Spring is just around the corner.

This plant is one of the species of Bergenia. I found it came into bloom last week in a corner of my front yard. In Japanese, we call it Himalaya Yukinoshita which means under the Himalayan snow because the plant is native to Central Asia and Himalayan area. This flowering plant normally comes out in the early spring, around the beginning of March, but this year, it came into bloom one month earlier than usual.

taken by Olympus Pen E-P1 with M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6, f6.3 1/500 ISO400 Aperture Priority AE

この植物はユキノシタ科ベルゲニア属の一種で、ヒマラヤユキノシタといい、原産は中央アジアおよびヒマラヤ地方です。先週、我が家の前庭の片隅で咲き始めたのに気付きました。 この花は例年早春の３月初め頃に咲きますが、今年は普段よりもひと月早く咲き始めました。