The Dogwood tree at the side of The Urban Porch exploded with radiant blooms, sun filtering through translucent petals against vibrating blue skies.

Each year I almost forget how stunning the Dogwoods can be until it happens again.

Day after day I could not help but want to capture another view of their luminescence.

I kept going outside again and again to stand beneath the tree and gaze up at the sky through the branches. The view feels reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “Almond Blossom”.

The Cardinals seem to love this tree. All day long, and especially in the early evening, they loudly call to each other from the branches – “Wheet-wheet-wheet-pew-pew-pew!“

It was only a blink in time before the petals dropped

leaving a light scattering of petal snow across the front yard.

Wanting to appreciate them much longer than they stayed inspired a search for other white and almost-white blooms around The Urban Porch and about the neighborhood. There are some lovely discoveries. I’ll share (or possibly bombard you with them) here.

The delicate fragrance of the invasive, yet beautiful, little bells of Lily-of-the-Valley flourish in the shady patches.

These tiny pale buds of blush burst open to become white Lilacs.

Clover within the grass scents the air sweetly as you walk by.

I almost pulled out the Eastern Bluestar by accident when I was weeding a few weeks ago. Every year I seem to forget what it is when it first comes up.

The fractal structure of seeds in a Dandelion head merits appreciation.

These Irises just began blooming this morning, their white spears pointing toward the sky, then opening into delicate white birds.

It’s been white on white on white blooming over the last few weeks. Now more purples are suddenly emerging. The lilacs have mostly blown by – I really didn’t get a chance to share much on that, although I was inhaling and photographing them the entire time, for some reason encountering way more varieties than usual.

The house plants (the ones I didn’t manage to kill over the winter) have been relocated outside and arranged on the Victorian porch, where more time is being spent, enjoying glasses of iced matcha, reading, and observing nature and people from that vantage point. There have been a few forays to nurseries and garden centers, resulting in a carload or two of hopeful projects.

Trying to keep a handle on some of weeding is always a challenge – I doubt that will last once it gets too warm and buggy, but for now things are looking rather colorful and have provided a sense of appreciation and peace to my heart. I mowed the little patch of lawn in the front – the scent of freshly mown grass providing long-ago memories into happy places. This evening it remained light out until almost eight o’clock!

Here we are, three quarters through May already. It seems to be passing awfully fast; has anyone noticed?

~*~