Blossom Report, Mostly!

Hi, everyone!

This is the time of year when my flower friends come and go!  Just when some blossoms fade, something new starts to bloom! The first Friday in May, Grandma and Grandpa took me out to the bay.  We had a very pretty sunset!  Then on Saturday, I checked out the water level.  It’s not quite high enough to have flooded our old decking, but I’m glad we have a higher, stronger waterfront now!

After that, I visited all my flower friends at the bay.  The azalea flower buds were showing some color, but weren’t open yet.  The rhododendron flower buds were getting fat!  The primrose at the edge of the herb garden was in full bloom.

Back in the woods, there was a fallen tree!  I guess all the rain made the ground too soft to hold onto the roots.  I visited the May apple patch to let my friends know that the plants Grandma moved were happy in their new home.  The apple orchard was in bloom already!  Close to the edge of the orchard, I made friends with some wild strawberry plants.  Grandma said we’ll have to remember to check out the strawberries next month.

The weather has been warmer, so a week ago today Grandma took me back to Highland Park.  We wanted to see the lilacs before the park got busy with the Lilac Festival.  I made azalea, redbud and dogwood friends on our way in!  Some of the magnolias were already past bloom but my cream color magnolia friends were at peak.

On Reservoir Avenue, the kwanzan cherry trees were at peak bloom, too!  The tulip beds had a lot more flowers open.  I especially liked the flame red ones!  Of course, I told the tulips all about their cousins at Keukenhof!

We stopped at the Poets Garden before we visited the lilacs.  The white trillium were getting the slight purple tinge that says they’re getting tired. There was nothing tired about the lilacs!  A few were in full bloom, and most had a mix of flower buds and open blossoms.  The smell was lovely!  My favorite kind of lilac, Sensation, had just enough buds open for me to recognize it.

After we visited the lilacs, Grandma took me back to the cherry meadow.  What a difference from my last visit!  Nobody would ever know how pretty those trees were just a week or so ago!

We ended our visit at the azalea gully.  The early azaleas were blooming, but — just like at the bay — the rhododendron and later azaleas weren’t.

Last Wednesday, Grandma looked out the window and saw something white in the back border.  Guess what?  Our white trilliums bloomed!  Grandma had been looking for them and thought they weren’t going to come up this year.  Our apple trees in Fairport are blooming, and the Sensation lilac we planted last year has bloomed, too!  Even the lilac that was broken off by the roofers last fall bloomed from a side branch!

We went out to the bay again last Friday.  When we went to the Point for sunset, I got a surprise!  There was a horse and buggy in the parking lot!  We often see Plain People at the lighthouse pier, but they usually travel by car.  The sunset was cloudy!

Grandpa says the water level at the bay is probably as high as it’s going to get this year.  Our azaleas there are just starting to bloom.  I’m looking forward to the prettiest season for flowers there!

Something else we’ve been waiting for is happening!  When Grandma and Grandpa and I were at the Air Force Academy almost four years ago, we saw that the volleyball court in memory of Uncle Bill needed work!  The sand had so many pebbles mixed in that nobody wanted to play on it anymore.  Since then, Grandma has been trying to get the court restored to the condition Uncle Bill would have wanted.  That work has FINALLY  started!

Love,

Lion-san