Ajisai

Riding my bicycle into work today.
Go through a nice park.
Kind of a breather from the morning road morons.
Stopped to take this pic of hydrangeas and glanced up to see an older woman staring at me. We have a brief conversation in Japanese, with me sweating like a dog.
Where are you from?
America.
These are called ajisai. And that is bamboo (behind).
Ahhh...really!?
These only grow in Japan.
Oh, I see.
These are Japanese traditional plants. Only grow here.
Wow. (smiling). Have a nice day!

Learn something every day. :-)