Friday, February 26, 2016

Spring has Sprung in Sacramento

I have been busy with various projects lately, so I'm late in posting these photos. But spring in Sacramento is always a beautiful symphony of blossoms, starting with the flowering plum trees around town -- especially at McKinley Park. The sprays of pink along graceful boughs that reach up and out always give my heart such a lift.

Every fall, the burst or reds and golds makes me say fall is my favorite season. And then spring comes and blows me away.



McKinley Park is part part of my husband's regular walking routine. Lately I've gotten back to walking (a mile and a half most days), but usually my walk takes me in the opposite direction to Time Tested Books, my favorite used book store. Last week, though, I revisited McKinley Park after his glowing report of trees in bloom, and I was not sorry. Have a look:                                                                                                                                                                                


There is a pond on the western side of the park, on the south side of the library building. and a small island in the center where ducks and geese hang out. The path above circles around it. Here is a larger perspective of this beautiful section:    


But farther up the south side of the park is the beautiful rose garden. The roses aren't in bloom yet, but the Japanese magnolias have opened their petals and shed some of them, littering the ground with a dazzle of pale lavender


And now, as I make my rounds of the neighborhoods on my daily walk, I'm starting to see the daffodils and tulips. I keep forgetting to take my camera. For now, you'll have to imagine the yellow ruffles of daffodils, the glossy reds and purples of the tulips. 


Have a great week-end.

How about you? Which is your favorite season of the year? What trees to you like the best for their colors?

















20 comments:

  1. I too am enjoying our signs of spring, Elizabeth, which you have so capably captured at McKinley Park. Beautiful photos!

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  2. Beautiful park. Awesome that you have bulbs coming up already. I can't complain. It's getting up to 50 today in Michigan in the winter. I'll be walking too.

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  3. Beautiful place. It looks very much like my favourite town in England (UK). Unfortunately spring hasn't arrived yet so everything still looks drab. Looking forward to the cherry blossoms arriving here.

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  4. Hi, Nicola, Ah . . . the cherry blossoms. I love A. E. Houseman's poem, "Loveliest of Trees," about the cherry blossoms.

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  5. Thanks for stopping by, Geo. As a poet/gardener, I know you especially love springtime in Sacramento!

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  6. Hi, Natalie. Actually the tulips and daffodils aren't our plants, but I see them while walking around Midtown. Midtown is almost like a village set in the middle of the city, and everyone seems to love gardening. We do have calla lilies, though, and they are starting to unfurl. So beautiful. I know spring is different in every location. We used to live in Georgia, and spring didn't come for another month there. What I loved there were the forsythia bushes, some of the earliest bloomers, that would send out sprays of yellow. I loved those bushes.

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  7. Gorgeous place to take walks, Elizabeth--thanks for sharing. My walk route isn't showing anything near that beautiful yet, but I'm looking forward to what's to come. Your plum trees look a lot like our redbuds which are some of our earliest blossoming trees, too. Favorite season? Like you, I usually say fall until spring comes along to remind me how beautiful it can be, too. Have a great rest of the weekend :-)

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  8. The trees just seemed to all burst out overnight. I was amazed. I do hope our winter hasn't ended just yet, though. We could sure use more rain! Thanks for the lovely pictures.

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  9. Kenda, I remember redbuds from when we lived in Georgia. They were beautiful! And the forsythia bushes always was our first sign of spring, there, followed by dogwoods, one of my favorite trees.

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  10. Rosi, I'm like you. I'm enjoying the beauty of this early spring, and, like you say, it just popped out overnight. But we do need the rain for sure. I hope we'll get it.

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  11. Oh so beautiful! I have hope, spring will find us soon, too.

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  12. Gorgeous photographs. A lovely place to take a walk. Wild flowers are blooming in our pasture. The birds are singing. Spring makes me want to stay outside and enjoy this beautiful world.

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  13. Tanya, I've been to Canada and know how long your winters are, but when your spring comes, it's quite lovely.

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  14. Hi, Beverly. Yes, that's my husband's favorite part of his walking route.

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  15. So pretty! We're heading into fall here, so the spring flowers look very cheerful.

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  16. It's beautiful! And now I can hope that the temperatures will start falling on my side of the world. I'm SOOOOOOooo over 40degC temperatures.

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  17. Hi, Kate. Fall is my other favorite time of the year. In both seasons, there is so much beautiful color.

    Misha, 40 deg. C sounds like our July and August in Sacramento. Usually we get triple digit Fahrenheit, but it's a dry heat, luckily. Humidity is what wipes me out.

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  18. Lovely:) Spring is my favorite season in Sacramento...none of the summer heat or winter cold. Looks like we'll have to pay the in-laws a visit soon:)

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  19. Hi, Mark, when you do visit your in-laws, I hope our spring will still be blooming! Most recently, this week, I noticed the redbud trees booming. Spring is a truly lovely progression in Sacramento.

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  20. Oh my goodness, such beautiful, beautiful pictures! I wish I was there right now! My favorite season is definitely Spring too.

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