other people’s gardens

I am grateful to all the people in my neighborhood who plant spring flowers.

Thanks, and ever thanks. Your gardens give me more delight than you can imagine.

118/365: three red tulips

the color of spring

Sometimes the sun is so bright it makes photography difficult. Rather than fight with it, I decided to focus on capturing the intensity of the light and the glowing chartreuse foliage all around me.

The new leaves & grasses are so bright, when the sunlight hits them, they appear to be lit up from inside. It’s a uniquely spring color, this yellow-green; it only sticks around a short time before deepening into summer hues.

115/365: glowing grasses

april showers

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was gray and raw with a much-needed April shower.

Reflections never fail me! I stood out in the rain just long enough to glimpse our budding silver maple in the mirrored puddles. I thought it made a good contrast to yesterday’s brilliant yellow-green sugar maple buds.

113/365: rainy day deck reflection

trees of a feather

Always one of my favorite spring sights: the show-stopping contrast of the chartreuse sugar maple buds against a clear blue sky. Happy Arbor Day to you and your favorite tree 🙂

112/365: sugar maples with blue sky

beautiful mess

In another part of the town, the greens are coming on more aggressively.

This is nature’s riot. The astounding co-existence of so many life forms all just doing their thing, thriving along, being glorious individuals together in a beautiful entangled mess.

It’s something for us to aspire to.

109/365: springscape

sugar magnolia

It’s the last day of sunshine and 70’s before we dip into a week of chilly April showers. It is far too nice a day for me to sit in front of a computer screen.

I send you a glorious magnolia blossom, drenched in morning light and I take me out to wander round…

106/365: magnolia

wind flower

The pasque flower or anemone patens is the state flower of South Dakota. As its latin name tells us, the flower spreads its seeds on the wind. A cherished symbol of spring, it often emerges through the snow to signal winter’s end.

104/365: pasque flowers

growing ingredients

One of the things I miss most in winter is fresh food, particularly herbs. I find walking out to the garden to pick fresh herbs for cooking to be utterly luxurious. So simple. So very satisfying.

The chives are always the first to return and couldn’t be more welcome.

103/365: chives

sunny state of mind

Suddenly the forsythia are exploding all over the neighborhood. Like sunshine in flower form they burst forth, spreading warmth and cheer in all directions.

102/365: forsythia

all happening (aka this bud’s for you)

It wasn’t my intention to post TWO bud photos in a row but, two things: it’s all happening (!) and a lot of that activity looks like plants, trees, bushes, vines, budding out. And it’s awesome.

Second, I got my eyes dilated yesterday and spent half the day incapacitated (ugh!) unable to take photos, do any computer work, or be functional, really, in any way. By the time I got my vision back, it was slim pickins’. Fortunately for me, I don’t have to look very far to see the wonders of spring afoot…

92/365: honeysuckle vine with buds