The Sweetness of Spring

We haven’t traveled this year, and though I was disappointed at first, I have made peace with staying home. Though best known for marijuana cultivation, Humboldt County’s climate is perfect for flowers. Not only do blossoms appear early in February, they continue through June.

I am amazed by the range of flowers that grow profusely here. As soon as we felt the first few mild days, I began to smell jasmine in the air, and noticed that many fences have jasmine growing on them. Rhododendrons are another species that does well in the Pacific Northwest, and that includes northern California. We have all colors from pale pink and lavender, yellow, peach, and coral through magenta and deep purple. Rhododendron bushes can grow ten feet tall with ease and during the spring they can be thickly covered with flowers. They are spectacular.

Flowering trees are one of the next steps in the progression of spring. First come the white apple blossoms, then pink crabapples, lavender plum blossoms, dogwoods, and flowering trees that I don’t recognize with clusters of pom-pom like pink flowers. I have stopped the car to take pictures as I drive around town. Many trees are postcard perfect at the height of their bloom.

In the Midwest, lilacs are a signature flower of late spring, and their scent is everywhere. In Eureka, lilacs barely poke their stems out of hedges and side yards, overwhelmed by huge bushes of California fuchsia, purple and white wisteria, and flowering bushes. There is the princess flower, a shrub covered in deep purple flowers that is hardy and easy to grow, and there are other flowering shrubs covered with tiny blue, white, or pink flowers.

Clockwise from upper left: Wisteria, California fuschia, princess flower, rose, shasta daisies, and ? (snapdragons?).

Even unmown lawns are lovely here, sprouting tiny yellow and pink flowers.

All kinds of bulbs grow well here, and daffodils come up in early March, followed by tulips. Later in the summer, we’ll start to see dahlias, grown by every plant fancier in the region. There are so many shapes and colors that no one could have a garden that included all of them. The county fair horticulture display is always full of gorgeous dahlias.

As I walk around the neighborhood, I admire the number of homes with beautiful plants, colorful flowers and shrubs, flowering trees, and plantings of bright orange California poppies. There are other poppies, too, yellow, red-orange, deep red, purple, even blue, the Himalayan poppy. I am always learning something new about the richness of my current home.

Poppies

I was reminded of flowers by the kites in the air, too, during last weekend’s Kite Festival.