Saturday, March 27, 2010

Fallen Petals

Today my first trip outside I found maybe 50 blooms of Camellia japonica 'Crimson Candles' on the ground in the back yard. Brought a big handful of them in and placed them in this bowl.
Later after doing all my honeydew stuff I met Meg in Chapel Hill for my first visit to the Coker Arboretum on the UNC Campus.I had heard they had lots of camellias. Saw lots of daffodils, trillium and hellebores before we found the camellias. Not as many as Duke Gardens, still some really nice large bushes.

Here is Camellia X 'Tiny Princess', the bush was maybe 20 foot tall and it was covered in blooms and the ground was covered entirely with fallen petals. Note the white in the background above are fallen petals. Below is the ground under 'Tiny Princess' it looked like this in at least a 10 foot diameter circle under the camellia.
We walked to one of UNC's Librarys. On the way back I found the mother of all fallen petals. These 3 or 4 magnolias were covered in blooms and the ground was covered with petals in an area about 25 foot by 100 foot AMAZING.
Had I know I'd be doing a post about fallen petals I'd taken a photo of all the magnolias and the fallen petals.

When I get more time I hope to do a full post on Coker and show off some of the camellias, daffodils, hellebores, primroses, snowflakes and starflowers.

A lot of you were taken in with our camellia 'La Peppermint' here is another bloom.

For Neil Jean. This is Jet Fire planted next to our February Gold. The cones were yellow when first opened, then slowly they turned orange. I did not get Tete a Tete wrong after all some are showing two heads on a stalk.

Going to end this post with a beautiful daffodil from Coker. Tried to find a name for it, but failed.

20 comments:

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Look at all that color! I'll take them on the plant or on the ground. I should have some daffodils in the next week or so. I'm just tickled that I have lots of green coming up out of the ground.

Helen said...

Love that Tiny Princess. Those translucent petals are beautiful. I might as well admit it. I love all these flowers and think they are all beautiful. Helen

Grasshopper said...

Really nice photos there Randy. Nice shots, I especially like the La Peppermint.The combination of color of the petals looks so amazing. Here, in Florida, we got a St. Bernard's lily flowering today.

Les said...

I believe that Camellias are just a pretty on the ground as they are on the shrub. White varieties almost make their own snowfall.

Chandramouli S said...

How wonderful that place should look. Ahhh! Spring! He's handsome ain't he, with all these wonderful blooms adorning him!
That Daffodil seems to compete with the evening sun!

Phillip Oliver said...

I've wanted La Peppermint ever since I saw it in a catalog. They are all beautiful.

Southern Lady said...

Wow! The carpet of petals is gorgeous! I have never seen so many on the ground at one time. My Star Magnolia is dropping its petals some now. When the wind blows it looks like it is snowing petals. Carla

GloriaBonde said...

like always - you get the most amazing pictures! love it and I love the 2 dragon flies on your header (that's what they are right?)

Jean Campbell said...

I love the look of carpeting when camellia petals and blossoms fall.

The last daffodil is a split corona but I couldn't guess at the name. It is beautiful.

Cyndy said...

Lucky you, down in camellia country! I have a couple in pots up here, as a faint reminder of the show they put on in more temperate climates than Connecticut's. The blossoms in the bowl are really nice!

Jennifer AKA keewee said...

Gorgeous daffs. I plan on adding more varieties to my garden next season.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Wow! So many beautiful flowers. I love the Camellias floating in the bowl. And 'Peppermint' is really cool!

Noelle Johnson said...

I love your collection of Camellia blossoms in the bowl - very creative and beautiful. I am in love with your 'La Peppermint' Camellia :-)

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I love the scattered blooms on the ground, though I am sure it is a hassle to tidy up.
Your bowl full of blooms is a great way to enjoy them a little longer.
I like that Peppermint Camellia. What a beauty.

Dawn said...

Oh my goodness! Those fallen petals make me think of a bed. What a wonderful, dreamy, smell!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I love that the fallen camellia blossoms were still in such good shape, they look beautiful the bowl, and it's such a shame to waste them. This 'La Peppermint' blossom is even more impressive than the last one with such a big splash of red!

Ginger said...

How neat that you found beauty in the fallen blossoms and petals. I've never thought to do anything with the mounds of fallen camellia blossoms, but I always do think it's such a waste for flowers that are still looking good to rot on the ground!
Cool peppermint camellia!

Gail said...

You just can't beat the look beautiful flower petals covering the ground~~One of my favorite spring sights. gail

Skeeter said...

If only my Fall/Winter Camellias would shed their blooms such as this! Such a pretty sight with fallen petals on the ground beneath a blooming bush and tree. I spotted our first Eastern Tiger over the weekend! I was tickled watching it dancing all over the butterfly bushes looking for something in bloom! With expected temps in the 80’s by weeks end, we should be seeing a lot of flutterbugs…

heather @ what's blooming this week said...

You started this post off with such a beautiful picture of the camellias in the bowl, I thought that was it. Until I saw all the other pictures. Love all the blooms on the ground - reminded me of a magnolia tree that I used to have. One year we raked up 7 bags of petals. It was a beautiful perfumed mess as we loaded up the truck and took them to the composting station.