Dogwood Not Quite in Bloom

Even not quite in bloom, our native dogwood really is a beauty, no?

Yellow Magnolias And Tulips (and culture)

If you pass a Yellow Magnolia this spring or even tulips (more likely if not gauranteed), will you take a second to think, as I have, about the fact that what you see is a product of both nature and man, with a history so long you could get lost in it for some time. The Magnolia alone could take you on a trip back to the time of the dinosaurs or just back some decades to the  Brooklyn of the 1950s when a yellow magnolia was first bred. Who knew in that same decade in the long history of the tulip and man, a tulip festival in Canada also began?

Ask yourself how far apart culture has always been from cultivation. The words themselves have common roots.

The Long Way Home

I have been taking the long way home this week in search of spring's blooms. And that has made all the difference. 

The cherry blossoms, magnolias and muscari aren't going to last forever, so right now is the time to catch the show this year.

New Leaves

I couldn't manage to get a good picture of this Japanese Summersweet's newest leaves unfolding, but I did snap a picture of its shadow. You can see what's left of last year's flower clusters still hanging on, dangling down while the new leaves emerge.

And at least one Weeping Katsura I love is among the earliest of trees to leaf out in spring. It's already a pale shade of green.

A Sweetsmelling Small Daffodil and Other Things Yellow

At Hofstra's Sensory Garden I fell in love with these wee multi-flowering daffodils. Then I took a whiff to see if they really were fragrant and man were they ever.

A Winter Hazel was in full bloom with some yellow tulips not far behind.

Amelanchier

It was love at first sight for me with the Amelanchier but it wasn't spring, so my first memory is of its bark.

Almost

I'd say we are almost at that moment where spring just explodes and everything seems to be blooming at once. These buds are right there in that moment before full flowering.

Just Walking in April

Just going for a walk in April is like taking a field trip. So many lovely things to see that someone else has planted.

Bud Fever

Is it just me or do you find yourself mesmerized by the buds and graceful branches this spring too? 

The Tiny Newest Leaves

I thought of Karl Blossfeldt and his amazing photographs when trying to snap a picture of these newest oak leaf hyndrangea leaves just emerging so tiny. I seem to remember reading he designed his own camera but also that his photographs involved magnification of a plant part sometimes 30 times their actual size. There must be a picture I am thinking of that these leaves were reminscent of. Probably one where it seemed the leaf was dancing,  praying or doing that pose the gymnasts do when they dismount some piece of  equipment like at the Olympics. 

Am I Dreaming or Is it Spring Again?

The proper response to Spring is to walk around slackjawed, continually pinching yourself just to be sure you are walking around in the world and not some dreamscape. And no, that's not an exaggeration.

One in 25000. A Daffodil

I read there were probably more than 25000 named Daffodil cultivars. Guess that means this one is one in 25000 then.

Hanami Time

The Japanese had me at "enjoying the transient beauty of flowers". What's not to like about this tradition for a gardener or plant geek?

Is it Crocuses or Crocosi?

Well whatever the plural of crocus is, they are among the blooms of the moment.

Phenology: Early Spring

While the still-leafless red maples bloom, some new hosta foliage push up from underground. (I guess that's like one phenology lesson on early spring).

On the Walk Home with Saucer Magnolia Buds in Spring

It was just a for a moment and it was only in passing.

But oh, wasn't it so lovely? 

Saucer Magnolia Buds, early spring 2018

The Near Future's Flowers

Some flowers of the near future are on the tips of street tree branches you pass.  

April Showers and Flowers

Know what goes smashingly with cold, wet and grey? Pink. 

Morning Snow, Evening Star Magnolias

The first Monday in April began with morning snow that gave way to the sun, and by evening star magnolias were in bloom and the sky and ground were clear.

Renewal

It's the beginning of April and signs of renewal, forsythia blooming and that soft spring green, are here again.