...And did I mention the vulgar

...beauty and variety of our camellias?

A nameless bush appearing all over town. Property owners planted but had no idea it would be such a show stopper

Japanes magnolia or tulip tree is one of Savannah's first blooms of Spring. This one, having been exposed to March winds is past prime

A few ahead-of-time azaleas saying, "It's my turn."

Our Valentine's Day Camellia bush in bloom


Savannah Spring

Savannah’s Winter show flower is the Camellia, of which there must be a couple of hundred varieties. One, the susanqua, begins blooming in late October and the last to bloom have names like pink perfection, debutante, white empress, methonianna rubra, pirates gold and on and on ad infinitum. They continue blooming until Spring. We have one that is usually in full bloom on Valentine’s Day but this year it was a bit late. I snapped a photo for your enjoyment. It was late this year waiting, I guess, on the cooler weather which never fully arrived. Spring blooming here begins with the Japanese magnolias/ tulip trees followed quickly by azaleas and wisteria. All very beautiful from beginning to end. Our azaleas are impatient, trying to bloom ahead of their Easter season peak. I snapped a picture of one of ours that seems to be saying, “It’s my turn! It’s my turn.”

I had an interesting experience this week that points out that flowers aren’t the only things that bloom in the Spring in Savannah. If you read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil you know we’re well known for our eccentrics as well. As a business woman I had the duty of meeting clients at a Condo development. Since they were arriving from Florida, I arrived early to accommodate their uncertain arrival time. I had met with some of their associates earlier so I’d been to this spot on several occasions. As I waited in the sunshine of a beautiful sunny day with perfect temperature, a woman from the next door approached my car. I rolled down the window and smiled as she approached.

“What are you doing here. Dr. Spienchgdvfichenclast?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” I responded reaching for my business card.

“I know who you are and I want this to stop,” she declared angrily.

“I’m afraid you have me confused with someone else,” I tried to explain and continued to reassure her why I was waiting there. I pushed up my sunglasses so she could get a thorough look at my face. She did not change her mind or tone. “As you see from my card I’m Nan Peacocke. May I ask who you are?” (Business people must be SO polite that it’s disgusting and hard to explain why I didn’t reach for my cell phone and dial 911. Later I noted my cellular wasn’t even working so it would have done no good.)

She rattled off a first name that had no vowels but all sorts of extraneous consonants (not that it matters but it is disconcerting to be accosted by a thickly accented foreigner on your own turf. Not that that mattered either. Americans are used to freaky encounters with oddballs ranting). The last name was Villk. She spelled both for me as if I were an imbecile but I didn’t bother to try to remember the first. “What are you doing here?” I asked, meaning at my car window.

“I have been with the International United States-Polish …”blah, blah, blah she continued with some official sounding alliance except for the ridiculously long, involved name of the affiliation. “And I know you. The last time I saw you, you were the doctor. And I know you when I see you,” she continued.

Certain she was a nut tree in full bloom but unsure of her variety, I tried several humoring tacks. From “I come from a large family and we are often mistaken for each other” to “You need help, my dear,” but nothing seemed to convince her. She returned to her Condo but left the door open to monitor me, I guess.

Well, at least all the nuts in Savannah aren’t home grown.

Have I told you how lovely our forsythia has been?