Pages

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Voluptuous spring!

Spring may have officially just sprung (the spring equinox was yesterday), but here near Charlotte, NC, it is in full throttle. I really hate the hot humid summers here – I was born a Yankee, so I wilt in the heat, after all – but spring is another matter. When I first moved to the south as a journalism graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I was astounded by springtime in the south.

If you have never experienced it, it can bowl you over. There’s just something so voluptuous and earnest about it. No dilly-dally peeking through the snow, no slow plod to the first glimpse of green. It just takes a few days of strong sun and warm temperatures and then – wham! – it hits you.

I went out for my morning dog walk this morning, and I took my camera with me to record what I saw. We had a good, heavy rain last night, and it seemed like nature just turned on the green this morning, and everything was blooming. It was so beautiful that I just had to share it with you.

Johnny Jump-Ups
Azalea
Forsythia
Lenten Rose
Anyone know the name of this? It is really cool!
Yellow Trumpet Vine
Bridal Wreath Spirea
Pink Dogwood
Dogwood
Dogwood
Wisteria
Loropetalum
This looks a lot like Lily of the Valley, but the blooms are more elongated.
Money Plant (Lunaira anna) is in the mustard family
Weeping Cherry
Violet
Take some time this week to slow down and take a close look at what is going on in nature around you. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and are not seeing much springiness going on yet, just wait … it’s coming!