Red Roses Out Of Place 場違いな赤いバラ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I'm not interested in roses very much. They're beautiful but too gorgeous to take up for this blog. But this rose tree, which is now in full bloom, caught my eye. Just by itself, in front of an old building, it seemed a bit out of place to me. I also wonder who has planted and taken care of it.

2025/5/16

Toad Lily (Tricyrtis Formosana) タイワンホトトギス（台湾杜鵑草）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Hang in there, buddy! The snail was like in the second and third photos yesterday and in the first photo this morning. The flower it was holding onto is a toad lily (Tricyrtis formosana). The plant is said to flower from August to September but I've come to believe toad lilies flower throughout the year because I saw them today (i.e., in May) but in December last year and in September the year before. 

The plant is named after spots on a toad's skin and its preference of shady, moist places like toads. In Japan, however, the toad lily is called "hototogisu," which translates into "lesser cuckoo," also after its spots, which, to Japanese people, look like the chest plumage of the bird. Perception varies. 

2025/5/16

2025/5/15 From above

2025/5/15 From side

Mushrooms キノコ

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It was amazing to find not one or two but five types of mushrooms just in a day. These mushrooms hadn't existed a few days earlier, so it means that they've just popped up for the past couple of days, during which it had rained. They resemble edible mushrooms, such as shiitake (1st and 2nd photos) and shimeji (last two photos) and that's why the ministry of agriculture, forestry, and fishery has a website on poisonous mushrooms in Japan (in Japanese only).   

Spiderwort ムラサキツユクサ（紫露草）

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They're spiderworts (Tradescantia). The beautiful color contrast between the petals and stamens caught my eye, which is understandable. Purple and yellow are complementary colors, creating the strongest contrast.

Spiderworts are native to North America, one of many plants coming to Japan from western countries at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868 to 1912). The purple of these spiderworts seems paler than last year but they may change color during the flowering period from May to October.    

2025/5/12

2025/5/12

2025/5/12

Citrus Natsudaidai 夏みかん

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There're citrus natsunatsudaidai trees in my neighborhood. Some still have fruits (although I've never found fallen ones on the ground) while others have no fruits but flowers in full bloom instead. Citrus natsudaidai is called in Japanese "natsu mikan," which translates into "summer orange," because the fruits ripe in autumn but stay on the tree and are usually eaten in summer the following year. This tree has no fruits but flowers and bees, one of which was hovering over the flowers for enough time to take these photos.  

2025/5/10

2025/5/10

2025/5/10

Japanese Water Iris (Iris Ensata) ハナショウブ（花菖蒲）

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This is a Japanese water iris (Iris ensata). The contrast between deep purple and yellow is so beautiful. The irises grow in wet land and flower in June and therefore its name "hana shoubu" is used as a kigo (i.e., a word or phrase associated with a particular season used in haiku) that represents early June to early July. Japanese water irises produce flowers of more than 500 colors.

A Beautiful Melody 水滴の音符♬

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you see? I see a beautiful melody. 

Small-Leaf Spiderwort (Tradescantia Fluminensis) トキワツユクサ（常盤露草）

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The beautiful contrast between the white petals and the deep green leaves caught my eye. They're small-leaf spiderwort (Tradescantia fluminensis). Oops, I forgot to say something. The six yellow anthers also play an important role, making the color contrast more visible. 

2025/5/9

2024/5/11

Daylily with Round Petals (Hemerocallis) ヘメロカリス

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Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are native to East Asia and can be found across Japan. Daylilies are diverse in terms of color and petal shape. The flowers in this post have round petals while some have pointed petals.   

Daylilies are "wasure gusa" in Japanese, which translates into "plant to forget things," meaning that you can forget bad things if you carry them. On the other hand, forget-me-nots are "wasurena gusa" in Japanese." The difference (i.e., the "na" part), however, creates a huge difference in flower meanings. Forget-me-nots represents true love whereas daylilies flirtation and forgotten love.  

2020/6/2

Japanese Dogwood (Cornus Kousa) ヤマボウシ（山法師）

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I wasn't able to enjoy flowering dogwood much this year but instead found this Japanese dogwood tree (Cornus kousa), which was so gorgeous, especially from under the tree (3rd photo). I thought at first that the tree was a flowering dogwood because the bracts are not pointed, which is a key difference between flowering and Japanese dogwoods, but I found on the internet that Japanese dogwood trees can have rounded bracts, so I determined that it was a Japanese dogwood tree. 

Japanese dogwood is called "yama boushi" in Japanese, which translates to "Buddhist monk" by comparing the head (or capitulum) of the flower to the head of a monk of the Hieizan (Mt. Hiei) Enryakuji temple and the four bracts surrounding the capitulum to his hood.

2025/5/4

2025/5/4

2025/5/4

Clasping Venus' Looking-Glass (Triodanis Perfoliata) キキョウソウ（桔梗草）

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This is Triodanis perfoliata or more commonly known as clasping Venus' looking-glass growing on roadsides. There're many of them growing but only this one had flowers this morning.   

2025/5/5

2025/5/5