Above, for your pleasure, as a go-to-sleep picture or a wake-up picture, depending on where you live, is an azalea bush in full bloom in our back garden.
Today Grandpère and I, along with our daughter, took five children to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. We had a lovely time, and now I am home and exhausted. I'll write more about our adventure later.
Below is a back view of the gang, excluding me, at the zoo.
Our camellia opened its blooms today!!! No end to the excitement! AND --I got to sweep the first dusting of yellow pollen off the porch. Spring is springing!
ReplyDeleteAnd that azalea is gorgeous!
(PS--my parishioners returned from NO--they had a wonderful experience. --blessings Grandmere.)
We had snow this morning. :-(!!
ReplyDeleteThat said it got up to about 38 tonight. Yes, I said UP to.
Seeing this helped.
Margaret, wonderful about the camellia blooms opening.
ReplyDeleteThe pollen can be overwhelming here, a thin, yellow powder all over everything on the patio.
I'm glad your people had a good experience in NO.
Fran, a high of 38! Mercy. You see my family is wearing shorts in The photo. Today was a beautiful spring day - in February.
Oh, Lord. I think I'm going to be ill. It got up to 47 degrees today. I could actually walk from my house to get something out of the car in the driveway without my coat on and didn't shiver.
ReplyDeleteI love the azalea and the thought of a newly blooming camellia makes me weep. Thank you both for the lovely thought of spring.
What wonderful weather you are having. I am waiting for more snow so we can get some more skiing in...
ReplyDeleteHow nice that you and your husband are such attentive grandparents!
I was going to join w/ Fran and Lisbet in kvetching/being jealous...
ReplyDelete...but it's pouring rain outside at the moment, so I know that even here, in the wastelands of Michigan, spring IS on its way (even if we won't see azaleas and bare legs for some months yet!)
A Bush!
ReplyDeleteIt's a potted plant here. My Grandmother had a few living for quite some years... They were of a light yellow, slightly pinkish...
Very beautiful!
I have a large number of azaleas in my back garden and they make a lovely display in September but does not last long. However I was glad to hear the news that there should be a cool snap mid next week with minimums finally falling below 20'C (68'F). At last Autumn will be here but they still forecast near century temperatures tomorrow and the bushfire threat remains in Victoria. Just like to let you know some of us live in upside down land.
ReplyDeleteAzaleas already?! It's still February!
ReplyDeleteI love azaleas. They're so over-the-top.
Didn't you enjoy the Zoo? Went a few weeks ago and I thought it was so nice and improved from what I remembered.
ReplyDeleteSpring is Hope. The azalea is gorgeous. I have a yard full of azaleas and can't wait for then to bloom.
ReplyDeleteBut shorts?/ nice weather? I agree with Elizabeth, it all makes me ill.
having said all of that, it is lovely here in the mid-atlantic states this morning, that is until the rain comes this afternoon, and snow on Sunday.
I'm glad you had a great, but exhausting time at the zoo, Mimi.
sue
Ah, all you poor people still in cold weather, you have my sympathy - except for Catherine, who wants more snow!
ReplyDeleteYellow azaleas? Now that would be something to see. Here we have white to various shades of pink, very light to very deep. Not all of the colors are in full bloom yet. We could still have a late frost, which would kill all the blooms.
It was a perfect day for the lonk trek through the zoo, and we didn't even see it all, which disappointed my granddaughter, because she doesn't want to miss a thing.
Hi neighbor, Lance. I see that you worked out how to leave a comment. The zoo was very well-kept, except for the ladies restroom. That was kind of messy. I suppose it's better to focus on the animals rather than the humans, since it is a zoo.
Counterlight, I love the azaleas for their over-the-topness, too. Nearly every inch of the bushes are covered with flowers. The color in the picture is the most common around here.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful blooms. Do they have a scent?
ReplyDeleteDP, no scent whatsoever. But when the Confederate jasmine and the honeysuckle vines bloom, the scent is sweet, indeed, close to overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteThe Azalea is obviously a Rohdodendron: see Swedish Wikipedia
ReplyDeletehttp://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azalea
and try the English variety for comparison.
The Swedish has a picture of a yellowish red Azalea, said to be native from the Balkans to Kaukasus.
Yes, Göran, azaleas are a variety of rhododendron. I see that some are orange-colored, too.
ReplyDeleteLove the Azalea. And all those kid butts at the zoo, too. What were they trying to see?
ReplyDeleteSusan, it was the gorilla exhibit. No gorillas in the picture, but I see the chain for the tire swing to the right of the enlarged picture. I don't show the faces of my grandchildren in pictures. You will always see their back view on the blog.
ReplyDeleteWell, one exception. I believe that my daughter gave me permission to show a front view of her boys while they were in the Smokey Mountains.
I was not complaining about seeing their backsides.
ReplyDeleteSusan, don't worry. I didn't take it as a complaint.
ReplyDeleteOh Grandmère! Your azaleas always put ours to shame, such large blossoms! We have to put in the special "more acid soil" beds for them and if you don't replant into fresh acidic soil every five years or so, they die. and our blooms are downright puny compared. We're probably two weeks or so behind you in the blooming this year.
ReplyDeleteMy friend I always go visiting with in NO had the entire front and side of her yard (on a corner to explain that one side) covered with azalea bushes taller than me, and with blooms big as my hand. One of the silliest things I cried over, after Katrina, was knowing all those 100 year old azaleas had died. I cried over a lot of serious things, too, but I cried those awful huge gulping sobs over those bushes.
TheJanet, the azaleas require very little maintenance here, except a little trimming back, unless we have a period of prolonged drought. Then they need watering because of their shallow root system.
ReplyDelete