Kyoto winters are very cold. The days are short. While the natural world slumbers we muddle through dreaming of spring.
Winter here is not completely colorless. There is the vibrant pink of the camellia (椿) which blooms from December to February, the golden fruit on the leafless crabapple tree (カイドウズミ) in January, and of course the plum tree (梅) whose elegant pink and white flowers arrive in late February.
I have a few indoor plants in my little apartment, as well as a number of plants on my terrace - my would-be garden. In four winters here I have never seen a flower. Then suddenly about a week ago...a flower. I bought a dendrobium orchid last summer for the bamboo basket I'd bought in a second-hand shop. It grows in peat moss and I was told it required very little care. So I gave it just that. It didn't seem to grow or die. I had actually grown bored of its inactivity.
I'm not sure why it decided to bloom now. But I'm happy it did. The lovely little white and faintly purple flowers, and subtle fragrance have brought spring a little closer.
