Azaleas

The azaleas in the old cemetery are at their very best just now. I've been going to check on them at least every other day or so, and just can't resist taking new photos every time...

May 24, 2026

May 24, 2026

May 27, 2026

 

May 27, 2026

May 27, 2026

 

May 28, 2026

May 28, 2026

May 30, 2026

Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron. Azaleas bloom in the spring; their flowers often lasting several weeks. Shade tolerant, they prefer living near or under trees. Plant enthusiasts have selectively bred azaleas for hundreds of years. This human selection has produced thousands of different cultivars which are propagated by cuttings. Azalea seeds can also be collected and germinated. 

What I did not know about azaleas until I looked it up just now is that this lovely flowering shrub is also highly toxic, and dangerous to pets - if consumed.

As I'm not in the habit of eating them, but just taking photos, I think I'm safe enough to just walk by and enjoy the abundance of colour they offer this time of year!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea

Weeping Silver Pear

I have long been wondering what kind of tree it is that is home to the "red birdhouse feeder" in the cemetery. Last year when I posted about it, someone suggested that it was an olive tree. Now the tree is blossoming again, and also another tree of the same kind in a different part of the cemetery. So today I took some close-ups of the blossoms and uploaded those to Google Image Search/AI, which gave me this answer:

This plant is a Weeping Silver Pear (Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'), a popular ornamental tree known for its silver-green foliage and white blossoms in spring.

Flowers: It produces creamy-white, bowl-shaped flowers in clusters during mid-spring.

Foliage: The leaves are long, narrow, and lance-shaped, covered in a soft silver felt when they first emerge.

Growth Habit: This variety is known for its weeping or drooping branches, creating a distinctive aesthetic often likened to an olive tree.

Hardiness: It is highly tolerant of drought and heat, making it suitable for various urban environments and gardens.

A Spring Walk in the Cemetery

 A lovely spring afternoon yesterday (Saturday), and I took my new walking stick for a 'test walk' around the old cemetery nearby. I was out for about an hour, just walking slowly up and down randomly chosen paths, stopping here and there to look at the greenery and flowers, listen to birds singing, and snap a few photos. 

Huge horse chestnut tree

 

Maples are developing leaves now, while dropping green flower petals to the ground.

Google image search identifies these trees/bushes as Amelanchier  ('häggmispel' in Swedish). Lots of these in bloom around the cemetery just now. 

... And Spiraea shrubs ...

Flowerbeds with purple pansies by the chapel. 

Also pansies planted on many graves in spring, including that of my great grandparents. (Photo from another day, when the light was right for that particular spot.) Cared for by cemetery gardening staff, paid for my aunt, but I'm "keeping an eye" on it for her... 

Flower bed of 'Narcissus poeticus' in the memorial grove.

PS. The new walking stick served me well enough as light and comfortable support on a walk of that kind. (You can see a photo of the stick here if you missed that earlier post.) 

Step By Step

 

Today the clouds seemed less "compact" than they've been lately, and before lunch I decided to go for a short walk over to the old cemetery. Almost a week since last time, but the weather and snow conditions are still pretty much the same. The temperature has steadily kept below zero even in the daytime, and the nearby streets and the major cemetery paths are for the most part dry and clear of snow and ice.

In the cemetery, I practiced a bit of walking without actively using my walking pole with every step. (I.e. from time to time I just held it hovering a few cm above ground for a while, without setting it down - but ready to do so if needed.) I also made mental note that my knee still does not like the slightest downhill tilt - while slightly uphill doesn't seem to bother it as much. (Worth remembering when choosing where to walk...) 

 "Mirror, mirror on the wall..."
Mirror portrait from the lift back home 
- me dressed in full winter gear...

Good Bye to 2025

 

It's the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and so far all is quiet... After weeks of unpredictable explosions, sometimes starting already in full daylight, NYE does still seem to be the one day in December when most people hold back on their fireworks at least until sunset... *

I went to bed early last evening, had a long night and a lazy morning, and managed to get out for a half hour walk in the old cemetery before lunch. Cold and frosty, but dry ground -and less windy than it was yesterday (when I did get out for a little while as well). 

Remember my post from before Christmas, when I found a gnome or elf (or what ever you prefer to call it) sitting on top of a headstone in the cemetery? (If not, you can have a peek here.) Today I happened to walk past a New Year grave decoration (on a different grave) that seemed even more odd to me (as in never having seen anything like it before):

Even more intriguing to me since the person resting here didn't die young, but at the mature age of 94. Under the dates there is a phrase or quote in a foreign language I can't identify. But a scene that might inspire a whole novel... I'm not likely to be the one writing it! - but I couldn't help imagining scenarios like the person being someone's last link to "the old country"... Immigrating perhaps back in the 1960s or so, and missed by children and grandchildren... 

Does anyone among my readers know of traditions somewhere to offer food and drink to the dead, at New Year?? 

* (PS. The sun set at 3:30 pm. The first round of fireworks noise started just as I reached the bottom of this post, around 4:05. It's going to be a long night...)

Gnome on the Stone, and Elf on the Shelf

 Today was another grey day, but it wasn't raining, and I had nothing special "scheduled", so I decided to go for a walk around the cemetery around noon, to get the most out of the little daylight that there was. For the first time since my knee injury I walked all around the place - and then a bit extra. (All in all I was out for about 45 minutes - using both walking poles.)

And old ("returned") grave reused as flowerbed, with some plants that still add a bit of colour to this grey season. 
 

Hydrangea climbing on the old stone wall along one side of the cemetery.

The buds on the rhododendron bushes seem a bit too far gone for their own good as well (I made the same observation about some azaleas on my last walk there). Weather forecasts now indicate that temperatures will probably be dropping again next week, though...

From a distance, on a grave out in one of the "fields", I spotted something very bright red on top of a standing headstone. I couldn't quite make out if it really was what I thought it looked like - or perhaps just some red flowers giving me the illusion...? So I decided I had to go and have a closer look - and it was indeed something I don't think I've ever seen as grave decoration before: 

I decided to blur the name before posting the photo here, but (not surprisingly) the grave belongs to someone who died only 19 years old, and less than a decade ago. 

When I got back home, I got started on my own "final" Christmas decorations... (Got those boxes up from storage yesterday, which was also laundry day for me, so I had to make a few turns down to the basement anyway.)

I don't have a lot of gnomes and "santas", but I have a few, which are now up on their usual shelves etc around my flat. For example, the Santa family knitted by my mum...

 ... And as soon as they had settled in, Skipper came to visit them, and return the stray little yarn gnome doll which she has been looking after all autumn (ever since I found him under the sofa, where he must have been hiding since last winter)...

As reward for her faithful "babysitting", when back home on her own shelf again, Skipper got to decorate her and Barbie's own Christmas tree:

 

This one also lives in my living room. He was bought by myself some time in this century, because he reminded me of Dumbledore (from the Harry Potter books). Therefore he also gets the company of the two little owls...

I also have a few kitchen gnomes, but I'll save those for another post. 

Skywatch Friday

 

Actually it was on Wednesday rather than Friday this week that we "almost" got a glimpse of the sky behind the grey clouds and rain that have dominated the whole week. Not having been out at all for a few days, I grabbed the opportunity for a half hour walk for exercise.

I stopped for a while across the street from the building above, trying to figure out what's going on there. Seemed like some new business is moving into the premises, and doing some changes. Actually, one of the signs outside suggested that it's an old business moving back to the area where they once started out, thirty years ago. The name didn't ring a bell with me though, so no idea what kind of business. Nor do I know if they're moving back to the exact same building or just the same complex. Or what exactly all those triangular thingies in front are for...

As I had no errands and didn't need to carry anything, I took both my walking poles on this walk for a change - mostly just for the extra exercise (for arms/shoulders). We're still having very mild weather. No risk of icy spots just now - but the risk of slipping on a mess of wet leaves is not over...

Crossing the old cemetery on my way back home. 
(Imagine a constant background sound of leaf-blowers at work...)

I'll be linking to Skywatch Friday 

An Abundance of Purple

 

These rhododendrons in bloom (in the cemetery where I often walk) drew my attention to the old stone cross between them, and I went round to the other side to check what it looked like from there.

It's an old family grave, five people with the same surname buried there between 1895-1952. No longer in care of the family, but returned to the church. Still well looked after - I supposed for a combination of historic intrerest, and the gorgeous rhododendron.

While azaleas are now fast getting past their prime beauty for the season, the rhododendron are at their very best just now - so I decided to go and visit them all! (Or almost, anyway...) All the photos below are of different rhododendron trees and bushes, all over the cemtery.

 

And all of them surrounded by a buzz of busy bees...

Finishing off with a different display of purple. A sign informed me that this old grave is now used as an example of using perennials for decoration.