Red Camellia 真っ赤な落椿

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

People across Japan are excited about the start of the cherry blossom season, but they are missing something as beautiful as cherry blossoms. Camellia trees are now in full bloom, so the flower heads in my neighborhood are scattered on the ground as shown in the second photo!! 

Japanese camellia look like sasanqua and experts provide several ways to distinguish these two camellia flowers, i.e., the size of trees and the timing of flowering, but the most interesting difference is how they fall or die. When Japanese camellia flowers die, the flower heads fall off in their entirety and this way of dying was associated with beheaded human heads in the Edo (samurai) period. Naturally, despite their beauty, camellia flowers were unpopular among samurai. Unlike Japanese camellia, sasanqua flowers die with petals falling off one by one.

Red camellia is in full bloom　椿が満開

 

Camellia flower heads reminded samurai of beheaded human heads
これが首を連想させたそうです

Yoko Cherry Blossoms (Cerasus ‘Yoko’) 陽光桜（ヨウコウザクラ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

They're Yoko cherry blossoms (Cerasus ‘Yoko’). The pink blossoms stood out from a distance and have increased the number of types of cherry trees I've seen this spring so far to three. 

For the last several years, I've created a list of cherry blossoms I see in the spring and the lists last year and in the year before didn't include cherry laurel blossoms because the tree is not counted as cherry in Japan. (Click here to find out why.) But how can "cherry" laurel not be a cherry tree?! So I've included cherry laurel in the list this year as below. The list should include more!!🌸

• Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata)
• Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)

Yoko cherry blossoms　陽光桜

Cerasus ‘Yoko’　ヨウコウザクラ

Cherry Laurel (Prunus Laurocerasus) 紅葉李（ベニバスモモ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

They're cherry laurel blossoms (Prunus laurocerasus). They are cherry blossoms, but not counted as such in Japan. The western countries consider all the plants in the Prunus genus as cherry while Asian countries including Japan consider only those in the Cerasus subgenus (i.e., a subgenus of Prunus) cherry. 

Cherry laurel　紅葉李

Prunus laurocerasus　ベニバスモモ

Forsythia 連翹（レンギョウ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Forsythia has started to flower. Many plants produce yellow flowers but forsythia's yellow is brighter than that of wintersweet or winter hazel.   

Forsythia　連翹

Forsythia　レンギョウ

Eurya Japonica (East Asian Eurya) 姫榊（ヒサカキ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are buds of Eurya japonica, known as East Asian eurya. I've not found new plants in my neighborhood these days because I've taken an early morning walk every day for over three years since Covid-19 started and learned the location of almost every plant. So, it was nice to find East Asian eurya and look it up on the internet!

East Asian eurya is in the Pentaphylacaceae family as Japanese Ternstroemia is, my another favorite plant. 

Eurya japonica　姫榊

East Asian eurya　ヒサカキ

White & Pink Thunberg's Meadowsweet 雪柳＆桃色雪柳

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

They're Spiraea thunbergii or more commonly Thunberg spiraea or Thunberg's meadowsweet. The plant is called in Japan "snow willow" after its snow white flowers and flexible stems like willow. But you know what? There is another cultivar producing pinkish white flowers (i.e., Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pinky')!

Spiraea thunbergii　雪柳

Spiraea thunbergii 'Fujino Pinky'　桃色雪柳

Dwarf Lilyturf (Ophiopogon Japonicus) 蛇の髭（ジャノヒゲ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are fruits of dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus). Round red fruits, such as coral ardisia, are seen in many places, but blue fruits are not that common, aren't they? 

In Japan, dwarf lilyturf is called "snake's beard" or "dragon's beard" after its thin beard-like leaves. 

Dwarf lilyturf　蛇の髭

Ophiopogon japonicus　ジャノヒゲ

Red Japanese Camellia (Camellia Japonica) 赤い椿

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica). Several camellia trees grow in my neighborhood but this one produces much bigger flowers than the others and I know why. This tree is in the garden of an apartment complex and the owner must have grown it very carefully. 

They're so beautiful, but sadly the complex will be demolished soon for urban redevelopment.

Japanese camellia　椿

Pinkish White Plum Blossoms 淡いピンクの梅

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This plum tree should produce pink blossoms, so I've been looking forward to them since last month as I did last year, but so far I've seen only white blossoms. 

Scientifically, white flowering plum trees produce white blossoms while pink flowering plum trees, like this one, produce pink and white blossoms depending on whether they have sufficient anthocyanins to make the flowers red (or pink). Apparently, the tree doesn't have enough anthocyanins.

Because of the mechanism, pink flowering plum trees sometimes produce half and half colored blossoms. (Read this post!). 

Pinkish white plum blossoms　淡いピンクの梅

Chinese Quince (Chaenomeles Speciosa) 木瓜（ボケ）

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Chinese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) has started to bloom in my neighborhood. The red is so bright that I mistook them for Christmas berries at first. Chinese quince flowers are pretty and the fruits can be used to make jam, but sadly in Japan, plum is more popular as a flower and an ingredient of jam.  

Chinese quince　木瓜

Homemade Candied Pomelo Peel 2023 パール柑の砂糖漬け作りました

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've just made candied pomelo peel for the first time this season. Because I didn't use fruit, which I ate last night😋, the peel is brownish (which I don't like😂) but sweeter than the hassaku orange marmalade I made last year. The peel goes perfectly well with a cup of coffee!! (I'm a coffee lover!☕)

Homemade candied pomelo peel 2023 パール柑の砂糖漬け