Irony

From the photograph you might think that this post is another one about camellias, but that is not really my point.

First the story: In 2001 we were about to sell my parents’ house, the one I grew up in. My dad had planted some 200 camellia bushes all along the back line of two entire lots. I wanted to try and get some cuttings for rooting or grafting, but after many storms and low-life tenants, nearly all the labels were gone. I got quite a number of cuttings from several bushes, but for the most part didn’t know what was what. Later I further mixed up the ones I thought I knew. It was an emotional time for me, and I was not thinking entirely clearly. One that I particularly wanted, but could not identify, was a “La Peppermint”, a sentimental favorite of mine. And, I apparently did not get a cutting from it.

This fall for the first time the Botanical Gardens plant sale offered La Peppermint in its camellia selection, so I was finally able to get one. When I got the first bloom a couple of weeks ago (in the first photo) it did not look like it was supposed to. Either I had a sport on my hands, or it’s not what it claims, though certainly pretty.


A few days later, one of my “unknowns” from the original cuttings bloomed (second photo) for the first time.
It is a La Peppermint.