Do any of you gardeners know what it is? (I don't.)
Thanks to all the unfamiliar pollen, I'm fighting non-sneezy allergies (headache and sore throat) BUT...still excited because:
Spring is here!
Birds were broadcasting their joy like maniacs in trees, and squirrels were busy chattering at each other over mistaken nut stashes.
Crocuses purple, white, and yellow, are still around.
A few stubborn wilting snowdrops persist.
Daffodils are turning up their bright faces to the sun.
Yellow and purple pansies have been planted in front gardens.
Most trees are still biding their time, but some are smothered in white blossoms.
And blooms in varying shades of pink inhabit different kinds of bushes.
But most importantly, the stars of the city - the sakura cherry blossoms - are coming out!
They have nothing to do with real cherries, but are actually magnolias indigenous to Asia and a mainstay of the annual spring celebration across Japan. Most of the sakura in the US were gifts from Japan at different times in history for different reasons. More on this after I've been to the festival sometime in the next month.
13 comments:
So nice that spring already arrived! hehehe...
As for me who is living in only 2 seasons country (hot and rainy), I will be excited with winter :D
Hello Olivia! :D
Hoorah, for Spring in New York! Will you be attending the Cherry Blossom festival, at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in celebration? It's a great way to bring in the new season!
Selby - I guess it feels like summer for you right now?
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HEY MISS FLUFF! I can't believe you're back, so good to see you around again.
You were away for so long, you missed a few things :)
I will be going to the cherry blossom festival here in Washington!
Looks like a camellia to me -- a japonica by the looks of the leaves. Very pretty in its perfect symmetry! And yay for pansies and daffs and crocuses and those smothering white blossoms. They make me want to keep on taking photos even though practically every one will look like the other. Hope you take some cherry blossoms when they're officially out. Wish I could be there.
I'm agreeing with Nikki ~ it's a camellia ~ Well I'm pleased to know that Spring has landed somewhere :) It was only here for two days at the beginning of Spring Break, but I'm sure it will return as soon as school starts up again on Monday...LOL Hope you don't suffer too much with your headache and sore throat!
Birds....like maniacs in trees...love it
What a lovely looking camellia!
I hope that you've got over your headache and sore throat.
The birds are busy pairing up,nest building and so on!
It's the same here with flowers blooming and lots of blossom on the trees, which is all very uplifting!
Take care! xx
After careful consideration, I'm pretty sure that that's what's called a "flower".
Speaking of which, since they have cherry blossom festivals on the U.S. East Coast just like they do here in Japan, do they also have the Japanese tradition of "hanami" (literally "flower viewing"), i.e. holding picnic/drinking parties under the blooming cherry trees? Those are always fun.
They're especially fun if you get to see some of your otherwise serious coworkers make total fools of themselves. There's just something about the combination of beer/sake and cherry blossoms that makes people get really silly.
Nikki - hahaha, now I feel silly because if it was white I would have recognized it!
I can't wait to snap the sakuras when they're fully out. At the moment they are still unfolding.
I wish you could be here too!
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Glo - oh dear, has your Spring gone AWOL? I hope it returns soon!
I have no headache, but my throat is still irritated :( I haven't really lost my voice, but it does sound a little husky.
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Flighty - I'm glad you're enjoying your English springtime.
As I said to Glo, the throat irritation persists, but I have stayed well dosed up on Vit C and am taking my Clarityn now.
xx
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Minstrel - drinking parties? I don't know. I will have to see, but you know how well regulated alcoholic consumption is over here...which is not to say people can't sit under their own cherry trees and get drunk!
And I'm liking your new blog title. A little flexibility, a lot of optimism ;-)
I was feeling really good about the fact that I recognized the flower, and then I went to the blog page and saw that I wasn't the only one. :(
Still, though, I'm reveling in spring here in Texas, mostly because I know it's followed by brutally hot summer. I'll enjoy the splendid weather and small electric bills while I can.
Nikki - yes, optimism! :)
Flexibility, ok, but I'm not planning on leaving DC for a loooooong looooooong time.
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Jo - awww, sorry you were late.
Ignoring London, I got used to springtime being a GLORIOUS time in Texas. It's between the cool weather and the hot weather, and I remember perfect days from February to May.
However, I forget that in northern climes the purpose of spring is to make the transition from snow to heat - so it is necessarily indecisive, which is exactly what we're experiencing here.
Haha, Selba made me laugh, excited about winter...I know people who still talk about the first time they saw snow. One of my aunts, when she first saw it, hollered, snow, snow and ran out and made a snow angel.
I saw one of those flowers in Oz, and a little old lady called it camellia.
Gyal - hehe, I know, until you spend a whole winter in a place and then become disillusioned and learn to hate the white stuff.
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