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.
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| Johnny Jump-Ups |
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| Azalea |
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| Forsythia |
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| Lenten Rose |
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| Anyone know the name of this? It is really cool! |
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| Yellow Trumpet Vine |
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| Bridal Wreath Spirea |
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| Pink Dogwood |
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| Dogwood |
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| Dogwood |
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| Wisteria |
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| Loropetalum |
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| This looks a lot like Lily of the Valley, but the blooms are more elongated. |
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| Money Plant (Lunaira anna) is in the mustard family |
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| Weeping Cherry |
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| 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!
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