Camellias

Even when the weather gets in the 30s, these little jewels of the South keep on blooming.  They  have many different colored blooms including white, coral, pink and red.  Some have variegated petals that look like peppermint candy.  They have thick, waxy-like leaves.  Most people cut them with short stems and put them in tiny little vases or float them in a dish.  Most older homesteads  have at least one in their yard. I have a cousin who has over 300 of all different colors in his yard and many are over 10 feet tall.  It is delightful to visit there when most other blooming things have disappeared!
Natalia Andreeva brought these to class for us to paint.  The exercise was to mix the different colors before we started painting.
I love painting flowers!