Swirls of wings in French Lilac petals and Tiger Swallowtail butterfly drinking and sipping the light and nectar. Lilac nectar must be delicious heated up.
Oh, luscious French Lilac time is fading . . . as the light falls elsewhere on smaller more delicate later lilac blooms. These French dripping blooms have been wonderful for so long due to the cooler spring days and frosty nights. Please imagine gently caressing this cluster, while inhaling it's perfume. Utter Joy!
Fully lit and fully blooming Lilacs and Viburnums create delicious air compositions.
Lilac topiary . . . one of several . . . blooms profusely this year.
Now it is time for the Dwarf Korean Lilacs . . . Miss Kim's delicate florets and fragrance are bathed in light. Her colors are lovely juxtaposed with the striking dwarf Japanese 'Weeping' Maple nearby.
Along the edge of the Crabapple Orchard another dwarf variety or 'Fairy-tale' series aptly named 'Sugar Plum Fairy' begins to open amidst the dappled morning light. Later on the Tree Hydrangea . . . to her left . . . will be in the spotlight. I must get the foot of the trees de-bishop weeded!
The Bluebird, English Hawthorns and Japanese Maples all reflect and inhale the dawning light.
Looking through the sun filled English Hawthorn blooms . . . towards the freshly lit Rock Maples and balcony. Now these blooms are spilling their signature fragrance into the gardens.
Here there are many verticals at play in the sunlight. In the case of the apples . . . the light etches around the limbs and trunks. The Peonies will need staking very soon. Pigments of green absorbing light! Chlorophyll to photosynthesis . . . a garden is such a laboratory!
Unfurling sunlit leaves of Amsonia begin to reveal or unwrap their gift of starry flowers. They are drenched in early day light . . . every cell must be elated and gulping it in.
Fleeting colors flit through the 'Miss Canada' Lilac shrubs as light dances all around.
Sighting of a male Chestnut-sided Warbler just outside my open window!
His colorful plumes reflect and absorb the light . . . he puffs up to allow the heat within or to keep the coolness of the early morning air out . . . perhaps both. Then again it could be to frighten me!
Here in dappled light near the rock garden . . . I found a female peering around.
When she sensed she was being watched too . . . Oh, how she stretched into that moment of panic! How different they can look! Just like people, when in different moods. Note that she does not have the fullness to her chestnut brown color . . . nor the wide black band by the eyes that her partner has. There are so many warblers returning now and their songs fill the garden, fields and woodland air. I can hear the lovely melody of the Wood Thrush, as I write and see both male and female American Redstarts darting about. The Baltimore Orioles are weaving their nest in the same spot as last year. I can see them flying to and from the native Black Cherry branch while looking at my computer screen . . . well a glance to the left of my screen. I can type without looking at my screen . . . a wonder! A Wild Turkey is just outside . . . I am not leaping up to take it's photo . . . often I see both a male and a female walking around . . . dining on ticks I hope! She is stretching her neck in alarm too . . . poor things . . . to always have to be on guard. Here comes a Catbird with a rather large blade of dried something or other for it's nest just across the way in the rose bush. It is quite busy around here with the Tree Swallows dancing in the air and all the birds calling, singing and gathering materials for nesting.
A magical time of renewal . . . I feel so lucky to be able to witness these returning rituals of light, blooms, plumes, songs and butterflies. That others the world over are merely surviving or struggling in very horrid and difficult situations never escapes my memory. I am very thankful indeed and hope that by sharing this way I may add some joy to other lives . . . to inspire others, as well, to want to be in nature. I call Congress too, but know I should do more towards working for justice. For fellow gardeners I happily share and enjoy visiting your bountiful and beautiful gardens . . . for we are all so blessed to be able to grow . . . to create our own paradises. To bring our gardens into a virtual world and fly from New England to India, Sweden, England or countless other countries and states within my own in few moments via images and words is another wonder. I am ever thankful for my blogging community!
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