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You Say “ca-MEE-lia”; I Say ”ca-MELL-ia”

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The camellia, the Deep South’s winter belle, freshly accents the dormant garden. Its Asian invasion long forgotten, the camellia japonica is Sweet Home Alabama’s beloved state flower. No matter how you drawl it, this flower is a cold-weather keeper.

Speaking of pretty blooms and soon-to-be spring . . . now is the time to think of planting season. The New Southern Living Garden Book—updated for the first time in 10 years—awaits your fingertips. In an almost a half-century tradition, Mom’s eager hands wore down her own copy.

The goldenrod, once Alabama’s state flower, was shunned as a roadside weed. “Ah-Choo!”

Credits:

Camellias courtesy of C. T. Johansson

Goldenrod courtesy of Frank Mayfield, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gmayfield10/5306901503/

6 responses to “You Say “ca-MEE-lia”; I Say ”ca-MELL-ia””

donnaanddiablo

February 11, 2015 at 12:34 pm

Ahhh yes, flowers…. I have a *vague* recollection of what those look like, and maybe I’ll see them again someday after this 3′ of snow melts. Sigh….

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1. Catherine Hamrick
  
  February 15, 2015 at 2:55 pm
  
  Oh, another storm blowing your way! It was 7 degrees in DE this am, but I will not complain! How’s that energy bill? Worse than last year?
  
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Karen Lin

February 11, 2015 at 11:34 pm

So beautiful. Keep me apprised of your goings on.

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1. Catherine Hamrick
  
  February 15, 2015 at 2:53 pm
  
  Hi Karen, Will do. We need to catch up–a lot! How about next weekend?
  
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Beauty Along the Road

February 16, 2015 at 11:30 pm

I was surprised to see camellias blooming in January when I visited South Carolina. They are the roses of the South, aren’t they?!

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1. Catherine Hamrick
  
  February 16, 2015 at 11:40 pm
  
  In a sense, one might call them the roses of winter. The UNC Planetarium garden has lovely roses in June and September. Thanks for dropping this note.
  
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