Cottage Renovations

[OT from cottage renovations]

the weekend's light was variable on Saturday and much better on Sunday. 

I have a feeling that this is going to be a long, difficult spring if last autumn's level of distraction with the effect of light is any guide.  at this early point in the season and with so much more to come even what's out so far exceeds my ability to record:  if a single flowering tree can leave me completely overwhelmed, how am I going to cope with azaleas and dogwoods? 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

fireworks in Wade Park

scaling down is a recurrent theme in this space. 

forgive me the title, but this little bloom has an uncanny resemblance to skyrockets and polychrome air bursts. 

lungwort

lungwort is a small, pretty plant whose blooms resemble the Virgina bluebells of which I am so fond.  the plants in this highly magnified view were brought to the Grove from somewhere in the Old Dominion and seem to be quite happy here. 

lungwort
Grove Avenue

magnolias

the magnolias are in bloom.  with their droopy languid flowers, somtimes sparse but often coming forth in a wanton profusion that belies their delicacy of colour, they have a sensuality verging upon the odalisque.  only the opium poppies can outdo them in this regard. 

this one is in Howard Park, caught in Saturday's afternoon light: 

this spectacular tree can be found at 5^th Avenue and M^cCauley Street, seen here in Sunday's morning light. 

this new blossom's tip is still bound, giving it an unusual transitional shape. 

---

double stellate magnolia
Town Nursery

many thanks to Charles Horan for the Nursery tour, and to Maisie and Declan for giving me the chance to buy him a drink [at their lemonade stand]. 

C&O

when the cherry trees come into bloom they put forth an abundance that simply doesn't work on a small scale.  see, for instance, this image from three years ago. 

coming back to the present, it took several attempts over the weekend to find the right lighting for this composition: 

C&O - Cherry and Oak (with a garnish of forsythia)
Chestnut Avenue

[OT from cottage renovations]

when a run of rainy days follows a dry spell it doesn't take long for our woodland fungi to take the hint and indulge in a hasty growth spurt.  a damp walk this afternoon yielded both macro- and micro-scale examples of this activity.

macro ...

the first one exhibits a lavish profusion of bright fall colours, found decorating the base of an oak next to the Church parking lot. 

... and micro

this pair of dainty parasols emerges from the lichen shrouding a limb of an anthracnose-stricken dogwood on outer Grove Avenue.  the taller one attains no more than a fraction of an inch in height but possesses a stately grace that belies its diminutive stature.