Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma, Camellia.

Beautiful pale pink camellia flower.

The other day when I wandered around the botanical gardens in Mid-Levels I visited the Camellia Garden. This reminded me of the posters in Shing Mun Valley Park: summer - lotus blossom ✓ autumn - roses ✓ and now that it is winter - camellias. Well, I had to go. I could not miss them. Spring, which is magnolias, is on my to do list as well. I'm perfectly happy to have an excuse to go back.

I am not knowledgeable about camellias. In fact, I wasn't even sure what they were, so I have read up a bit about them. Camellias were named after Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel who encountered them when he worked in The Philippines. He brought many Asian plant species back to Europe. Camellias are native to eastern and southern Asia where there are more than two hundred species of them. They are sometimes referred to as Japanese roses. Their blossoms are certainly very rose like. In the Language of Flowers pink camellias symbolize loving someone and missing them. The leaves of some species of camellia can be used to make tea. The seeds of others can be made into a cooking oil, hair oil or essential oils.

The camellias in Shing Mun Valley Park lined every walkway I wandered along and were gorgeous. My timing was right for once as the majority of the blooms were still in very good condition.

Perfect pink camellia.

Beautiful red camellia flower.

The majority of the camellias growing here are camellia sasanqua, which is native to China and Japan.

A cluster of camellias.

Camellia and buds.

This camellia looks rather like a carnation.

Beautiful camellia.

Such a bright and cheerful flower.

A second species of camellia found here camellia japonica. This seems to be in bloom here for a much longer period of time. It is native to China, Taiwan, South Korea and southwestern Japan.

Camellia Japonica.

Camellia Japonica.

After a while even I felt I had enough camellia pictures to last a lifetime and I concentrated on just enjoying being in the park. It usually rains when I come here but today was sunny but cold.

Park scenery.

Lady sleeping next to Chinese New Year display.

Wheel barrows.

Rock and log display.

Rock and log display.

Autumnal trees by the water.

In summer you can scarcely see this boat due to all the flowers.

Windmill.

Angel with lamp.

As it is almost Chinese New Year there were spring blossom displays, but these were made using real, living, growing blossoming trees, rather than plastic models, so they were much lovelier. There was also a rabbit mosaic made from black and white pebbles.

Year of the rabbit.

Chinese New Year blossom.

Spring blossom.

Spring blossom.

Spring blossom, too.

Spring blossom.

Of course, there were lots of other wonderful flowers and I couldn't resist them either. I'm not sure what they all are.

Callicarpa Japonica, a cluster of purple berries.

I thought these were lovely. Apparently they are a type of arum lily.

Apparently these are a kind of milkweed plant often referred to as hairy balls. Haha. I had a better picture of these but it refused to load, probably fell foul to some pornography filter.

Coneflowers.

Coneflowers.

Begonias.

Dhalias.

Dhalias.

Black eyed Susan.

There were lots of gorgeous blue and pink hydrangeas. These always remind me of staying in a bed and breakfast in Girvan as a child. The landlady had lots of them in her garden.

Hydrangea.

Hydrangea.

Even some of the roses that I went to see before were still thriving. This park is a real winter oasis.

Roses represent the park in autumn but some were still flourishing.

Roses.

Roses.

The Indian rhododendron seems to bloom all year round. It has looked beautiful on all of my visits.

Indian rhododendron.

Indian rhododendron.

Indian rhododendron.

Indian rhododendron.

I was impressed by these wonderful healthy looking Poinsettia.

Poinsettia.

Poinsettias.

Poinsettia.

Everywhere is so colourful.

I spent quite a long time at the pond where the lotus blossoms grow in the summer. I was watching a large elegant heron hunting for fish. The lighting was perfect for beautiful reflections in the water.

Heron and its reflection.

Heron.

Heron and its reflection.

An egret flew into another part of the pond and began searching for its lunch, too.

Egret and it's reflection.

Egret.

Egret.

At that point I noticed something blue and sparkling - it was a kingfisher. It was really quite far away. I took some shots then tried to get nearer but it flew away. I waited a while to see if it would come back but it didn't, so I headed back home.

Kingfisher.

Kingfisher.