The yards are meticulously kept... I'm very jealous and it makes me want to come home and tear out my weedy lawn and have it sodded, then sit out with a bottle of Round-Up and a hoe and dare a weed to grow!
The dogwoods are also in bloom at this time. I love these trees, so beautiful. There are several religious legends that surround the dogwood tree and you can read one of them here. The trees here in East Texas are smaller than the two we had in Maple Valley, WA - those were large like oaks. I'll have to look through my flower notes but I think I decided the ones we had were Japanese Dogwoods but don't hold me to that. Dogwoods are used as focal points in the gardens but they also just grow wild. As you drive down the country roads and highways, you can catch a glimpse of their blooms lighting up a dark corner of the woods (Texan for forest).
But the most amazing plant/flower we saw this weekend was the wisteria. It's a southern staple, of course. We had one growing up, that eventually strangled the tree it was in... but that's another story. They are beautiful, their fragrance can't be matched and in East Texas they can take over a forest!!! Seriously, I have never-ever seen wisteria like this. I wish I could have gotten better photos but the lighting was never good enough, but trust me - it was an amazing site to look into the woods an see an acre of purple blooms hanging from the trees. And the scent... it was heady! I'm sure the people there may not hold the wisteria as fondly as I do, since it seems to be a bit of an invasive weed there and I know you are not to have it growing close to structure you want to keep as it can be destructive... and you know the fate of our poor tree. But I don't care, they quickly became my favorite flower of there weekend!
Below are some photos from our azalea trail tour. Hope you enjoy and to check more professional photos check out the official Tyler Azalea Trail website.
Dobbs Street gardens
Azalea blooms
Lady Banks Rose
One of the historical homes along the trail
Some kind of lily - I think I had these in WA
Dogwood along the sidewalk
(and a drop of something on my camera lens, ergh!)
Japanese Maple, Dogwood and Azaleas
Wisteria in a tree - thesse photos DO NOT
do this flower justice!
No idea what this is but I want one!
**Update: this is a Leatherleaf Mahonia**
Dogwood
Dobbs Street Gardens
Dobbs Street gardens
Tyler historical marker on the square
Tyler courthouse & Tyler square
Campus lawn at Tyler Junior College
- not a weed to be seen.
2 comments:
Beautiful and colorful pictures, Raymona. Texas can be quite gorgeous in the spring ... unfortunately it is followed by summer, which from experience, I consider almost unlivable. lol
I KNOW Towanda! I'm DOOMED this summer, there have already been days when I didn't think I'd make it through 'em. And that was in MARCH!!! Oivee!
Post a Comment