Four weeks in a garden on the Puget Sound of Washington State . . . .
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The earliest days, misty and damp. The end of a long, wet winter in the Pacific Northwest. This is the garden as it begins to awaken.
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Lat years glory subdues . . . but awakening.
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The misty forest that surrounds the house is beginning to stir.
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The sheltered ferns made it through the cold snaps.
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The mosses and lichens are adapted to thrive through the winter . . . when all the leaves have fallen from the trees.
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Here and there buds are starting to appear.
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The front yard Magnolia flashes it's first promise of wild flowering . . .
A week later . . . and the sun broke through for an afternoon of amazing light and color!
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The bold blossoms of the Forsythia and Oriental Plum dominate the garden.
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You can almost hear the trunks and branches stretch under the turgor rising from the roots.
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Promises of what is to come in the garden.
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A few brave blossoms gambling against a late frost.
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A sunny day
one week later . . . and the whit Magnolia has burst out in a constellation of white flowers.
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A sunny blue garden wheelbarrow . . .
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New flowering everywhere!
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The ferns seem to be exploding out of the ground!
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The purple Magnolia is beginning to show color in its buds.
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Leafing . . . right before your eyes.
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The Japanese Pear blossoms seemed to appear overnight!
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The rhododendron buds continue to swell . . .
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Down under the rhododendrons, a small violet flower blooms.
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Like an arrangement from a florist . . .
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White Magnolia.
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Delicate beauty.
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Hidden in the dark shadows at the edge of the garden . . .
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These gave off a wonderful aroma.
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A (rare) wonderful sunny day in the great Northwest.
Weeks later . . . more wet and dark days . . . the famous Washington State rain has been relentless, but that has not stopped the powerful urge of Nature to break free.
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The Rhododendron are just now beginning to emerge from the tight buds.
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New buds . . . fraught with beauty.
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Warped and twisted as they unfurl their beauty . . .
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The magnolia in the front yard is beginning to show purple.
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The purple Magnolia only budding, lagging behind their white neighbors.
A wet afternoon in the garden.
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A white Magnolia in bloom deep in the dark bushes . . .
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Buds and pink blooms . . . everywhere you look.
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A new splash of beauty emerges.
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Perfect.
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Everything is showing new growth . . . Winter is at last receding.
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Every day sees a new kind of flower appearing.
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Tiny flowers hidden deep within the foliage.
Flowers everywhere . . . these volunteer perennial were beautiful.
Native species also appear here and there in and a round the garden.
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This part of Washington State sees extreme amounts of rainfall. The trees are covered in moss.
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Fresh, wet moss everywhere.
In addition to the moss, tufts of lichen adhere to almost every branch.
Bark and moss.
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