I’ve been away from this page, having had the good fortune once again to dwell amidst spring blooms in the west first, which will be followed a few weeks later with newly emerging blossoms of the east. This post will mostly just be a photo dump from images I took with my phone camera. Probably a little over-stimulated with it all, I’m gushing over the colors, scents and patterns. Bear with me…..

The Wisteria!!! Love love love that crazy sort of invasive vine that drapes a fence or trellis in splendor and at the same time can get its tentacles into your foundation. Once upon a time (many decades ago) I had transplanted a small cutting from someone’s yard and started it on the side of a cottage I rented. It took off and grew all the way up the side of that brick facade (both the wisteria and that cottage no longer exist – the plant was ripped out, the house torn down). Ah, history….

There is something magical about standing beneath fragrant cascading racemes in shifting shades of purple. They smell like Necco candy wafers to me (you might have to be old enough to remember that candy). I could not get my face away from them.

The twists and turns of the trunks and branches create a fairy-land shelter.

How can you not fall into the abyss of delicate, candy pink roses?

and wowza! Clivia Miniata about three feet high, growing profusely in a park!

Gorgeous Calla Lilies that evoke Georgia O’Keeffe

and Diego Rivera vibes

I’ll just leave these pops of color here. Glowing centers alive with energy.

Delightful mixed palettes

Lupine of a deep Gentian blue

with leaves creating gorgeous patterns, reaching up like “jazz hands”

Lacy Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) calling to the bees…

beautiful Borage

Arctotis (African Daisy)….

and more daisies!

Mediterranean spurge, a type of Euphorbia. Having had a few run-ins with various Euphorbia (I Can Make Poison Arrows Now – 7/29/2011) I try to not be a fan, but their structure really is so interesting.

Have you had enough yet? I’ll throw just a few more patterns at you then….Azalea

the prehistoric shadows of a Norfolk Pine

and some grasses, just because..

Rolling hills spring back with verdant life where wildfires had taken a toll. A lone charred oak in a fertile field stands testament.

Life

California Poppies, little drops of happiness, a blanket of Vitamin C.

Grapevines are beginning to bud.

Row upon row stretch across the valley

as if with arms outstretched, embracing the sunlight

carefully tended

while newly planted vines dot the hills like markers in a veteran cemetery.

Jasmine is in bloom. How unfortunate a photo cannot translate the insanely intoxicating scent of the Jasmine. Walking by hedges of them along a sidewalk was enough to stop you in your tracks. My sister and I sat at a table eating tacos while Jasmine petals loosened by a gentle wind floated down upon us. Can the aroma of flowers drive a person mad? Passion!

It’s so good to be out appreciating nature. Our souls need it badly. Now I get to do it again. More good things to come! Happiest Spring to you all!

~*~