Friday, March 22, 2024

OUR LATEST WALK AROUND ...

Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. As I have mentioned before, we moved here from California 30 plus years ago, discovering it several years later. I came across a very good history of the garden. If you would like to take a look, you can read all about it at this website. I add these links not only to share information with you all but for me to go back to, not only to learn something I may have missed, but to refresh my memory. The garden opened officially in April 1987. 

The grass is slowly returning from its dormant state and flowers and trees are beginning to put on quite a show.  We are expecting several days of rain so that should really make things pop.Outside the visitor center as you enter the garden, there are several flowers blooming. The closest ID I could find for the above were on this page. You have to scroll down a bit. They are also Hellebores but there were no markers that I could see, and I don't like to stick my hands in the undergrowth to search for one. If you know exactly, maybe you can confirm.  I saw one description, Helleborus Winter Thriller ‘Ballerina Ruffles’, but they are not an exact match. I can see where they got the Ballerina Ruffles from.
One of the many reasons I was looking forward going to the garden, was to see more daffodils. 
I was not disappointed!
This area will eventually have a wonderful display of daylilies. The markers are already placed for their identification and aren't there for the daffodils. It will be an easy ID the next time I go when the lilies are blooming.
This will probably be the last I will be sharing of the daffodils until next spring. I expect when I go again, the tulips will be blooming.  Hopefully I will be able to see them on full display.
We walked down to the magnolia tree but first sat on a bench looking at others taking their own photos. It is a good opportunity not only for a short rest, but we can see all of the lower garden from this vantage point. It is a very popular stopping point for visitors to the garden.
This is the Saucer magnolia, also known as Chinese magnolia and Tulip magnolia. 
Its botanical name is Magnolia soulangeana. They can reach to a height of 20 to 33 feet. 
It is a hybrid saucer magnolia tree native to Europe, is mainly found in the British Isles and the United States, and is known for its easy cultivation. 
A deciduous tree with large, early-blooming flowers and its shades are white, pink and purple. It is known to be one of the most commonly used magnolias in horticulture.  As you might guess, its name is inspired by the wide, saucer-like flowers. Not quite open enough, ‘tulip’ shaped and yet still beautiful!
Its symbolism is longevity and perseverance, nobility, love for nature, feminine sweetness and beauty. I would think there have been many poems written about this one.
Next, the Japanese Cherry, and other names are East asian cherry, Japanese flowering cherry, Hill cherry, Cherry blossom and Sakura. Its botanical name is Prunus serrulata.
There is a bench underneath the trees with a lovely view of the pond. A great spot to look at the sky and today, with the blossoms, it was a particularly pretty sight.
There is a bridge that is often used by photographers. This day a young couple posed for a professional photographer.  There were several walkers going back and forth, but they were respectful of the young couple and didn't try to get in their way to cross the bridge. They made their way around the lake instead. Gregg took a few photos which I will share next time. They were taken from a respectful distance.
We have our own Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. They are blooming right now.  The festival lasts from March 20th to April 14th.  There was a sold-out opening ceremony at the Warner Theater packed with Japanese cultural performances, including a collaborative dance with the Washington Ballet Company.
It is a spectacular sight around The Jefferson Memorial. Those trees were given as a gift to the people of America from the people of Japan in 1912.  At The National Park Service Website you can read the history of how this came to be. There is a wonderful tradition in Japan, where people have picnics and outdoor parties under these trees. The following photo is an old one I took in March 2009.
It is a popular attraction and sitting under them here at the garden, I can see why.  At the end of their life span, the petals will fly through the air as the wind blows. This phenomenon is known as hanafubuki and you can read more about it at this link.  Here is another link to a language website and it gives more information about the cherry blossoms in Japan. (I just found an old blog post of a previous visit to this garden in 2011. We were there when all the petals had fallen off the trees and they made such a pretty sight.  I'll add that post next week sometime.)
A blossom not long fallen, returning to the earth from whence it came. Another poem in the making
 perhaps?
The Canada Geese were pairing up, getting ready for nesting season no doubt. Both male and female have well-known devotion to its mate and family.  A mate will put itself in danger to protect the other or its young.  I always wondered how you could tell the difference between a male and female to someone who doesn’t know, like me.  I read recently that the tail feathers on an adult male goose are rounded, whereas on a female, the tail feathers are pointed. The tail feathers on a young goose are rounded, with a frayed and notched tail tip; edged and pointed, as they grow older.
This devotion is shown when one of the mated pair, or a family member, will go down with an injured goose and guard that goose until it recovers or dies. There are two subspecies, the Branta Canadensis Interiori (interior Canada goose) and the Branta Canadensis Maxima (giant Canada goose). The interiori Canada goose may weigh from 7 to 10 pounds, and is shorter and a tad more slender than the giant Canada goose. The giant Canada goose may weigh up to 15 to 20 pounds. My information came from this website.

Alley-oop!"

They are very amusing when feeding.  One goes up, one goes down.
There are more interesting facts here. Depending on where you are in the world you may be familiar with their V-shaped formation (wondering if this applies to other goose species and will have to do more research). This V-shape has a purpose.  It helps the birds maintain their energy and improves communication. Each bird flies above the bird in front of them to reduce wind resistance.  And being able to see the other birds aids overall coordination.  When the lead bird gets tired, it moves to the back of the group for a well-deserved rest. There are many reasons I have always been very fond of the Canada Goose!


I have more photos from this walk but will share those another time.






47 comments:

  1. Oh this is fabulous! Spring geese and daffodils and magnolia's! More please. Thank you Denise Aloha

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    1. Happy you think so Cloudia and you are very welcome, more to follow soon :)

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    1. Indeed and it felt so good being surrounded by it all :)

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  3. Anything that reminds me of Spring I love and especially these lovely photos of yours Denise. Blooming trees, flowers a little history, birds. I really liked your post. Thanks for sharing❤️.

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    1. Greetings Katerina :) me too and I am so glad you enjoyed these. Thank you and you are very welcome.

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  4. Beautiful photos of your spring, and I can nearly smell the blossom.

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    1. Thank you Margaret :) they do smell delightful :)

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  5. Our posts have something in common today! Well, there are a lot of these tulip trees here in bloom now, and I have been snapping them. I had thought they are Tulip Poplars, but I may be wrong. They may be these! We have the Canada Geese everywhere and they stay all year long. Every evening they fly over our house honking. I love it, and have never yet been able to get a shot of that. But I did not know there are two kinds! And I don't know which kind ours are!!

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    1. Wonderful, I shall look forward to seeing them Ginny :) I've taken note of your name for them, thanks for the input. Yes, I love their honking and the sight of them in the air is marvelous. I may be mistaken on this, but I think we have the giant Canada Goose as they seem quite big and stocky up close. Maybe one of our visiting experts who knows more about their territory would be able to confirm?

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  6. Lovely post, Denise. What a beautiful place to walk. I imagine it is rewarding in all seasons.

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    1. Thank you jabblog :) it is one of the most peaceful walks and I agree with your second sentence too, very rewarding.

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  7. Hello Denise,
    The garden is a beautiful place for a walk. The flowers are gorgeous. I love those magnolia blooms. Take care, have a great day and happy weekend.

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    1. Thank you Eileen, my body may get tired with all the walking, but my eyes never do :) You take care and have a great day and happy weekend also.

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  8. Such a gorgeous, fabulous bloom of magnolia and daffodils.

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    1. They are lovely and now I look forward to the tulips :)

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  9. Everything is fabulous. The beautiful blooming trees, the sunny daffodils. Even the geese. What a joy it must be to visit this place.

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    1. It is, and I'm so glad it is only a relatively short car drive away. Thanks Ann :)

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  10. Thank you for those CANADA Geese to start my day off just right!

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    1. You are very welcome David :) I love them too.

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  11. spring is a good time for flowering trees and for birds having baby birds. we are watching a few making nests and the squirrels are merrily doing the spring chase of love. these are all stunning and there is nothing so beautiful as a tree, flowers or not. we saw a news special on CNN last night that showed the awesome DC cherry blossoms and said they are removing, 115 of the trees to do construction, one being the cherry tree named stumpy. it was a good story.

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    1. Very true :) We have a bit of that going on here, with the doves chasing each other around on the deck. They can be quite comical. Thank you Sandra, happy you enjoyed and I heartily agree with you about trees. It's awful they are removing so many of the cherry blossom trees. Thanks for the info. I haven't come across that yet and will check it out.

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  12. I've tried several times to grow the pink magnolia...love them!
    Happy weekend!
    Donna

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    1. They are beautiful aren't they? Happy weekend to you also, and a great week :)

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  13. I love seeing spring, especially today! We have snow -- at least a couple of inches -- and more is predicted. I'm so over it -- I want my world to look like yours!

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    1. I hope that snow is going quickly Jeanie! Not fun at this time of the year. Hang in there and have a happy rest of the day :)

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  14. We have both greater and regular Canadian geese in our area. Also look up Cacklers. These are smaller even yet, just a little bigger than a mallard. Fascinating birds for sure.

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    1. That's interesting, thanks for the info :) Fascinating indeed!

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  15. Plants are really stating to pop. Flowering trees are spectacular.

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    1. They certainly are and I am eager to see more next time I go to the garden :)

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  16. Thanks for the spring cheer winter is back in Toronto today.

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    1. You are very welcome Christine, I hope you get the warm weather back real soon :)

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  17. What a wonderful day you and Gregg had for what looked like such an enjoyable walk around, Denise. I enjoyed seeing all the blooms and the cherry blossom festival is on my bucket list for one year, unfortunately not this one 😟

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    1. Thank you Dorothy, it was very enjoyable! Hopefully you will get there one of these days. It's been a few years since we were there.

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  18. I've enjoyed visiting this very special garden today, Denise. Thank you! You visited on a gorgeous day, my friend. The display of daffodils is stunning as are the flowering trees. I love the tulip magnolia blooms. They are so lovely in your photos. We see them blooming in our neighborhood and wonder why we didn't plant one! Have a happy weekend.

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    1. That's wonderful Martha Ellen and you are very welcome my friend :) I'd like a magnolia in our yard that's for sure. Thank you and have a wonderful rest of this Sunday :)

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  19. Wonderful photographs Denise, this is such a lovely time of year for blooms and blossoms.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan, and I agree with you totally :) All the best from me too.

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  20. I’m so glad that flowers are blooming. Today we went to the state park so my dog could sniff interesting things but we didn’t stay long because there is smoke in the air from wildfires.

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    1. Me too! I have been heard about the fires and hope we get some rain which will help. Charlie must love his walks :) but understandable to have to cut it short.

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  21. The buds on our magnolia tree are still tightly closed so it was good to see your beautiful photos of those in full bloom. Springtime blossom is a thrilling sight.

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    1. Thank you Linda, and I hope your magnolia's will bloom real soon. Very true about the springtime blossoms :)

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  22. Beautiful pictures.
    I'm hoping to be able to visit tomorrow. (We were supposed to go today, but it rained.)

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    1. Hello Sandra, I am hoping you were able to get out to the garden today. Looks like the sun is shining here so I am keeping my fingers crossed for you :)

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  23. You live in such a beautiful area, Denise. I especially love the pink blossom trees. And that was a great photo of the goose going under water. We call them Canadian Geese, and I used to see them in my hometown all the time. Really miss that. They would often walk around the cemetery grounds, and I used to see them when visiting my mom and dad. ; )

    ~Sheri

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    1. Thank you Sheri, I do love it here. The traffic can be horrendous at times but we work around it :) Thank you for sharing those memories :)

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  24. Yay, I could comment on your blog today. My server definitely didn't want to talk to yours for a few days, lol! It's been several years when we were at the festival. Glad you enjoyed this post. Sorry about your snow and hope it won't be long before you get more springlike weather. Also glad your cold has finally turned the corner. Wishing you warm weather and sunshine and good health in the coming year :)

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