munchin'....

Ok... Blogger made this post a bit strange, but it rotated my photos sideways. You'll have to look to the left side at the bottom of the photo to see the little muncher in the flower garden...
This was the only flower of this type in the garden, and it seems to have been the tasty treat of someone... ah.... the culprit below...

I think he was quite pleased with his lunch and with himself!! : )

chive talkin'...

Not quite ready to burst into bloom...

Their onion-dome buds reaching toward the warm spring sun...

...soaking up the sun, preparing to burst forth...

(I know it's a bit of a strange picture, but I love this one with my mom, the giant, in the background tending her flowers.)

...it's almost time...

lovely lilacs in lavender...

And, though I left behind the purple jacarandas in bloom, my generous Michigan gave me its own shade of purple...

in very lovely shades of lilac...

They were beautiful look at ...
and smelled simply divine.

Though I only captured the lavender ones,

they sprang out in white and a deeper purply color as well.

I remember the delights of lilacs from my childhood--

they always smelled so wonderful and sweet.

Their very fragrance took me back to those days of

childhood summer fun--

riding my bike and rollerskating around town,

looking for birds' nests and bits of bird eggs,

flying kites...

So much 'good stuff' in a pretty purple package!

"See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance..."

~Song of Solomon 2:11-13a

radiant reds...

Here they are... as promised yesterday-- the reds...

Actually, now that I'm looking at them again, they are really more of a dark pink or fuschia-ish color...

But, any way you look at them, they are beautiful! For those of you who thought tree colors only happen in the fall... I present-- the radiant reds!...

Or shall we call them the Fabulous Fuschias?!

Truly amazing colors adorning the lovely spring trees...

And they smelled delicious, too!

God paints the seasons in such wonderful palettes, don't you think?

spring -- pretty in pink...

When I left the CA southland a couple of weeks ago to head for the greener pastures of my native Michigan, I was sad to leave behind the beautiful purple glory of the jacaranda trees in bloom. I haven't been in my home state in late May for many years and did not anticipate the colors which were awaiting me...

Spring was decked out in all its pink glory!
...so very pretty in pink...

There were quite of few of these beautiful pink trees, and I just could not get my fill of them. I'm not sure what exactly they are, but I believe they are some sort of fruit tree--maybe a crabapple?

All I know for sure...

is that they were most lovely, indeed...

and my mom patiently waited many times in the van...

while I stopped and leaped out for "just one more picture!"

Ahhhhh... so wonderful!

And, these are just the PINK ones!

Tomorrow... the ravishing reds...

reflecting on spring...

I just love this lake...

it's down the road from my mom's house...

it's so beautiful in every season!

...this is its reflection of spring...

glorious spring day in Chicago!

This day in Chicago was a delightful Midwest spring day, and I was loving it!! It was cold, wet, soggy, and rainy!
When I was working in my hotel room, I had the curtains WIDE open--terribly gloomy grey sky, rain, and beautifully brilliant spring-green trees!

Look at all that wonderful green!!

...and at that wet, rainy-day parking lot...

This was the tree straight down from my 5th floor balcony...

...and look! it's even in bloom!

(a far different bloom from the purple jacarandas at home, but such a lovely spring green)

This was my favorite shot, though... the wet black asphalt, the pretty green leaves of the tree, the dark brown tree trunk, the puddles along the curb, and the delightful reflection of the tree on the pavement...

Spring in the Midwest...

GLORIOUS!!

(eat your heart out, southern CA!) :)

they're heeerrrrrre...

The jacaranda trees are in bloom, and I am in heaven!! Each spring I eagerly await the end of April/beginning of May when these trees bloom and turn into giant amazing purple bouquets! They are all over here in Los Angeles and Orange Counties and are showing off their lovely purple plumage.

For some reason, these purple trees do not photograph well (at least not for me), and these photos do not truly do them justice. They are far more striking and beautiful in real life.

These photos were not taken this year, as I have not had a spare moment to take my camera out on a jacaranda shoot. But, since I'm enjoying their glory right now, I thought I would share...

These are what the blossoms look like close up...like little trumpet flowers!

...and the final shot below is my favorite street at jacaranda time--the entire street is lined with the purple-blossomed trees!! And the ground is covered with the purple 'snow' of fallen flowers. It's so wonderful to see!

Though the jacaranda blooms are here, I am not... (well, I'm HERE, just not THERE!) I am now on a two-day business trip to Chicago followed by a week with my family in Michigan. When I return home to southern CA, the trees will probably have dropped all of the purple and become green with leaves instead... and so I pay a fond tribute to their beauty by sharing them with you today...

my mom's spring flowers...

Living in Southern California, I no longer get to experience spring in the same way that the cold states do. I think back to crisp spring days in my native Michigan...the snow melting, the ground getting soft and muddy, leaf buds sprouting on the trees, spring flowers beginning to poke their tender little heads out of the ground (sometimes even through the snow!)... first the crocuses, then the daffodils, followed closely or accompanied by the tulips and pretty little bluebells... irises and lilies of the valley... all of this lovely riotous spring color! and fat little robins darting to and fro amongst the flowers ...pulling tasty worms from the softening spring ground...

I believe spring has sprung!!

all flower photos are courtesy of my mom...

taken in her lovely spring garden in Michigan...

thanks, Mom, for sharing a bit of spring!