In the Asian Garden. The leaves come first. This is Bretschneidera sinensis, which looks tropical to me because it reminds me of a rare tree in Hawaii, which it's not related to at all. Nadia and I both like this Magnolia insignis, because we like the pink in the flowers. We're not fond of this Magnolia conifera, because we haven't caught any flowers looking good, and because we have to walk through a swamp to get to it. It was something of a hot news item two weeks ago - I think the story is that it's the first time it has flowered in its 15 years here. This photo is terrible, but we've sworn off trying to get anything better, so here it is. I'm sure it's gotten a lot of attention at the garden - surely someone has better photos of it. Here's a female Actinidia melanandra, which we like because of the pink in the flowers. Over in the Carolinian Garden, we've been watching this Nyssa ogeche, which only had two fruits last year. It has several flowers now. I had to laugh - Nadia said they're so big. For Nyssa.
