Chickweed (Stellaria Media) コハコベ（小繁縷）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Why didn't I notice such tiny but beautiful flowers? I walk there every early morning, but didn't see chickweeds at all. I googled and found that that was understandable. Chickweed flowers are close and leaves fold up at night. I was carrying heavy groceries when finding them but of course stopped to photograph them. The flower has five petals but they're bifid, which makes the flower look like having ten petals.  

Chickweed (Stellaria)　ハコベ（繁縷）

Shepherd's Purse (Capsella Bursa-Pastoris) ナズナ（ペンペングサ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) is native to East Europe and West Asia and can be found across Japan. It produces flowers from March to July. As the name suggests, its fruits look like purses.

2025/3/4

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

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. It was warmer in February but got colder in March. It's been very windy these days. Such unusual weather has delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season across Japan. (I saw almost full-bloomed blossoms on these Yoko cherry trees in mid-March last year.) But that's not bad, is it? 

Yoko cherry (Cerasus Yoko)　ヨウコウザクラ（陽光桜）

Spiraea Thunbergii (Baby's Breath Spirea) 雪柳（ユキヤナギ）

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

They're baby's breath spirea (Spiraea thunbergii). The plant is called in Japanese "snow willow" after its snow white flowers and flexible stems like willow. 

Baby's breath spirea (Spiraea thunbergii)　ユキヤナギ（雪柳）

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) and you may think now these are beautiful cherry blossoms, but in Japan, they're not "cherry." 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. These blossoms are called in Japanese "beniba sumomo," meaning "red leaf plum."

Having said that however, many Japanese, including myself before knowing that, don't distinguish between Prunus and Cerasus exactly. That's why while I was photographing them, two women talked to me, saying that these cherry blossoms were so pretty. I proudly😜 explained that they were not "cherry" but "plum." Both were surprised and thanked me! The cherry, oops, plum blossoms, not only gave me joy but also created opportunities to have enjoyable chats with these ladies.

Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)　ベニバスモモ（紅葉李）

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles Speciosa) ボケ（木瓜）

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

These are flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa). They're beautiful but called in Japanese "bokay or bokey," meaning silly or stupid😂. Although their name is terrible, the flower language includes pioneer and passion. Flowering quince produces white, pink, and red flowers, too.  

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)　ボケ（木瓜）

Purple Coral Pea (Hardenbergia) ハーデンベルギア

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

About two weeks ago, I wrote about purple coral pea (Hardenbergia) flower buds. At that time, the owner said many times that the flowers were beautiful when in bloom, asking me to come to her house again. I didn't doubt her but didn't expect that much. But when visiting her house again, I was surprised! The flowers were really beautiful in terms of both color and shape. 

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia)　ハーデンベルギア

 

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2週間ほど前にハーデンベルギアの蕾について書きました。その時、友人が花はきれいだよと何度も何度も言ってました。別に疑ってはいませんでしたが、実際見てびっくり。色も形も本当に綺麗！

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Oriental Paperbush (Edgeworthia Chrysantha) ミツマタ（三椏）

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

Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha) has started to bloom. It was raining and cold that day, so finding the yellow blooms, which are actually sepals, made me smile!

Oriental paperbush is in the same family as winter daphne (i.e., the Thymelaeaceae family), which makes sense. Their bud shapes resemble each other.

Oriental paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha)　ミツマタ（三椏）

Two Pink Plum Blossoms on a White Plum Tree 源平咲きの梅

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

This is a Japanese plum tree (Prunus mume) with a few pink flowers. I said a few because the rest are all white. Scientifically, there's no white plum tree. Red plum trees have white flowers when they cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red (or pink). I remember this tree having more pink flowers last year, so I've been waiting for it to bloom but this year, the tree seems to have been able to produce enough anthocyanins to have only a couple of pink flowers...

Pink plum blossoms are gorgeous but these pink ones among white blossoms are not that bad, are they? 

  

White and pink plum blossoms on a tree　源平咲きの梅

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近所の梅です。去年は確か紅梅をつけていたので楽しみにしていたのですが、今年は紅梅は2、3個。十分なアントシアニンを作れなかったようです。紅梅は白梅より豪華ですが、こんな風に白梅に囲まれたピンクもなかなかでは。

ちなみに白梅の木は存在しないんです。ご興味ある方はこちらのサイトをどうぞ！

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Hairy Grey Heather (Erica Canaliculata) ジャノメエリカ

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

These tiny flowers caught my eye a few days ago and this afternoon I was able to photograph them. They're flowers of the hairy grey heather (Erica canaliculata). The plant's Japanese name is "snake eye Erica." If you want to know why, take a look at the second photo!

Hairy grey heather (Erica canaliculata)　ジャノメエリカ

Purple Coral Pea (Hardenbergia) ハーデンベルギア

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

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia) has started to bud. I'd heard a lot about the plant from a friend of mine but never seen the flowers, so I was surprised at the pretty pink when seeing them for the first time at her house. Now I'm looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. 

Purple coral pea (Hardenbergia)　ハーデンベルギア