Walking around a residential neighbourhood in Takayama (Gifu Prefecture, Japan) in the early morning, I came across this beautiful rose tree within the walled compound of a residential home beside the street.

I gawked at the tree for a while, wondering if the roses were real … they look to be. I am not sure if such trees are commonplace in countries with temperate climate. But where I stay, we can’t grow roses properly due to the hot & humid weather, so this tree full of roses seems pretty amazing to me …

At the time, it did not occur to me that the flowers could be anything else other than roses. But now looking at the photo again, I am not sure … could they be Japanese camellias??