Autumn at GardenSpirit

Camellias.
Until I moved to North Carolina, I'd never really known much about them.
Now they are my favorite fall bloom. And winter bloom. And early spring bloom.

These gorgeous puffy flowers started blooming two weeks ago - Snowstorm, I believe is the name of the cultivar - with double white frothy flowers sprinkled in between the rich glossy green leaves. Ah.... it makes me want to to look at them again just for a moment.

Yes, they are as beautiful as in my mind's eye.

Not that spring and summer flowers aren't beautiful. It's just so unexpected to find something thriving, bursting into life, when everything else had faded. Even the brilliant leaves have passed their prime. The branches are more bare than adorned today. Perhaps that's why I don't love fall the way some people do. I crave the potential of new seedlings and raw earth.

So, today, I will drink in the sassy I-dare-you-to-freeze-my-blossoms camellias. Knowing that we all bloom in our own right and perfect time.