Key spring flowers in your area

[shootingstar]

Well, it's obvious in our area/Northwest Coast that it's cherry trees, (there is a brief automatic slideshow. Let me know if it works. Wordpress just added this feature.) Of course, there are tulips, etc. But the sheer number of cherry trees here is not typical in other Canadian cities in eastern and central Canada.

However there is a part of me that misses sight and spring scent of lilac bushes and trees which are frequent in southern Ontario. I still have a strong memory of cycling out in the countryside and going by a whole row of gigantic lilac bushes. This is well over 10 yrs. ago. But I never stopped to take photos at that time. I was too focused on pumping up the snakey hill.

[redrhodie]

I love lilacs, too. They're usually in bloom for my birthday in May. Right now, the daffodils and tulips are still going strong, and the forsythia is almost done. It's been a good year for flowers.

[Bike Chick]

The lilacs are in full bloom here and their sweet aroma fills the air. The redbud and dogwood trees are adding beautiful colors to the woods and the azaleas and wisteria are bursting with color in people's yards. Our cherry tree is full of leaves now with dried remnants of the beautiful blooms laying on the ground.

[shootingstar]

I love wisteria. Something elegaic to me about them. Maybe it's the way how the flowerheads droop over and the first part of the name, suggesting "wistful." I dunno. I can't explain it.

One thing for sure, to me, it appears the hydrangea flowers are giants in our area. Probably because of the rain, mist, balmy weather.

At the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario there is a large grove of exclusively lilac varieties. It's amazing. Gardens are a 120 kms. round trip bike ride from downtown Toronto. I've done it twice.

[channlluv]

The wild mustard blooms all over the hillsides here in San Diego this time of year, although it's starting to fade a bit now. Legend has it it was spread here by the friars along the Mission Trail as the Spanish were colonizing California.

Roxy

[IFjane]

Our wisteria, dogwood, redbud & cherrys are all just about finished. Daffodils & tulips history (almost). Now the flower that perfumes the air is the "snowball bush" (viburnam). Next will be the honeysuckle. I LOVE it when the honeysuckle is in bloom because the entire countryside around here smells of it! It is so wonderful to go on a ride & breathe in that sweet aroma for miles and miles.

[marni]

here in texas in town it is the ornamental bradford pear trees which bloom white but don't small so nice, followed by an occasional redbud and then a few azaleas. Out in the country it is the bluebonnets which smell amazingly sweet, along with the red orange indian paintbrush and yellow goatweed which don't smell much at all.

marni

[Aggie_Ama]

In the Texas Hill Country you will find mountain laurels, the beautiful purple blooms smell like grape kool aid. The wildflowers dance to make a sweet smell - Indian Paintbrushes, Bluebonnets, Winecups, Turks Caps and so many that I can't identify. We also have the redbuds, they look gorgeous but once they are done blooming aren't that pretty. Yuccas are blooming now, no smell but they look great in red and white depending on the type. The cacti should start putting on a show soon, most of the prickly pears I have seen are hinting they are about to pop. This is the best time to be in Texas.

[azfiddle]

The desert annuals are fading a bit- lupines, phacelias, fiddlenecks, popcorn flowers. The blazing yellow of brittlebush is out, and the various cactus flowers are starting to pop open.

[NbyNW]

Here in Edmonton spring is just getting started. I have seen a few new leaves poking out, but no flowers yet

[shootingstar]

Here in Edmonton spring is just getting started. I have seen a few new leaves poking out, but no flowers yet

I think you might be the most northern TE North American member, NbyNW. Unless there's a member here in Alaska. (One needs to check if Serendipity in Thunder Bay, Ont. is further south of you ..).

'Course lph and Duck on Wheels in Norway beat us all here. Wonder what spring is like right now.

During the Olympics I was chatting up with a staff member manning one of the Canadian arctic territorial govn't pavilions. She was from the Yukon territory. She rhapsodized about the ever-changing carpet of colours for the tundra up there.

I know you aren't THAT far north. Seems like every other person who lived in Edmonton at some point in their life, also lived for a spell in the Canadian Arctic.

My dearie was there on business awhile ago. He saw the northern lights not far from Edmonton.

[MommyBird]

Here are some photos I took on a ride during Masters Week. We do not have Spring Break in Augusta, GA. They schedule the break during the Masters Tournament so that people can rent their homes to tournament attenders and so that the locals can escape the "Master's traffic."

The flowers were in full cooperation with the tournament schedule this year.
The wisteria and dogwoods were at their peaks.

Wisteria takes over the countryside this time of year. The confederate jasmine vies for second place. Both make my rides a fragrant experience.
The dogwoods elegantly dot the forests with lace.

Notice the huge pine covered in wisteria.

[GLC1968]

In our yard, we are currently being dominated by the lilacs for fragrance and the apple blossoms for show (if this is any indication, we are going to be SWAMPED with apples this year!). Cherries and plums are already past. As are dafodils and most tulips.

As I drive around - I see lots of ornamental cherries and lots of tulips still...so it's a bit convoluted depending on where you are (so much varried terrain means lots and lots of tiny micro-climates in my area).

[shootingstar]

What is an ornamental cherry? Something that doesn't bear fruit properly? I agree GLC, the northwest coast , depending on the topography of the land which can create little patches of microclimates.

I was surprised that there are some varieties of figs that do grow outdoors and are edible in our immediate area. One thing I noticed since moving from south-central Canada, is that alot of the flowers here on the coast, are much larger blooms and seem brighter (or maybe it's the type of air, sunlight). ie. petunia, azalea flowers are huge here compared to what one finds in Ontario.

Wow, Mommybird. I didn't know wisteria was like a weed.
But then my knowledge of flowers and plants is extremely limited. I never paid huge amount of attention to gardens and flowers until I moved to a different part of Canada. One realizes regional differences.

I'm sure Indian paintbrushes grown at the foothills here, but I tend to have strong memories of seeing them when we went hiking higher up in the Rocky Mountains and also in Mount Revelstoke National Park (British Columbia) where are well-known alpine flower meadows. The hanging mountain mist up there, makes all the flower colours more saturated. Very beautiful memories.

When we went cycling out on eastern Canadian coast, there were the abundance of pink, purple and bluish lupine flowers.

[kjay]

In the Texas Hill Country you will find mountain laurels, the beautiful purple blooms smell like grape kool aid. The wildflowers dance to make a sweet smell - Indian Paintbrushes, Bluebonnets, Winecups, Turks Caps and so many that I can't identify. We also have the redbuds, they look gorgeous but once they are done blooming aren't that pretty. Yuccas are blooming now, no smell but they look great in red and white depending on the type. The cacti should start putting on a show soon, most of the prickly pears I have seen are hinting they are about to pop. This is the best time to be in Texas.

I'm attending a camel clinic in the Texas hill country around the middle of May, and I hope everything you mention is still there at that time.

This is a great thread — perfect for springtime!