it's still wintertime here...

... but that means it's time for the camellias to begin blooming, and it's time to take the opportunity to pop over to descanso gardens for a mid-winter stroll.  they have wonderful huge koi swimming around in the sky.ツ

no snowdrifts here!  just beautiful white camellias in full bloom.

pink ones, too, but my favorite are the white.  the red ones are pretty spectacular, but how many flower pictures can i post?!

a resident white goose hangs out with a mallard pair (right behind the tree).  there is a pair of wood ducks living there as well, but they were not at this pond when i was there.  the breeze came up as i took this picture, blurring the reflection.

i have never seen a rhododendron this color.  it practically glowed.

not trying to rub it in, really!

ETA: click on picture to really see it, as always.

i took an amazing picture today

this is a koi fish in a pond at descanso gardens in la cañada.  it's an incredible image, if i do say so myself.  sheer accident, may i add.

because thing one has the type 1 diabetes, i get to go on all the field trips.  since i didn't grow up here, it's an awesome way to be a tourist in my own town.  this is my favorite time of year to go to descanso, because the camellia trees are in full bloom, and the understory of the forest is amazing.

here are some close-ups:

this one, i believe, is a pink perfection camellia, planted by almost every pasadena homeowner for decades, starting in the 1920's.  they are ubiquitous, and quite lovely.

you know i can't resist a bud!

redecorating

i decided i wanted a smaller header, so i've changed the illustration completely.  remember my camera-happy days in colorado last august?   we also had a blue to purple and everything in between day i have not documented 'til now:

i'm not sure what these were, but they featured incredible sorts of mulberry purple.

nemesia

i know it's not foxglove, snapdragon or campanula.
do you know what it is?

amazing delphinium

perfect morning glories in cornflower blue, complete with honeybee

oboe, play me an "A"

this is my biggest azalea bush.  at this time of year, when i look at it, i get the same feeling i do when i hear an orchestra tuning before a concert.  it is the feeling of anticipation.  in the sense of smell, it might be the scent of popcorn.  it's that you know something wonderful is coming, and your senses are sending "ooo!  ooo!  ooo!" signals to your brain.

this is what the buds look like when they're at this "tuning" stage -- the azalea almost looks pregnant.  for me, the anticipation is palpable.

 

the whole azalea is eventually covered with these perfect white blossoms.  actually, some of the flowers have a pink streak, since the hybrid variety came from pink stock.

 

the camellias want some attention, too.

aren't we lucky in socal in march?

ps -- as always, click on the picture to supersize it.  they're a bit blurry as i did not use a flash here at dusk...