Few things delight me as much in spring as the first, nascent flowers appearing. Despite the cold, rainy, gray spring we’ve been having up north, the sun came out on mother’s day weekend. It was just in time to catch the end of the magnolia blossoms at the Royal Botanical Gardens. They have little fragrance. However, their creamy white petals tinged with pinks, magentas, and yellow provide a feast for the eyes. One tree sports a star-shaped blossom that is the sweetest smelling of the bunch.
Shortly after the magnolias drop their petals to the ground, the lilacs start blooming. Again, due to the unseasonably cold temperatures and large number of rainy days, I thought this would delay the blossoms. But to my joy, the lilacs continued to grow and bloom, same as always. This reinforced the magic of spring to me, always coming with its relentless and persistent energy each year. No matter what the weather is like, spring is determined to arrive, bringing with it a bounty of flowers, soft wind, and warm sunshine.
We went to see the lilacs two weeks after the magnolias. The lilacs, I learned, bloom at different stages, early, mid, and late. Our visit coincided with the tail end of the mid-bloomers. After this round there was still at least another week or two to go for them. I was too busy enjoying the fragrant smells of the lilacs to take any pictures. However, I captured the picture below of the blooming Redbud trees, offering a spray of bright pinks against the verdant background.
We definitely lucked out with the weather on our two visits to see the flowers. It was a nice reminder of what spring can be like. This after experiencing a long, cold, snowy winter followed by more gray, rainy weather. The sun shone today providing some much needed rays for the lilac in my own backyard, which still has yet to bloom.
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