At the Arboretum: A Profusion of Spring Blooms

The local Arboretum puts on a grand bulb display every spring. Last year, it peaked around late April. This year, we're running a few weeks behind. The tulip blooms began with red this year. Then a symphony of hyacinths chimed in, singing out in every color.

I returned to the Arboretum on this morning to find the tulip show around the Sundial at about 50% of full bloom. My best guess is that the show will peak sometime next week or early the following week, assuming thunderstorms don't knock down the flowers early.

I took many photos of the display, and my usual process involves lots of kneeling and even crawling around on the ground to get the shots. Above you may see a photo of . . . not a tulip, but another fancy spring bloom, the
snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), also known as chess flower or checkered lily. Behind it are many grape hyacinths. This fritillary was the only such flower I saw in the entire gardens: one of a kind.

I wanted to be sure you got a chance to see a broader photo of the display as well, so I've included one in the extras. The sun had fallen behind a cloud for just a few minutes, and so the sky was overcast, but even then, you could see the flowers shining out like tiny points of light against the darkness.

The soundtrack song is one I picked for the fancy snake's head lily in the main photo above.  Here are the Oak Ridge Boys with You're the One (in a Million).