This morning Tetsu and I went out early with our cameras. We realize that we haven't been able to get out very much the past few months probably because we don't feel we can leave John alone all day long. When we had Choco, she was an outdoor dog and so though she probably wasn't happy about it, she got left in the yard all day and could do her business outside and maybe pass the time barking at birds and passersby. The two times we tried taking John with us in the car he was very angry and ferocious and it seemed like we were just causing him more anxiety on top of whatever other issues he has... Thus, we subconsciously stay close to home. (And not to blame everything on John, it HAS been winter around here!)
Tetsu read about a pretty forest glade an hour or so away from us and so we took off around 7:00 this morning and had a nice drive through the countryside. Unfortunately it was a really cold day, but we bundled up well and I even donned hiking boots thinking that we were going to be doing a lot of walking. As it turned out, the glade is so far off in the mountains that there was a shuttle bus running from a parking area and we traveled by bus to the forest area and then walked through the well kept glade of....
Mitsumata flowers... In English known as Edgeworthia Chrysantha (I looked it up).
In English, Mitsumata means "trident" and the flowers all bloom in sections of three.
The whole forest floor was covered in Mitsumata bushes!
Yep. Three.
When in full bloom, the flowers are little yellow balls, the yellow petals unfurling near the bottom of the flower and pushing the earlier blossoms upward into the sun. Today, depending on the angle, it looked like either a white sea of flowers (the blossoms facing downward) or a yellow sea where more of the flowers were in bloom.
White side...
A little bit of yellow on the underside...
Full bloom yellow!
It started to snow when we got to the forest! The flowers were surprised too! We thought spring was just around the corner!
Can you get a feel of the forest floor of yellow?
It was like a fairy wonderland.
It was nice that we'd gotten to the forest before more busloads of people got there but a few people in the picture gives you an idea of the perspective.
Looking up through the bushes.
I am more often than not a stay-at-home, stick-in-the-mud type but I must admit that it is very nice to get out and about and enjoy seeing new things!
John got his walk around the neighborhood when we got home.
What beautiful scenery! I haven't seen anything like that before, so it is very interesting to me. I especially like the photo of your smiling face! You do look happy.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful with all those shrubs under the larger trees . In a previous garden I had one shrub, and it had a most delicate perfume.Maybe I need to have one in this new garden. What a wonderful place to visit.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Thank you for sharing. Never seen this before. I googled the "Paperbush Plant" as it is also called (Latin name: Edgeworthia Chrysantha) and found that it can be used to make durable paper. "It was used for many years to make banknotes in Japan" it says. Also used in medicin. So many miracles in God´s earthly garden. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe forest is like a magic wonderland, beautiful photography.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, both you and the flowers.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful forest of flowers. I love it that the two of you are adventurers.
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