Flowers

At supper last night we were having trouble finding space on the table for the supper dishes because of the array of fresh flowers on the table. There were camellias -- white, pink, and red; there were azaleas -- fuchsia and purple; and there were little white wildflowers my grandson had picked for me. I've posted a picture of them so you can see. The three colors of camellias are all from the same bush. The fuchsia azaleas are from a dwarf variety; the purple ones are from the 10-foot-tall Formosas. While the camellias are some of the last ones we'll get this season, the azalea blooms are just starting to peek out along the ground. Branches cut and brought inside will burst into bloom within a day.

One of the great things about retirement is that there is more time for flowers. I can pick bunches of them, set them up in vases, and then just look at them, following some of them through their life cycle from bud to bloom to decay. Camellia blooms fall intact when they get tired hanging on; so do azalea blooms, but since they are smaller it's less impressive. The little white wildflowers will shrivel on the stem. When it's magnolia season I'll post photos of big white magnolia blooms turning gorgeous shades of tan as they age.

It's time now to go take a walk and pick more azaleas, and camellias if we can still find them. I'll post some more photos here for you.