Week of January 2, 2022

This begins the fourth year of the TAProots weekly blog. An annual topic for one or more blogs has been the CAMELLIA blossoms, which greet the New Year with a plethora of colors, shapes, and sizes. This year is no exception. The rainy summer and fall stimulated vigorous growth of deep green, glossy leaves, enlarging most bushes considerably. In late November, the Sasanqua camellias bloomed a bit early, with the large, mature bushes by the front door and the young bushes near the citrus trees along the back border ending their blooming by Christmas. Now, the Japonica and Reticulata bushes with red, pink, and rose flowers along the back of the yard have taken over, contributing more than 10 days of blooms, lead by our oldest bush (at least 30 years) at the corner of the house. Several cut flower arrangements have graced our dinner table and desks, though they only last a day or so. The white flowered and several later varieties will be another week or so. I never cease to be amazed and appreciative of these fragile and fresh flowers appearing in the darkest days of the year in many of the yards and gardens of my neighborhood.