My camellia is on the south facing wall of the house and is budded and ready to bloom. It usually blooms here in late January or early February. The seasons confuse me here: I still expect it to be warm by April and it really is not warm then at all. We often see very erratic sun until July fourth, when the sun deigns to shine on us. By then the days are shortening already!

With the climate changing, I don’t know what the camellia will do. We had our record breaking day of 100 degrees Fahrenheit two summers ago. My plum tree had about three plums this year and one rhododendron died slowly over the next year after the heat. It put out blooms last spring but it was cold and cold and cold and it finally just moved on to leaves and died. I did water for the hot two weeks, but it was not enough. What further changes will we see?

For Cee’s Flower of the Day.