June 26, 2021
June 13, 2021
Iwatabako (Conandron ramondioides) flowers: Chojyu-ji
As if to suggest that the rainy season will arrive here soon, coinciding with the spectacular blooming of the Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers, the star-shaped purple flowers of "Iwatabako" begin to appear stealthily on the shady rock-surfaces of "Kamakura-ishi" (Kamakura rock) like the quiet hermits who wish to hide from the world and the sun.
Kamakura-ishi is the green-coloured tuff typical of the Kamakura region and was commonly used for the landscape-gardening of the old Zen temples in this area.
The perennial plant called "Iwatabako" (which means the tabacco plant growing on rock) grows on wet rock surface in the shade where water always oozes out.
The short root-stalks usually produces one or two large leaves. These leaves are 10-20 cm long, 5-10 cm wide, and have an elliptic wrinkled shape.
The flower stalks extend 10 to 20 cm long from the leaf-axils and bear two or three purple flowers about 1.5 cm in diameter.
Ajisai (Hydrangea) flowers: Kita-kamakura
Ajisai (hydrangea) knows when the rainy season begins.
It prepares its fresh green leaves and countless flower buds to bathe the merciful rain that this season brings.
By absorbing abundant rainwater, Ajisai flowers subtly continue to transform their colors and shapes until they lose all moisture and wither away.
The mysterious chemistry of the rain and soil components causes the colors of Ajisai flowers to keep changing constantly.
In the pale sunlight from the gray rainy sky, the ornamental petals exhibit the amazing diversity and gradation of tints that any other flower can never present.
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