Maple Blossom, Dandelions & More

 

First impression of these trees from afar may be that they it's their leaves that are unfolding already. Getting up closer, though, it becomes clear that it's not leaves, but blossoms:
 

And as I know these trees from other seasons as well, I know they are maples. (They grow in the old cemetery where I walk all year round.)  

Unlike the trimmed forsythia hedges I see from home, some private gardens have forsythias that have been allowed to grow as tall as they please. 

 

In the garden facing the main street, the same house has an impressive cherry blossom tree.
 

It's also dandelion time, and those can turn up almost anywhere!

"I mustn't forget, I'm alive, I know I'm alive, 
I mustn't forget it tonight or tomorrow or the day after that."

Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine 

 I've mentioned (and quoted from) this book before, it's an old favourite of mine - and tends to come to mind for me when I see the first dandelions appearing in spring.

It's set in 1928, in a small town in Illinois, and inspired by the author's own childhood memories. "A magical timeless summer in the life of a twelve-year-old boy named Douglas Spaulding" . The title, Dandelion Wine, refers to the idea (or wish) of bottling memories just like home-made wine.  Each chapter is like a short story in itself, with Douglas sometimes the main character and sometimes just witness of events. I think I have it as audio book as well as in print, maybe time to re-listen again...!

Forsythia

  

We're enjoying warmer temperatures this week, around 16'C in the afternoons, and more and more colour is coming back into the surroundings at last... I didn't walk very far today, but stopped and snapped a couple of photos of Forsythia hedges now bursting into bloom here and there in my neighbourhood. (The yellow brick buildings in my immediate surroundings all look very similar - but there are different kinds of flowerbeds and hedges around them.) 

 

 

I have a forsythia branch in a vase at home, too - but that is a fake one, not stolen from one of the outdoor hedges... As some followers might remember by now, I have a number of different fake branches and flowers for this vase, which I vary with the seasons.

Forsythia flowers are produced in the early spring, before the leaves. The genus is named after William Forsyth (1737–1804), a Scottish botanist who was a royal head gardener and a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. (Wikipedia)

Forsythia and Wood Anemones

 

On my pre-lunch walk today I passed by this magnificent forsythia; and in the afternoon, I found some wood anemones growing in a sunny spot even closer to home.