As the weather is still cold and grey, my camellia sits on the balcony and sulks.
She wears cap and gloves, looks prim and tight lipped, and avoids eye-contact.
I say "Well, missus - than I will visit your sisters."
Meaning: I slip into the mollifying warmth of the conservatories of Berlin's Botanical Garden.
The tropical hothouses I shun: too damp and oppressive the heat there - no, I'm definitely not made for a tropic life, no Qui-hi! for me - but the camellias' hothouse is kept at a pleasant temperature.
Of course: Like master, like man (you can confidently use the female form here): my cammellia and I thrive on praise, so I will tell my homely friend neither of the tallness nor the sheer abundance of red, pink or white blossoms there - it might discourage
Did you know that the great botanist Carl von Linné 1753 gave that plant its name after the Czech
Jesuit Georg Joseph Kamel (1661 - 1706)?
Hope the weather permits my camellia to come out soon - being perfect the way we are, we walk on a confusing wild side.
This is one of the flowers that i like so much and faild to grow here.
ReplyDeleteI imagine, Yael, that it is too hot. They thrive on typical English weather.
DeleteI've not had success with camellias, either, but I know they do well in the southern states that are warm and moist. Like Georgia and Florida. I like them, but they are house plants here.
ReplyDeleteThey are difficult in Berlin too, Joanne: not for nothing they have them in a moderate-temperature-glasshouse here in Berlin (we have sometimes Siberian winters :-)
DeleteIn Hamburg (utterly English weather) you find them outside in the Botanical garden.
I love the red and white camellia and I know you did it on purpose.
ReplyDeleteYes, Emma, I did! And I think that she is very pretty.
DeleteIs the mixed colour Camellia called Marie Antoniette? My mother calls them like that but I don't know if it is another name she gives her flowers - she talks to her plant and loves giving them personal names. I love Camellias but, like Yael and Joanne, I too have had no success with them! Greetings Maria x
ReplyDeleteI have to look that up when I am the next time in the Botanical garden (and the plant still flowers). Marie Antonette sounds very convincing!
DeleteI talk to my plants too (when nobody is near :-), and one great benefit of plants is: They do not contradict!
My success with camellias is dubious too: Berlin's weather... and then: they look a bit dull on a balcony when they stop flowering (I love their foliage in free nature).
A friend bought me a camellia for my birthday and it is flowering beautifully ..... it's a red one but there's not any menstruating here anymore !!!!! haha !!!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteThat isn't a bad thing, I believe :-)
DeleteDo you have the camellia in- or outside, Jackie? Mine is a red one too (at the moment only green buds). XXXX