Today it was supposed to be rainy, yet it didn't happen until 4pm. I dropped Meg off at pottery and went to see the spring camellias at Sara P Duke Gardens. WOW perhaps 50 species in bloom only few left not blooming yet. The Hellebores were in full bloom, unlike last weekend.
Camellia japonica 'Crimson Candles' above and below from Sara P Duke Gardens. This camellia was developed right here in Chapel Hill at Camellia Forest!
This camellia we have in our garden and it has buds just like above.
Just below Crimson Candles was this incredible hellebore in full bloom.
Certainly my favorite of the day.
Certainly my favorite of the day.
Camellia japonica 'Greensboro Red' another local camellia named for Greensboro NC. We also have this in our garden and have not yet seen its blooms.
Chinese Willow leaf Magnolia, Magnolia biondii this was kind of scrappy but it had the coolest blooms on any magnolia I have ever seen.
While we are on magnolias here is the other type blooming at Duke Gardens right now.
Magnolia x loebneri 'ballerina'
Magnolias at Duke Gardens are just starting so stay tuned to later posts if you want to see more of them.
Camellia japonica 'Shikbu'
Walked right by this one and the sun pasted behind the clouds and I walked back and found it. One of my favorites no question.
Camellia japonica 'Pink Perfection' I agree! This closely resembles 'October Affair' which I featured last fall. "October Affair' is still blooming too;
This white crocus was huge at least 10 inches tall!
My macro photo of the day!
Get a load of those Carolina blue Skies and while at Duke.
Get a load of those Carolina blue Skies and while at Duke.
I confess it is hard to see these... and not wish I were there! Beautiful blooms and photos all! Especially the Camellias!
ReplyDeleteI love your pictures of the camellias. I took some pictures of camellias today at a friend's house. Her mother had planted them many years ago and they were beautiful. As always, I love your post. Carla
ReplyDeleteI love my 'Crimson Candles'. It is very cold hardy, has great foliage and is prolific every year. There are also sever 10' tall camellias for sale in my neigborhood, house attached.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite photo of yours in this post is Pink Perfection. The beauty almost takes your breath away. What a treat to see all of these beauties and thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteFlowerLady
Pink Perfection gets my vote! That must be the most perfect pink color on a camellia. I wonder if it was bred at Camellia Forest?
ReplyDeleteMy son and I headed down to Big Bloomers while the Musician went off to play bluegrass. I got agave, sedum and sempervivums for container plantings. I'm doing a book review on succulents and decided to do a container or two to put the book through a real test.
Slowly working my way back to reading everyone's postings. Getting a house ready for sale with three dogs undoing what was for a brief moment a clean floor, is nerve-wracking. Unfortunately there are no Camellias attached to this house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cameron, love Pink Perfection.
Looks like you had a picture perfect day.
Those Hellebores are beautiful. I love Camellia japonica 'Shikbu'
ReplyDeleteand 'Pink Perfection'.
Gorgeous photos, thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteAccording to my sources, Pink Perfection was created well before Duke University. It is truly an oldie.
It is second favorite only to Debutante, on my list. Debutante is a little paler and a little more formal.
Beautiful photographs! I miss having Camellias around. Our last garden was entirely to hot to grow them, and so far I don't have any here...but am scheming and plotting to remedy that soon!
ReplyDeleteAren't camellias fabulous? They don't do much for local wildlife, but they're spectacular and hardy. What's not to like about that?
ReplyDeleteI love the camellias especially because i haven't seen them in real life, only a big white magnolia as big as 1ft in diameter, but i did not see the plant. The crocus is also lovely, as most of your photos are!
ReplyDeleteJust love that place. I was over there for the Garden Writers event this past year. Looks like it is time for another visit.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right Randy it's H. xnigercors "Honeyhill Joy" and quite lovely to look at! Speaking of lovely to look at~~the magnolia flowers are stellar! I am liking Chinese Willow Leaf Magnolia a lot! gail
ReplyDeleteAn exquisite collection, Randy! But my favorite had to be the blue sky, something not seen here for way too long. Those hellebores are fabulous. :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
You picked a lovely day to visit Duke Gardens- I see you have a yellow flower on blue sky photo similar to the one I posted taken the same day. I'm glad you posted a pic of Pink Perfection- it just moved up a notch on my list:)
ReplyDeleteRandy, I'm in awe of all the hellebore blooms you saw, and the number on just one plant (100+)...which you wrote in your comment to me...is absolutely fantastic! Must be amazing in person! These camellias and magnolias are something special, too. Right now I am just waiting, waiting and waiting for my hellebores to give me some sort of showing. One or two blooms is nice but just not enough to get overly excited about...although, I guess that depends on my mood in any given day;-) I had planted several new ones last year and they aren't doing much of anything this year, yet. I think it takes several years for them to produce anything 'significant'. My 'older' ones were divided last year, so they aren't as prolific, either. But wow, I am impressed by these and you certainly have captured them well;-) Thanks for your visit!
ReplyDeleteWhat exquisite photos you've posted. The camellias and hellebores look so otherworldly, and the magnolia made me dream of days yet to come, when my two plants join in the blooming festival. This year, I hope to add 'Yellow Bird' and a saucer magnolia to the collection. So many plants, so little time...
ReplyDeleteThat's a garden I would like to visit! One of these days...the closest I've come is a magnet a family member brought me back! Ha.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed all the lovely pictures!
I just can't imagine having all those camelias and magnolias in bloom this early. Here in rural western NJ, we're a month or six weeks behind you. Call me envious.
ReplyDeleteAwesome camellias. I think Pink Perfection has to be my favorite though I'm not sure why pink. I'm anxiously awaiting two of mine to bloom here (Red tie and a White one). Must be spring. The star magnolias look great.
ReplyDeleteCamellias are such a great plant, and the prettiest bloomer in the winter garden. Looks like you enjoyed lots of pretty blooms.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the purple hellebore. But they are all gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI take it back--my favorite is the trout lily, for the degree of difficulty. They are so hard to photograph well. What do you shoot with?
ReplyDeleteWhat riotous blooms, Randy! They look wonderful. Crimson Candles - Doesn't that mock other blooms with her exquisite beauty?
ReplyDeleteHi Randy,
ReplyDeleteI came here to scroll down to see if you use a stat counter. I used to, but it quit working, so I thought about getting a different one. You have to use a banner for some, and I couldn't tell if the banner was just for their site, or if it has ads in it.
Anyway, I sure enjoyed seeing your beautiful blooms! That one reddish hellebore is stunning, but I love them all. I hope mine get clusters of blooms on them instead of one or two opening at a time.
That camellia "Pink Perfection" is amazing. In my opinion, camellias are more beautiful that roses (although I don't know about fragrance, my camellia seems to have none), and no thorns.
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