This is the final photo I'll show of this spray -- it's about done. Might well have lasted longer, if the afternoon sun wasn't frying EVERYTHING. But it's obvious that N 92 Nanjing shares the charming Tea/China characteristic of blooms that "fade to dark" -- growing darker as they age, rather than paler. When the plant grows up, it will have that "bush full of butterflies" multicolored look. Now that the first half of our days finds us sitting in a thick fog bank, I'm seeing some mildew on this rose. Not to worry, it will probably outgrow that, with maturity (and with a weather change, for that matter). And hotter weather, damnit, is coming soon.

I loved the flora in China. I was in Hangzhou in'79 going to school. Yes, think hot and humid, very hot and very hummid. Hanging hot fog with temps near 40 C. Everyone in Hanhgzhou said Nanjing was even hotter. I don't remember a lot of succulents. I do remember crepe myrtles, bamboo, lilies, lotus. The gardens were beautiful to my eyes but the plantings at that time were ragged. It was not long after the cultural revolution, and gardens were considered criminally bourgeois. I am sure that has changed. I had the most amazing experience in Souchou. I was at this garden because a friend had heard that a most amzing historic collection of bonzais was coming out of hiding and was to be displayed at this garden. I walked in and they had these worn tables set up , and on it were the MOST UNBELIEVABLE bonzais I have ever seen in my life. Some were 400 , 500 years old. Some did not even look like trees but see wood, or the weathered bark pealed off a tree with a few branches and leaves. The forms were most unusual. They were not so formalized as Japanese bonzai. the aesthetics was so much more experimental pushing the plant to extremes of weathering. They were not so hung up on the keeping of the plant tiny. It was more about form and texture, so the twisting and convolutions were extreme. The old men that had taken them and protected them through the cultural revolution were there to tell their stories. I never made it to Nanjing. I made it as far north as Wuxi and Souchou. IT was a different time when I was there. The Shanghai airport had one small terminal, No sky scrapers above ten floors that I could see. People were still wearing the Mao uniforms and the girls all had their peter pan collars. The summer that I was there the brave and adventuresome women started wearing dresses out in public. That was so shocking to my friend. A lot of the fauna was just like I see in the south, because it all came from china mostly.

I'm not sure what this is... and I just went and searched 2 bird identifier websites and still can't find it. My first thought was a Marsh Tit, but I don't think that's it

The Light-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus sinensis), also known as the Chinese Bulbul. I have some great pictures of them from Hong Kong - and they were also sitting over the water... Candy