I recently toured the old DuPont estates ( LongwoodGardens ) for the first time. The grounds were still dormant awaiting their springtime rebirth but the conservatory was literally blossoming in full.
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The main attraction during my visit was the orchid festival and there were many entries to the competition from all over the state. With all the glamor of those displays as well as the lush brilliance of the ferns, Birds of Paradise, daisies galore and multitudes of other blooms, yet it was the nostalgic appeal of the humble Camellia that warmed me most.
Down South, Camellias are beloved heirlooms often passed down between the generations through cuttings and loving cultivation. Somehow they link us to a gentler past when warming twilights on the front porch signaled that, though difficult, yet all was still right with the world. There is continuity here. The taste and appreciation that can only be found when you know that the present experience is not new, but one that has been tasted and savored by those you loved but are now gone, and those they loved who went before them.
Adam lost the garden for us but God preserved us the flowers. There must have been a camellia there somewhere.
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