Coronavirus Can't Stop Spring: The Blooms of Richmond
Updated: May 21, 2020
I've always loved flowers. I have many memories of learning the names of flowers as a child and joyously recognizing them when they first appeared each spring. There was the deep purple clematis that twirled its way around our garden lattice, the delicate periwinkle morning glories, the fragrant lavender, the pungent chives, and the beautiful orange cosmos, to name a few.
In high school, my love of plants and flowers intensified and I began carrying around Petersen's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants and Petersen's Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs. These guides taught me to look for the delicate pink and white flowers of trailing arbutus in the woodlands, the bright yellow flowers of marsh marigolds in the wetlands and near the creek, how to prepare the fiddleheads of bracken ferns (they taste similar to asparagus), and how to make a tea full of Vitamin C from the needles of the white pine. I also had a book called What's Doing the Bloomin' which was quite helpful for identifying plants.
Since living in Virginia, I have certainly not ceased to notice flowers and plants, but much of Virginia's flora are foreign to me and I have not studied them. But the added downtime during this coronavirus outbreak, coupled with the fact that we own our own house now which came with a fairly extensive urban garden has rekindled this passion for me.
As the weather gets warmer, spring has started to arrive more fully every day. It seems I look at our magnolia one day and it has the tiniest buds, and the next day it has actual leaves, though they are small and that lovely fragile green of spring newness. Things that seemed dead in our yard are quickening back to life. It's like The Secret Garden, and I am inclined, like Dicken and Collin and Mary, to believe that there is some magic at work.
This is our first spring in this house and so the growing things in our front and back garden and yard are like lovely surprises. Each week it seems like a new bush or tree begins to form buds, and then a few days later it bursts into flower. Thanks to friends on social media, I was able to discover that our big tree out front with the sickly sweet blossoms is a Bradford pear and the white flowering bush in our backyard is an azalea. Thanks to our realtor who helped us buy the house, I know the giant leaves in our front garden are called elephant ears (they are currently just poking up through the soil).
Easter took me by surprise this year. There will be no
Easter on Parade, no Easter Sunday service, no wearing an Easter dress and bonnet, and no buying a beautiful white Easter lily (or maybe hubby could add it to our Clicklist order...hmm). I am reminded, though, that there are so many reminders of new life surrounding me if I am paying attention. These spring blossoms are more delicate than the vibrant blooms of summer, but they whisper to me of new beginnings and redemption. I don't understand how delicate green leaves replace old weathered ones on our magnolia tree and how they know when to form, but their intricate beauty brings me joy and their unfailing appearance bolsters my soul.
In a time when going on walks or runs around the neighborhood may be the highlight of your day as it has often been of mine lately, I wanted to share some images of trees and plants in glorious bloom. Some I know the names of; some I do not yet. Please feel free to point out what they are or share your own pictures of spring plants in bloom!
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