Happy Arbor Day at Red Butte Garden

They were giving away tulip trees at Red Butte Garden today 

in celebration of Arbor Day. 

My daughter is holding the tiny tree and standing next to a grown one. 

These trees blossom in late spring. The flower looks like a tulip. 

The big tree will bloom soon, 

so we hope to return to the garden weekly so we don't miss it.

 These are crown imperial lilies also known as fritillaria imperialis. 

We wouldn't have seen them if not for a garden volunteer telling us where to find them.

There's a lot of color in the garden right now. 

It's going to get even prettier in the next month.

If you're only going to go to the garden once a year, 

I'd recommend waiting for the wisteria to bloom.

Last year that happened toward the end of May.

But I really do recommend going more than once a year.

We see new, beautiful plants every time we go.

Under the Whitebud

I looked it up. There is such a thing as a whitebud tree, 

but it's most often called a white redbud tree.

It's botanical name is Cercis canadensis 'Alba’.

That's what the tree is in the middle of our front yard.

When I took these pictures, I was lying on the grass underneath it.

Strange Tree, but I Like It

 The tree in our front yard grows blossoms not only on small branches

 but also on branches that are very large. 

As of today, we've lived here for three years.

I never noticed that oddity about the tree until now.

Happy Easter!

We should have more than one apple this year on our apple bush. 

There were sour watermelon peeps at our house on Bunny Day.

They're the green ones. The centers are pink.

Parrot Tulip

I think this tulip looks more like the head of a dragon than the feathers of a parrot. 

The type has been called both dragon and parrot, but parrot seems more popular. 

I wouldn't have noticed the dramatic flower except my sister pointed out that 

the big flowering bushes in our front yard smell a lot like lilacs. 

I went outside to see if it is true. I love the smell of lilacs.

I don't know if the tiny light-pink flowers are lilac relatives or not, 

but she is right, they sort of do smell like lilacs.

Then the tulip captured my interest.

New Sights

Did you know it's possible to parachute from the ground up? 

I was on a bike ride through Butler Park
and saw this guy flying his parachute like a kite.
He was harnessed to it. 

Every once in a while, the wind was strong enough
he lifted a foot or two off the ground.

On my way home, I stopped to talk to the little girl who lives across the street.
She was holding a tiny bouquet of white flowers.

"Did you get those off a tree?" I asked.

"No, they're violets," she said.

I didn't know there is such a thing as white violets.

There are light purple ones too. 

Then she showed me where they are growing.

"Did you know you can eat violets?" I asked her.

She didn't know.
I made sure to tell her to ask her mom first
and wash them before she eats them.

Red Moon

Taken between 2:10 am and 2:30 am Utah time.

I was up anyway.

JRT

Spring at Red Butte

I believe today was the warmest day of the year so far.

We took advantage of the temperature and enjoyed a picnic dinner.

Funny, I thought the parking lot would be full and the garden would be too.

The garden was nearly empty. 

A lot of it is still growing, but there are some pretty things to see.

Love the pink. 

"Pick me! Pick me!"

There weren't a lot of blossoming trees in the garden. It's probably too early.

They do have this one and a few magnolias that are in full bloom. 

I did not see this rabbit until my daughter pointed it out to me.

I said, "Look! Quail!" 

She said, "Look! Rabbit!"

Double Tulip on the Jordan River Temple Grounds

Edible

When we arrived at my parents' house this evening, 

my little sister was in the front yard picking violets.

Their yard is pesticide and herbicide free.

My sister washed the flowers and put them in a fun, delicious salad.

Grape Hyacinth (updated)

Have you ever smelled one of these?

A couple of websites said they smell like grape bubblegum.

I tried to smell this one, but I'm not sure. It just smelled sweet.

They're not even related to proper hyacinths (see one here raindrops on petals).

They're also known as muscari from the Greek word "muschos" meaning musk.

They come up every year on their own.

I admire their hardiness and constancy.

I'm not sure I would have recognized them if all I saw was the above picture.

It was a fun picture to take and it definitely flatters the flower, 

but you might recognize them better like this:

Double Daffodil

Yesterday morning, I empathized with a flower in my front yard.

Its long stem bent toward the ground. 

Its sad yellow head face-planted in grass.

I wondered what happened to the poor thing.

Was it smashed by recent snow or did it just get too heavy?

Until recently, I felt somewhat weighed down. 

I'd felt healthier, happier, and lived with more integrity in the past. 

Memory motivated change.

I was curious if the flower was pretty, so I picked it. 

I held the bright double daffodil up to catch the morning sunlight, 

took its picture with mountains, blue sky, and clouds, 

and noticed its many intricate folded petals. 

It no longer looked sad.

Like the flower, I feel like I've been picked. 

Soon, I will be held up to the light of a new service opportunity.

More, permanent changes have left me brighter.

After I uploaded the daffodil pictures, 

I noticed the flower's imperfections.

Some petals have tiny black spots 

and some have shriveled edges. 

A small blade of grass was stuck to the back of one petal by a tear drop of ice.

Like the rough edges, black spots, icy-tear, and stuck grass, 

my life and myself are imperfect.

Even so, I feel the sunlight.