vbdb]

It cheered me to read that someone else loves emerging fig leaves as much as I. Mine is treasured because it was started from a cutting of the fig tree at Boggy Creek Farm in Austin. Everyone thinks I'm crazy out there taking macro shots of the buds on the fig and the Arapaho blackberries. Thanks for the backup!

[eliz]

That camellia is so beautiful.

[Annie in Austin]

Pam and VBDB, I'm in! The small fig leaves in the Secret Garden enchanted me so they had to appear on my blog, too...but the area is enclosed and warmed by a brick wall so that was nearly 2 weeks ago. If I buy another fig it will be a different variety and be planted away from structures so it won't wake up too early.

You've shown the 'Sea Foam' before, I think - what a lovely thing it is.

Happy Spring, Pam - I hope that sleep comes and erases every thought long enough for your mind to rest.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Layanee]

Love the dogwood blossom emerging. Catching up Pam which seems to be the name of the game.