Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday Flowers: Springtime Extravagance

Flowers blooming in my garden this week
*Primula cortusoides
, Lily of the Valley,
Bleeding Heart, Forget-me-nots

We visited Lighthouse Park in Port Huron, Michigan yesterday, a warm spring day indeed. I noticed a very sweet smell and looked around for flowering honeysuckle trees or some other source of the pleasant odour. Finally, I noticed two small shaded areas covered in Lily of the Valley and realized that the scent a few dozen blooms had filled the entire end of the park with a natural perfume. This is the time of year when flowers are everywhere, above, below and at eye level. Lilacs are at their peak and fruit trees, as well as nut and berry trees are all in bloom. There is light well past 8:30PM now and sitting outdoors in the evening surrounded by flowers is most relaxing after a busy day. Deep summer green will soon replace the extragavent fresh hues of spring for another year.

Trees in bloom this week
Lilac, Crabapple, Chestnut

* Thanks to Dawn and her sisters for identifying the purple flower for me!

16 comments:

  1. Lilies of the Valley are most favorite flower smell. Wish you could capture and blog it. I grew up with that and the lilacs, my second favorite. But none of that here. Thank you so much for sharing this Ruth.

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  2. Oh, soooo beautiful Ruth! You can just drown in the vivid colors!

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  3. Such lovely flowers. I like it the way you have four photos in the square. I have yet to learn how to do it.

    We are freezing, but we still have a lot of flowers. So it is not drab and gloom.

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  4. I haven't smelled Lilies of the Valley in ages. There was a huge patch of it alongside our house where I grew up.
    Your Forget-me-nots made me smile. I love them.

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  5. Lovely flowers. Lilies of the Valley do smell so nice...but only outdoors. I hate the smell when it is confined to the house. Overpowering.

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  6. LotV are wonderful in a garden, lovely in an little antique bottle bouquet on the dresser. When I re-do my garden space, I'm going to have some for sure; bleeding heart too. Thanks for the beautiful and inspiring photos!

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  7. I love the way you arranged the flowers in the squares with the green around! How did you do that?
    I click on the photos to make them larger and they look even better!
    I my new canon ..the same u have...because it takes such beautiful closeups..
    I dont know what that first flower is..but if you really want to know I could ask my sister..she works at a Garden shop and knows all the flowers.

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  8. The beauty of springtime.You have shown it well.I can almost smell the flowers.Thanks.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  9. Ruth,

    It's great to see your Friday
    Flowers looking so springy :o) The colors are becoming so vivid now, trees fully leafed out...

    Lovely, lovely post.

    Mary

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  10. I love lily of the valley - was going to post about it today. Maybe tomorrow. Your pics are so fresh and alive. They just sing spring!!

    I have a lily of the valley patch under the shade of my very scraggly lilac tree. I can't bear to take the lilac tree down, but one day I will have to. I think this year there are only about 5 blooms on it.

    I also like your 4 pics and have yet to figure out how to do it. There is so much to learn when you blog.
    Have a nice weekend!

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  11. Thanks for the comments. Glad you enjoyed my garden. I have to give my husband the credit for doing a lot of work in it this spring. I made the collage of pictures on picnik.com which is the free online photo editor that I use.

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  12. Hi, Ruth - Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog, Anastasia's Secret Garden. Regarding soul food: There's a great soul food restaurant at 582 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto, between Bloor and Wallace. If it's still there; you should check it out. It's an experience! Stacey

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  13. Reading your post reminded me that my lily of the valley did not come up this year.....I just love the perfume, intoxicating.....

    We should make the most of each day....summer never seems to last long enough......

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  14. I just read a poem that made me think of your blog:
    Four ducks on a pond,
    A grass bank beyond,
    A blue sky of spring,
    White clouds on the wing:
    What a little thing
    To remember for years,--
    To remember with tears!
    --William Allingham

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  15. Ruth,

    Beautiful flowers and a great time of year to enjoy them.

    I love Lily of the Valley. I lost all mine when the outside renovations were done. Mom just brought me some from her place today and I planted them in the side bed. They are so fragrant.

    Take care. Sorry I haven't been over lately. Blogger had a glitch and then my ankles swelled and I've been keeping them elevated.

    Blessing for a great week.
    Mary

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  16. Very nice-I've come to appreciate flowers over the years too.

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