Category: Everyday Life

Talking about flowers, 3

We went to see flowers again last Sunday, too. So let’s talk about them.

For the past few years, at this time of year, we’ve gone to see the Paeonia suffruticosa and Paeonia.
Last week we saw that one kind of Paeonia suffruticosa, called kaoh, was in bloom, and it had been warm for a few days. So we anticipated that it was the right time for them all to be in bloom, but only about ten percent had flowers.

Under the full blossoms of a double-layered cherry, we ate nori-ben. (A lunch box; the main ingredient is tasty nori seaweed. We were going to order something different, but the nori-ben was on sale until that day, and so we bought it. We hadn’t had it for a while, and it was nice.)
‘How beautiful!’ People passing by the cherry trees looked on, and admired them. And we were eating lunch under the boughs. Somehow we felt badly for them as they admired the beautiful flowers, and also saw us between the blooms.

Before, we didn’t know which flowers were Paeonia suffruticosa and which were Paeonia, or when they were at their best. Now, when I see the flouncey big Paeonia suffruticosa, I feel I prefer Paeonia. Other people around us complimented them, and they are certainly beautiful, but some part of my mind resists them. I feel ‘They are really oh-so photogenic, aren’t they?’ or something like that.
(But I really admire the people who take care of them. It looks very troublesome and difficult. Thank you for showing the flowers to us.)

Well, this year we tried to figure out which one was which, but the right signs were hard to find.

Anyway, next up, the Paeonia’s best time will be around Golden Week? (The Japanese holidays between the end of April and early May.)

– YS, 17 April 2007

17 April 2007