The redbud trees around my cabin will soon fade out of their perfect pink and turn into spindly green-leafed trees, completing one of the few of nature’s transitions that goes from swan to ugly duckling (or, more accurately, to ugly cygnet). Today, they are still near their peak, but I’m already finding small, green leaves on the tips of the branches instead of their astonishing pink buds. So before they fade away for another year, I simply had to post a few more photos of them.
The first photo is along the road up to my cabin. The tree in the foreground stands at the base of the lane and is the first thing I see when I head up the road. The second photo isn’t as good but does show how that pink color is all through the forest right now. I can easily see 8-10 redbud trees in a small area at the bottom of the lane, and the pink just fills the forest.
This morning I also discovered that the flowering dogwood trees are beginning to flower. The flowers are not quite fully open, but the first of them should be out by tomorrow morning, so I will post a photo or two of them then.
This year I won’t have redbud and dogwood blooming at the same time. That doesn’t happen every year anyway. The dogwood typically follows the redbud by a few days or a week, but in some years when the weather is just so, I can find both blooming at the same time.
A few years ago the single dogwood tree at the bottom of my lane fell over. It chose to grow along the edge of the lane, roots exposed along the bank. Inevitably, that resulted in the tree losing its grip on the earth, and it fell over of its own accord. Dogwood trees are gorgeous but aren’t very strong. Since then no new dogwood trees have appeared in this spot to take its place. While I’ve looked elsewhere on the mountain to find redbud and dogwood growing side by side in hopes of eventually taking a photo showing a pink and white forest, I haven’t yet found them close enough for that. Maybe next year. I’ll keep looking.
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4 comments:
Our redbud and dogwood are a bit further along than yours, Carolyn. We've got definite "green" on the fading (but still beautiful) redbuds, and some of the dogwoods are fully in blossom.
Scott: That's usually the way of it, isn't it? Philly is usually warmer than my area, so it makes sense that your redbud and dogwood are further along too. You're closer to the coast, so I think makes the difference, because Philly certainly isn't any further south!
pretty !
I got watch to watch some showers of ice pellets today. I was like. "get out of here!!!! Enough of you"
ah, I love the Redbud dressed all in pink blooms but when she changes costumes for the green heart-shaped leaves, I think of her as a gangly teen, lean and lithe and limber. . . practicing grown up dances.
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