We are currently experiencing my favorite time of year. It is the pinnacle of spring, when the millions of orchard trees in our valley are erupting with flowers, creating a blooming panorama and scenting the air.
Most landscape vistas in the springtime become verdant and green after a long grey winter but in our valley the trees are not green but white. Sometimes they are pale pink.
I've blogged about
this time of year every year since I have begun blogging. I'm sorry to be so redundant but I just never get tired of seeing this breathtaking display of beauty every April. I can't stop photographing it and I feel compelled to share it.
Last weekend was the annual Blossom Festival and this year the blooms popped open right on time. The last couple of years they were late and tourists were disappointed. The big bonus was that for three days, right over the weekend, we had eighty degree weather and sunshine that burned our wintery pallor away.
All that summer foreshadowing just intensified the craving to garden and Blossom Festival is the best time to feed that habit. All over the valley are plant sales that offer perennials, shrubs and trees for screaming deals. I had to get my fix and, after all, I have all this landscaping to restore after our house remodel destroyed what used to be.
One of the places I like to visit is a farm that only the locals know about. It has one of the best views in the valley. It is positively Swiss in charm!
The lady of the farm is a master gardener and in the spring she offers propagations from her own extensive gardens.
I also went to my favorite
shrubbery sale and brought home a truckload of possibility. I love it when a truckload of possibility costs only a third of the usual.
I immediately planted some new rhododendrons under the fir tree where overgrown lilacs used to dominate. I also couldn't resist a topiary and a pencil holly.
This was a great find- a Japanese maple with beautiful red colored bark that I'm told looks stunning in the winter with a snowy background. I need to find just the perfect place for this beauty.
The springtime splendor of our valley makes all the waiting through the winter rain and gloom worthwhile.
