Hollyhocks in China

Each country/culture has its own way of using flowers - and in China flowers are cultivated in pots often and then used in amazing displays.  While these flowers were not in any spectacular display, they certainly painted an attractive picture near the main entrance of the university.

Clover

It is surprise to see patches of green clover in China.  Here in Australia we tend to see it as a weed and I don't recall at any time seeing it as a feature in a garden.  It actually looked quite spectacular!

Water on the Lily Pads.

In my last few days in China I visited a former student in Xiaoshan, which is near Hangzhou. Actually the international airport that services that region is at Xiaoshan. I had caught the bus from Shaoxing, which travelled from that city through Keqaio and on to Xiaoshan - it was all built area with very old housing and industrial buildings along the route. Somewhat depressing really, and when I arrived SY was not far away and turned up in her new red car.

The city was busy and she could not get a park so she drove to a newer area where the city was being rebuilt. Wider roads, modern buildings and more parks. The shopping centre was very quiet and there was plenty of parking. We had lunchat a little restaurant, before she drove out to a lake. A very pretty lake.

The photos above were taken around the lake. I am not sure whether they are lily pads or lotus. I thought lotus leaves usually swayed above the water, but there were lotus flowers and no leaves other than these sitting on the top of the water. I thought the little pools of water sitting on the lily pads were fascinating.

It had rained heavily not long before we arrived and the water on the lily pad was no doubt from that rain.

Chrysanthemum Blooms

There are many Chrysanthemums blooming around the university at the moment. Great pots of them. Some are reaching their "use-by" date, and many are still in bud so there is more to come.

They are at the entrances to the college, all along the main driveway, around the library, canteens and little pots are along the walkways of the administration building too. Many yellows, and some a rust and yellow colour. They do look spectacular.

Occasionally I feel tempted to remove the dead heads - but I resist.

Display of Chrystanthemums

Sell photos on photrade By Elly

Last week this pot of chrystanthemums appeared near the foreign teacher's accomodation - adjacent to the administration building. Many exotic floral displays end up near this building and we know when there is a big event approaching as the floral display will be much bigger or more exotic than usual.

We have no idea what the special event is this week - but there are Chinese banners all around so we think there is something big on the agenda. It is hard to tell how many plants are in this pot - at least six and maybe more. One of the risks with this sort of floral display is that they need quite a lot of water, and last week the plants were looking very much worse for wear, but we have had heavy rain for a few days so that would have refreshed them, but it is possible that the gardeners also added water to the pot.

The Rose Garden

The miniature roses.

The rose garden (April and May)

When we came to Shaoxing at the end of February, the area had experienced a cold winter, and it had snowed here. One of the gardens near the apartment building that houses many of the foreign teachers, there was a garden that seemed to have a large number of dried sticks about 5 inches high in it. On closer inspection you could see it was a bed of roses.

I don't think in Australia we would have pruned them back so much - but things are different here.

The top photo was taken on April 17 th, as foliage was beginning to sprout on the plants. The second photo was taken just last week.

What a difference a few weeks makes in such a garden. Also on the school campus is an area near one of the other buildings where there is a bed of what I now discover is miniature roses and they too are in full bloom right now.

Iris

On our visit to a park at Tonglu (Southern China) the gardens impressed us, especially the display of irises. Actually there were only a few blooming - but many many more plants ready to burst forth in flower. These were growing at the edge of a pool in which many colourful and large fish were swimming making it a very wonderful scene.

Flowers in China

The Chinese people so love gardens - most of course don't have much in the way of gardens around their homes, unless they live in a newer modern complex where the gardens are likely to be a feature, or if they live in the country their "garden" is full of vegetables.

When we arrived in China it was just after the very cold winter of 2007/8 and the plants were all brown and bare, but as spring approached it all changed.

These photos are from a park in Ningbo, South China.

Peony

The peony is a flower that I know little about, but a florist friend gave one to me. It is a beautiful hot pink - lovely flower that lead me to investigate details of the peony.

The florist has suggested that we grow peonies. I will investigate it, but I am not keen to grow further flowers. I'm all over it.