Early Flowers Of Spring

I reported previously on the cherry blossoms at Stanley Park on January 2nd. These trees are in a class by themselves...in terms of early coming. Since then I've been looking for other floral signs of spring. Five days ago I spotted the first snow drops...the flower...in someone's garden. Day before yesterday a solitary pink camelia flower. I passed by that very camelia tree yesterday and there were several flowers out on it...it's amazing what a day of sunshine can do. Today it has been a brilliant sunny but cool day. I decided to head out into the sunshine...this time with my trusty little camera in my pocket. I headed for a place in the West End where I've seen early camelia bloomings before...where there are two tall trees. One was decorated with a good number of white camelias...the other with pink ones...I noticed that several of the white camelia blooms were "frost scorched", i.e. browned at their petal tips. I guess the camelia pays a price for coming out so early...suggesting to me that this species probably originated in a part of the world with even a milder winter than Vancouver. I was still thankful for the flowers I did see today...having missed the way they brighten up my life...............Quester.