Also, look at the beautiful primroses and primulae covering the garden of the old lady next door. I talked to her the other day, telling her how much I enjoy the view of her garden from my kitchen window every day, and she even offered for me to come over any time and get myself some flowers. She told me that all those lovely spring flowers have grown without her doing anything.
Wait - doesn't the headline of this post say something about magnolia? You're right, and I am now going to show you pictures of magnolia trees I have taken today.
These magnificent trees grow in my street, I pass them every day on my way to and from the station. The block of flats is nothing special, of typical late-1950s/early 1960s style, but for two or three weeks each year, it is transformed by these beautiful trees.
Here are two different types of what in German is called Sternmagnolie ("star magnolia"), because of the "star" shape of its blossom. If you look closely, you can see that the one on the right has more petals to one flower than the one on the left. I took these pictures today during a walk in the palace grounds.
Above, another star magnolia (I think), this time in pale pink. There were many more flowers and trees I could have taken pictures of, but of course on a fine sunny Sunday like today, the palace grounds were full of people and so it wasn't always easy to get the view I would have liked.
Here is another white one. The glasshouse in the back houses various exhibitions with a garden theme throughout the year; there is a picture of its inside here. The wooden shed in the front is a small learning centre where people can get advice about gardening.
But you know me well enough by now to expect more, and there will be more from today's walk, just not today :-)
Let me end this post with this picture of a flower that is definitely not a magnolia:
If you know what this is called (we also saw a blue variety a bit further on), please tell me.
It's an anemone, Meike. Magnolias are among my favourite trees.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Frances - my sister was right, then! (Not that I did not believe her, I just wanted it confirmed.)
DeleteYour grandmother grew them in her garden, in blue and also in red. Can you remember? She was very proud about them. ;-)
DeleteWhile I do remember much about Oma's garden, I'm afraid I can not recall the anemone. You'll have to remind me of where exactly they grew when I'll be over for lunch in a few hours :-)
DeleteYes, I agree with Frances, it is an anemone. Funny thing, I know that is what it is but we don't have them here. I think I must know it from English gardens.
ReplyDeleteI love your Star Magnolia trees!! Of course, you know I love my blooming trees!
The anemonae I know are small, white to pink flowers covering the ground in the woods in spring, with their green leaves being very different to the one in this picture. Yes, you probably know them from English gardens.
DeleteI was hoping you'd like my magnolia tree pictures :-)
Those magnolia trees are magnificient indeed. I'm not sure I've seen any as big around here. And none in bloom here yet - but as you say, when it does start with all these beautiful trees, it usually all happens very quickly!
ReplyDeleteThere is another really big one in a street near where my parents live. I will be there for lunch tomorrow; if I remember to take my camera along, maybe I'll sneak a shot (it's always tricky with private houses, isn't it).
DeleteOur Southern Magnolias are very different. Thank you for posting pictures of your species there!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, and I am glad you find the comparison interesting!
DeleteI envy you the Anemones. I love them - my father used to grow them. I've tried to grow them but they die off after the first year.
ReplyDeleteNo need for envy, John - they don't grow here at home, I only saw them in the palace grounds. They really are lovely, though, aren't they!
DeleteHow glorious! Your spring is much further along than ours, but we'll get there. I think the last flowers are anemones.We're too cold for them here. Enjoy your spring! I know you are.
ReplyDeleteYou know me well, Kristi - I really am enjoying spring as much as I can. Yes, several others have said that the flowers are anemones, and since all of these people know a lot more about flowers than I do, I am sure they are right :-)
DeleteMagnolia trees are splendiferous in springtime. Though their beauty is ephemeral, we can console ourselves with the thought that they will blossom again next year... assuming of course that we are still here. The old lady may be a rich and eccentric heiress who has nobody to leave her fortune to... so ask if you can get her shopping in from "Aldi"!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, YP, I have indeed taken a few steps to befriend her; last year, for instance, I brought her cherries from my tree (after she had remarked upon them looking so good a day or two earlier), and I always make sure to wave hello when I spot her working in the garden. I've been inside the house, too, and she was never married, has no children but there must be plenty of money stashed away somewhere... she used to run a shop in front of the house until she retired. But I bet there are nieces and nephews there who are one day going to inherit. Hopefully, they will not so some terrible "modernizing" to the garden and ruin the view I like so much.
DeletePerhaps the money is stashed under her mattress. Why not ask if you can change her bedding for her? After all, it's nice to help out one's neighbours!
DeleteIt is very nice indeed! Good idea, I shall keep that in mind.
DeleteSouthern (USA) magnolias grow to be huge trees with large waxy leaves and big, big single white blossoms. They have a sweet, heavy odor and are much prized in Southern landscapes. PS...they are messy however and drop lots of debris.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the magnolia trees here are already beginning to drop their blossoms, too. Today, I spotted some deep purple ones but couldn't take pictures. The scent of the ones here is not so pronounced; what I noticed most scent-wise when I walked past people's front gardens was when they had hyacinths.
Delete“If thou of fortune be bereft,
Deleteand in thy store there be but left
two loaves, sell one, and with the
dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier
How very fitting! Thank you for this poem, Jill.
DeleteIsi t a kind of anemone? I too adore magnolias, such decorative trees. I stood under a huge one last year just as its petals were starting to fall - it was like being in a very special kind of snowstorm!
ReplyDeleteYes, Jenny, my sister's guess was also anemone, and several here have confirmed it in their comments.
DeleteWhat a lovely image this puts into my mind - a very special kind of snowstorm, in the shape of magnolia leaves!