Thursday, January 26, 2012

Perfect


My daughter came into the house after youth group the other night and said she wanted me to see this flower she found on the sidewalk. She said it was the most perfect rose she had ever seen and I explained to her that is because it isn't a rose, it is a Camellia. They are starting to bloom here. February is actually the peak for them in southern California.


I told her they are lovely floated in a bowl of water. She is like her momma. I am a wanna-be botanist. I love plants and studying garden books. My Southern Living Garden guide is dog eared beyond measure from years of study. We study wild flowers while camping and try to name trees with our guides.


I can remember having potted plants that I tended as a kid. I would take a little bit of money and walk to a near-by green house and buy a little plant to take home and tend. Dirt under my finger nails runs deep. My father was born on a farm and was a gardener for Louis B. Mayer right after WWII. Our yard was always perfect growing up and I get antsy if our yard needs mowing. I'd rather spend a day in the yard than anywhere else. When you complete a task in the yard it stays nice for a while. With the house it is different and you must accept that jobs never stay completed for long. I have no problem leaving a pile of laundry to tend to the yard.

24 comments:

  1. Love your post. The camilla is beautiful. My mother would float camillias in a bowl of water. I don't know why I have chosen to do it. You are so right...a house never stays put together, but would we want it any other way. It is proof a family loves and lives there. Bonnie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Floating that pretty pink camellia blossom in a bowl is the perfect thing to do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would rather be out working in the yard too. I'm much more concerned that it looks good than the inside of the house. But I have to wait for a few months to get out there. I really miss it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Camellia is very beautiful! I don't know if I have ever seen one in real life, it's so perfect.
    I wish I enjoyed gardening more, I love being outside, so that helps, but I'm not particularly good at it.
    Hugs, Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  5. You should be so proud you have taught your daughter to appreciate the simple beauty in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The camellia is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing with those us who won't see flowers blooming in our yards for months. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow, that's the most glorious flower ever. so beautiful. i can imagine how it looks in person. (:

    ReplyDelete
  8. So beautiful!! Thanks for sharing with us.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Same with me, I love plants.

    Gardening and flowers. When I moved to California in 2010 all my inside plants went with us too, in the car. I lived there for a year and half in Southern California and see camelias for the first time on my life they are so beautiful and perfect; now I'm back to Florida and I missing all the labande and the beautiful roses from California.

    I hope one day I live there again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. When the good weather hits, I head outdoors to garden. Then I feel guilty about ignoring the house. Our season is so short that I can't bear to miss a day! Imagine picking flowers in Jan! ~ Maureen

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pretty!
    I had no idea what a Camellia looked like until now. It's pretty.
    I'm with you -- I'd leave a pile of laundry to be outside anyday!

    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  12. beautiful, makes me think of spring!! Thank you, you made my day.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love Camillas! They are blooming here now in south Alabama. The girls & I are always trying to find the names of flowers, trees and birds with field guides. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I hear ya...I'd rather be out in my gardens any day...except that won't happen for me until May :(
    I love camillas...never planted them. wonder if they'll grow here in Buffalo, NY?
    patti

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a beautiful flower! Thank you for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love camellias. I grew up having grandparents who owned a large florist and greenhouses. Some of my earliest and favorite memories are sitting in the potting shed with my grandfather learning the proper way to plant flowers.
    Laura

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Elaine,
    What a beautiful flower! I love gardening too and have no problem leaving the laundry for another day! Oh, I can't wait to see the spring flowers popping up in the yard.
    -Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  18. I wish I had more of a green thumb like my Mom does!
    I am trying. This spring we will plant our second garden. I can't wait.

    thanks for your sweet comment on my blog. I am feeling much better after my massage last night! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. my mom always floated them in a bowl, and I do the same thing with gardenias.....that one is PERFECT!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Elaine,

    Beautiful! I used to do this with big white magnolias.


    Gabriela

    ReplyDelete
  21. Our camellias are almost all gone *sadface* Did you know that they are our state flower (Alabama)?

    It is a perfect specimen. So pretty!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I would be in the house, reading online about y'all's yards and camellias :) Hugs ~ Mary

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a beautiful camellia! How lucky to live where they bloom!

    ReplyDelete