Spring Bouquet

March 17, 2012

This particular ode to spring may be accompanied by a few sneezes, because just as everything starts budding out, we are flooded by the pine pollen which puts a yellow coat on everything. Nevertheless, it was with a sense of joy that I saw these new leaves on our Japanese maple which was bare of leaves just two days ago! It is a much beloved little tree and we watch its emergence anxiously to make sure its alright.

Just a few feet away, our blueberry bushes are blooming abundantly, a fact which is appreciated by the bees. We in turn appreciate the bees, with their promise of pollinating the blueberries.

The front yard is covered with violets, including the common ones like above left and the "confederate" variety above right. The variety with more blue at left is less common.

The azaleas in our front yard collection are blooming luxuriantly and very early this year. We have had a warm winter, and spring is coming early.

Our collection now has a pleasing variety of colors.

These blossoms celebrate against a clear blue sky.

While these luxuriate in close proximity.

The quince has been blooming for a month in this warm winter, but is still forming new blossoms. I missed the time for the Bradford pear; its blooms are already faded.

The wisteria is springing into action on the back fence. With this early start, we'll have to watch it to keep it from taking over the house!

These images are from a pleasant 30 minute walk around the yard. They are all handheld shots, taking advantage of the high quality of the D700 at its high ISO numbers. These were shot at 1/800 second with ISO 5000 and f-numbers between about 14 and 22. The only negative reaction I got from my walkabout was from one of our abundant squirrels when I disturbed his lunch. Its interesting that he seems to enjoy the process of cussing me more when he is upside down.