Spring Flowers

So many flowers bloomed last week. With nearly two weeks of sunshine and glorious temperatures, the flowers took advantage of the chance to bloom and boy did they ever! The pollinators (bees, flies, slugs) got major work done and I'm sure there will be many more seeds and new growth in the next year.

Also as a result of this weather, I reminisced about my time in Japan as I rode my newly acquired bike (temporary, long-term loan) under fragrant trees and crisp sunny skies. I experienced a portion of my first real spring in the Pacific Northwest... at least in Bellingham. Allegedly this is the most beautiful it has been in years. Glad I got to be a part of it!

In the past, I have not been around for spring. Here nearly three years (wow!) but my first spring was in the mountains where I saw a different form of spring that came much later. It was brutal in Diablo, wearing multiple layers and snow boots well into spring as it was the coldest, darkest, and rainiest April Washington state had ever recorded. Last spring, I was in Mount Vernon and working in Stanwood, so I got to see the tulips and other flowers, but no real focus on sakura, 桜 or, cherry blossoms. Seeing and smelling those trees this year was incredible. No other way to put words to it. So here are pictures to help me:

Blooming Tall Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) is shinier and more leafy than its cousin, Dull O.G. (M. nervosa)

 Do you see the elephant trunk?

 Looking skyward through white flowers!

 Through pink flowers too.

 I am titling this picture, "Late Bloomer." Seems fitting.

 Can I get some help naming this flower/ tree?

 More Sakura

The Late Bloomer up close