I’m joining Cathy, who blogs at Words and Herbs for her Week of Flowers, 2021. Bloggers are sharing a bit of color/colour to brighten our days.
White isn’t technically a color, but a shade. When I studied theater lighting back in the day, I learned that white light comprises all colors on the spectrum. Conversely, if you throw together all pigments on a piece of paper, you get black. Color or not, white is beautiful in the garden. White is crisp and reflective, providing a nice contrast to the shades of green around it.
This gorgeous Camellia grows along the side of the house in our front garden. They are as messy as they are beautiful. They flower and quickly dump petals daily. I don’t mind. I think they’re spectacular, and who wants a well-behaved garden anyway? I like a little drama.
On the subject of drama, these freesias give the Camellia a run for their money. They refuse to remain in one place, preferring to populate throughout the garden. They’re not concerned that a certain gardener might trip over them when they grow between narrow openings in the walkway. They sure are cheering, though, with their waxy petals and brilliant yellow centers.
Once a year, magical sweet peas dominate the garden. They grow in various colors, and in this beautiful shade of white. The only thing surpassing their beauty is their intoxicating scent. You can’t help but linger in their presence, marveling at nature’s extraordinary gifts.
Gardening Nirvana 
Beautiful white photos, with pleasing explanatory text. I particularly like your messy camellia observation.
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Thank you, Derrick.
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I just saw something today in a garden that is some sort of camellia…yours looks lovely. Here the squirrels eat the blossoms. All the pictures are beautiful.
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Thank you, Lisa. It’s nice to see you here. I hope you are doing okay. I’m not sure why the squirrels don’t eat the blossoms. They’re certainly busy and active in my garden, but they seem to prefer other things. I can’t grow most bulbs because of the squirrels. Narcissus are toxic so they leave them alone, but pretty much everything else is fair game.
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I’m well, Alys, and looking to do a little more blogging now that I’ve cleared up a 2-year to do list…
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That’s impressive!
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All three are beautiful. Freesias must smell nice too. How lovely that they also spread! Camellias are all the more special for flowering so early. Sadly too cold for them here, unless you have a really sheltered garden. Gorgeous photos Alys. Thank you so much for sharing!
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Thank you, Cathy, for inspiring us to share flowers from the garden. I’ve looked forward to both reading and writing posts this week. xo
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My camellias were gone a long time ago and were a hot pink color. I transplanted the bush from the front yard up onto the hill and shaped it into a tree. This year I did not pick up the petals but left them to decompose on the weed block. I would have loved the white like yours. White freesias are so beautiful. P.S. We made it. 🙂
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You made it! Hurray. I can’t wait to hear more. Your package arrived yesterday BTW. Thank you for thinking of me and thank you, too, for the lovely card.
The petals decompose quickly, don’t they. Thinking of you and hoping the journey is going well.
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Stunning, Alys! Thanks so much for sharing.
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Thank you, Jill!
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I love the way white ages to other colors. Beautiful flowers.
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Thank you!
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Flowers that drop can be a pain in the rear; my scarlet hibiscus drops onto my patio tiles and then somehow bake on hard and have to be scrubbed, but it’s worth it for the display. Those white freesias are gorgeous and the smell must be really delicious. The nearest to white I can offer is my native gardenia bush, a small squat shrub that gets entirely covered in very small but highly scented flowers.
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I love gardenias. They are wonderfully scented, aren’t they? I’m smiling about the scarlet hibiscus. I wonder if you could place an inexpensive door mat under the worst of it, something you could blast with a house, or clean with a stiff brush. With my aging hips, I’ll do just about anything to avoid getting down on my knees.
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I confess I mainly scrub up the worst with a broom and when it gets too bad I zap it with the pressure washer. It’s a tiled surface, so no harm done anyway…
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I would love to have freesia self-sowing in my garden, and sweet peas, too. 🙂 I can just imagine the heady perfume! ❤
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Eliza “heady perfume” is a good way to describe the scent. You want to linger nearby.
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White might not be a color, but it is surely beautiful. And oh those Freesias! Can’t grow them in Maine but how I wish I could.
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I wish you could too, Laurie. I like the way they grow along the stem, outward instead of up. I’m amazed at how they’ve spread over the years, and I’m also intrigued that some colors are more prolific than others. There is always something to learn in the garden.
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Oh, you can’t beat white flowers in the garden. I love that Camellia. The form is exquisite.
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There’s a lovely purity about these white blooms. Very interesting to learn it isn’t actually a colour, quite strange too. Am just learning about spectrum light for a course, red and blue light is what plants use for photosynthesis apparently. Sweet peas are lovely but I find them hard to grow well, mine get leggy early in the spring, do you grow from seed?
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I’m not keen on growing camelias not because they drop their petals but because, as soon as they come out, the first drop of rain spoils them – then that’s England for you.☂
I’ve learnt something new about white and that’s not something you can say every day.
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I’m always smitten by white garden flowers as there’s so few to choose from (here anyways) and probably in nature too. I think it might have something to do with the colours native pollinators (bee’s etc.) can see and recognize as something they should go fluff up. The Camelia are so gorgeous. We were in Richmond, Virginia one year when the Dogwoods were blooming. They have an intoxicating scent. They’re also enormous, far bigger than my hand in girth. Hmmm, maybe they’re not considered a flower as they’re on a tree? What say you Ms. Nirvana? xo 💗💗🌸
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I’ve heard about the spectacular dogwoods for years. I hope to “meet one” one day, perhaps when the two of us can resume some sort of travel normalcy. It’s seems light years away right now. [insert heavy sigh].
That’s an interesting observation about white. I’ll have to do some research on that. I’ve read that all plants and trees flower and fruit as part of the cycle. Some are more noticeable than others, and some, like Magnolias, are spectacular. xo
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Ok, you’re going to love this article on blue! Who knew?
https://www.juliannarae.com/blog/the-science-of-being-blue-the-rarest-of-natural-colors
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Well isn’t that something! Righty-O, who knew? Thanks for the article Alys. The science of colour is so interesting. I shall appreciate blue even more now 😀 💗
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I’m learning all the time.
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Pretty!
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Thank you!
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