Christianson's Nursery

While we were in the neighborhood of Mount Vernon, we decided to stop in at Christianson's Nursery to see what might be blooming early.

A More Global View of the Tulips and Daffodils

While the color and translucence of the tulip petals is a limited seasonal burst of natures expression, the way the farmers grow them is even more impressing.

More Tulips

Some of the tulips are elegant and stately. Like Audrey Hepburn in one of her movies.

Tulips and a Daffodil

Funny how we often assign a color to an object when very little, if any, of it is actually that named color. For example, the white tulip above is many shades of yellow, a pinch of green, and perhaps a few other subtle colors tossed in on top of the little bit of while we see.

Tulips in Colors Galore

I often wonder, when I see so many colors of tulips, if this ability to be bred to nearly any color is not what the attraction to tulips is really all about. they don't last long. There is a limited range of soils and climates they can thrive in. You really need to be in the right place at the right time to enjoy them.

But when you are in that right place at the right time, there is a world of color to enjoy.

Even the white ones have a multitude of colors in them to delight the eye. This one below, with the red tulips and the green leaves in the background, is showing the shades of white to good effect.

 

Skagit Valley Tulips

No set of flower photos from the PNW would be complete with a few images of tulips. Today we start a series to really make this complete. It is tulip time in the Skagit Valley to our north and the Tulip Festival is in progress.

Flowers and Fun

Many flowers are only recognized as flowers from the way they grow, not from their nice petals or colors. This one looks as if the grass just went a little crazy and started trying to be more than merely grass.

Flowers Large and Small

There are flowers big and small, tall or floppy, subtly colored and bold. This one fits into the large, floppy, and subtle category.

A More Varied Selection of Items

A photowalk is always just after or just before a rain shower here (usually both). This makes it easy to almost always get plants with a bit of water remaining on them.

Tulip Tree Blossoms

I finally found a tulip tree with blossoms near enough to the ground that I could make some photos for you.

Flowers Galore

It is hard to get tired of such wonderful flowers. While I complain a lot about the rain, the water drops it leaves on the flowers does make them more interesting.

A Few Trees

Not every flower looks like a flower. This tree puts out frilly sorts of seed containers that are certainly decorative and lovely, but not very flower-like.

A Palette of Colors

We associate many colors with the autumn season, but spring also has it share of non-floral colors. It seems that all the colors are always there, the plant just chooses what to show off depending on the season.

Old Friends Showing Off

What would spring be without daffodils? I suppose like spring in a place like norther Alaska or Ecuador where they don't grow. But we are fortunate to have then here and we can enjoy the many varieties with the mix of colors to brighten our days.

Tulips and Trees

This color of tulip is one that I especially like. The reds and purples are fine colors, but the delicacy of this yellow is really something else.

'Tis the Season for FLowers

The breaks between rainstorms is getting longer as we move into springtime. Flowers are beginning to appear everywhere, even on our doorstep. Today begins a series of posts bringing you some of the flowers we have in our neighborhood.

The Olympic Mountains

 On a day that most ion Seattle would consider a clear day, we can see the Olympic Mountains from the beach in Edmonds. One of the few places I can stand without getting run over to see this span of mountains.

Seamus' 5th Birthday Party

Seamus recently turned 5 and once we were all back in town again, we had a party to celebrate. Seamus wanted to wear his Encanto dress to fit in with the theme of the party.

Stones and Color

At some point, someone placed these stones on the log. Perhaps they thought they looked pretty or perhaps it was a child that just wanted to collect rocks. In either case, I find that they add a little interest and color to the scene.

Patterns

The play of the light and shadow on the patterns in the surface of the driftwood here makes for some fun compositions.

Driftwood Galore

My local travels took me back out to Whidbey Island so I stopped by Possession Point State Park to have a look about. There was a bit of sun so I decide to investigate the huge amount of driftwood along the shore.

Spring Colors

I'm not completely sure but I believe that the dingy portions of the flower above are due to dirty rainwater. It doesn't seem to be shadows and it makes no sense that a flower would be successful attracting pollinators using a purposely dingy facade.

Water, Water, everywhere...

As the sun begins to peek from behind the clouds, the well-washed flowers begin to show their colors and shapes, decorated with beads of water.

Finding Flowers and Leaves

So. Here we are. Back from the late winter/early spring travel and no plans to go anywhere until June. This means we are pretty much stuck in the mode of exploring the local venues to see what can be found. In the moment, this means flowers.

The Local Floral Show

Well, we are back home in Snohomish now and, surprise!, it's been raining. Once the showers stopped, I headed out to see if spring is catching up with us here in the cool, damp north. There is evidence that we are, in fact, going to have a spring this year.

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

Since I posted where Seth and Anna were married, I just had to get a few images of the church where their reception was held.

More Beverley Street

I have wakle and photographed this street numerous times. But that was a long time ago. Today I tried to bring fresh eyes to the old haunt and see what I might reveal.

Along Beverley Street, Staunton

Outside the storefront that was originally a haberdashery (an is now a cigar store), we find the traditional sign of such a place: the umbrella. I've never tried to look at it from this angle before.

Thornrose Cemetery

No visit to Staunton is complete with a stop by Thornrose Cemetery. While three are not many gravestones that stand out as special, there are plenty that display the victorian styles of draped urns and simple geometric shapes.

A Little Nostalgia

 Just a short entry today to revisit a place of memories. This is the hall of the art gallery at the Augusta County Historical Society where Seth and Anna were married. A delightful place filled all the good kind of ghosts.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Trinity church is on the National Historic Register and a great place to visit for a window into old Staunton.

Staunton Train Station

I have visited the Staunton train station many times and taken lots of photos here. On this day I found a few old subjects to try again.

A Somber Place Under Bright Blue Skies

Most of the gravestones here are proper, modest ones reflecting the more middle class society of the townsfolk and nearby farmers. But there are a few on a grander scale that standout. As you can see, looking in the distance above and in a few other photos, there are some family mausoleums here suggesting a few quite well-to-do families. But above you see individual markers on a grander scale suggesting people with rich mourners or outsized egos.

Sunshine at the Cemetery

My visit to Woodbine Cemetery is on a cloudless winter day that is cool but not cold. The sun feels good on my shoulders. This gravestone attracted my attention for a couple reasons. First, I cannot resist a gravestone with interesting lichens growing on it. I love the color it adds.

Woodbine Cemetery

So, we've headed to Harrisonburg, VA to visit friends we've not seen in a couple years. It is good to see friends and visit familiar places. Of course, many places have changed a lot, so we are are also visiting new places as well. Today we start a visit to Woodbine Cemetery in Harrisonburg to see a few of the more interesting markers. As you can see, spring is on the way and these small blue flowers (crocus perhaps?) are coming up everywhere.

Mixed Messages

With the re-introduction of sunlight into our lives, mother nature is sending us mixed signals. Here we have a crocus blooming and enjoying the spring-like weather.

Cascade Mountains

While we've been getting more frequent breaks in the clouds cover allowing us a bit of sunlight, it is not often that the clouds clear away from the Cascade Mountains and give a clear view of the snowy peaks.

In the Pilchuck River

Returning home, I find that February and March are not as rainy as November/December and there are more frequent spells of sun to go for a walk. On this day, I ventured down to a local park along the Pilchuck River to see if there were anything worth photographing.

Mary's Trumpet

This lava tunnel is called Mary's Trumpet. Not sure what Mary we are referring to here but it is a trumpet because of the shape of the tunnel. When the water rushes in, it fills the space in the back so that when it comes back out there is a bit of noise.

At the Foot of Haleakala

Here, on the southern end of the island, we are under the eaves of Haleakala and its frequent cloud cover. Looking up the hill in the general direction of the volcano, we see a variety of cinder cones.

Butterflies at La Perouse Bay

On the last day in Maui, we drove south to La Perouse Bay to see what we could see. The beach here is very rocky, covered with lava. Amongst the lava outcroppings are these small yellow butterflies.

The Small, Large, and Incidental

While there is nothing striking about this pile of stones (some sort of pumice, I suspect) they do capture the nature of beaches on Maui.

Shapes and Textures at the Beach

Unlike most beaches I've visited in my life, in this place with tens of thousands of people living all around, nature is still allowed to bring its beauty right up to the shore. No clear-cutting and making way for progress (well not in this way) here. Just a nice, natural beach.

Enjoying the Beach

This arching tree trunk makes a nice place for folks to stack rocks. Rock stacking seems to be a popular pastime at beaches and along mountain trails everywhere.

Kamaole Beach

Even here where the sands are mostly white it is easy to tell that this place is formed from volcanoes. The lava rocks are scattered everywhere.

Olowalu Petroglyphs

There are petroglyphs here on Maui that tell the tale of a long habitation by the Hawaiians. I cannot find a site with much to say about them except that some of the drawings are thought to be more that 300 years old.

Red-Headed Cardinal

Those of us growing up east of the Mississippi are quite familiar with the bright red cardinal. In fact it is the state bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia. That's a fair sample of the part of the country in which I was raised.

But here in Hawaii, things are different. Here there is the red headed Cardinal. Exactly the same only totally different.