Chimonanthus praecox, Wintersweet.....crazy fruits

I guess one of the reasons I look at the same things year after year is that, once in a while they're different. I've never seen this color in the fruits of Chimonanthus; usually they're just green maybe with a light suffusion of pinky purple. Hey, those purple ones are nice too. These guys look like oddly shaped peaches! Actually they look like sea cucumbers masquerading as almost ripe peaches. They're pretty though. Amanda and I mulched the top of China Valley today and came upon this plant as it lives just a bit down the path from where it begins at Hickey Hill Road. This week theyydrangeas, lilies, and Japanese iris are so spectacular the subtler effects may not get their due.