Camellia
Haiku 257
Blooms cascading down
Like a tumbling waterfall
Camellia bush
.
My camellia bush is in full bloom.
Year after year it increases in size and “bloomage”; having started out as a mere tiny stick thing, a few decades ago.
This year it has excelled itself.
Backlit Camellia 1
Haiku 209
Crane towards the light
Revel in the morning sun
Surrounding Aura
.
Sunlit Camellia 2
The morning sun catches the top of my large Camellia bush, irradiating the outer petals. The sun is so strong, even now in winter, that it produces this other-worldly outer glow.
Camellia Bud 1
Haiku 204
Camellia Buds
Branches laden with bounty
Anticipation!
.
Camellia Bud 2
It may be the middle of winter here in Cape Town, but this is the time of year that my Camellia really flourishes.
Camellia Bud 3
I’ve recently posted a photo of a large camellia flower, but the buds are enormous too –
Camellia Bud 4
Already weighing down the branches, even before turning into those massive flowers.
Camellia Bud 5
In between the severe Cape winter storms, these sunny days are idyllic.
Camellia Bud 6
And my large Camellia bush is a very welcome splash of pink in the green garden.
Camellia
Haiku 199
Miss Camellia
Donning your prettiest skirt
Ready for the dance
.
It is mid-winter here in Cape Town and Miss Camellia is absolutely laden with large pink flowers.
Go Figure!
Camellia 1
In the middle of winter the morning air is icy cold and thick dew glistens on the grass.
Camellia 2
Miss Camellia, with her magnificent blooms, shrugs it off and grows ever brighter.
Camellia 3
Apparently, she also shrugs off quite a lot of blooms in the process!
Although September 1st is officially the start of Spring here in South Africa, my garden is already ablaze with glory. This week’s posts will be all about the flowers!
post script: This post is from June, but I didn’t manage to publish it then due to my absence.
Busy Bee 1
I noticed quite a commotion by my Camellia bush the other day when I was out in the garden.
On closer inspection, I saw lots of bees buzzing around.
Busy Bee 2
They crawled all over the newest buds.
Busy Bee 3
Collecting pollen madly, and storing it on their back legs.
Busy Bee 4
It was such a great spectacle, that even an ant came to watch!
post script: These photos were taken with my trusty old Canon, held at arm’s-length right in the heart of the bush, hoping that the pollen would be more attractive to the bees, than me!
Camellia 1
Taking a photo of new buds on my Camellia bush, I realised afterwards that they were occupied.
Camellia 2
If you squint closely, you’ll spot a few tiny visitors scurrying around amongst the petals; ants.
I’ve no clue what they were doing there, but they were only on the very new flowers and not at all on the older ones.
Any ideas?
Camellia and Visitor
I’ll flower when I’m blooming ready!
What is it with plants in my garden? I have had this camellia bush for twenty years. For the first ten it simply sat there, not dead, but not flourishing; just a sticky thing in the ground. Gradually, it began to grow and finally there were buds. I counted each new flower. Thirteen one year. Hooray!
Now, there are countless blooms. But there was still a mystery. Why do I find so many dead flowers and buds under the bush, when I have just raked there the day before?
It took a while to solve this mystery. Then one day, I looked through the window and saw the whole bush shaking violently. I watched in astonishment, wondering if there was a cat fight or something going on in there.
The shaking stopped, and out popped a little grey squirrel. It turned round to face the bush and stood up on its hind legs. Then it attacked the flowers with a quick pitter pat of its tiny grey paws.
Flowers and buds alike fell to the ground, whereupon the little squirrel picked one up, hopped onto the old bench, and sat there happily eating my camellia!
Sparky the Squirrel Thief
Mad Cap Dog 