Finally, Camellias!

With several days of warmer temps, the camellias on the west side of my house are finally achieving their annual glory. I was getting worried.

Camellias are natives to Asia and were brought to Europe by a Jesuit missionary named G. J. Camellus. I call them trees, but they're actually shrubs with glossy evergreen leaves and white, pink, red, or variegated roselike flowers.

All the camellia in my yard (planted by the previous owner) seem to be of the same variety, which gives nice continuity. But there are so many varieties of camellias, I kind of wish I had some different ones just for fun. See photos at right.