In bloom

I couldn't resist taking a pic of my azaleas today. My garden isn't noted for its flowers, but for a week or so in May it's magnificent. The larger, creamy-flowered azalea, bought a long time ago with money from my mother-in-law, makes me think of a wedding dress in its abundance; I hope every year for a spell without heavy rain or strong winds to disturb their beauty. Three years ago I returned from a week's holiday to find that the freak gale that year had obliterated all sign that the bush had flowered at all. The flame-coloured plant beside it is even older; we bought it for the garden of our first flat, in Glasgow, and transferred it to Dunoon with our flitting. It had an 18-month sojourn in the garden of the council house we were given at first, and moved to its current position via the back garden of this house. I feel it's never done as well as it should - perhaps it suffered from its disrupted beginnings - but this year it's better than usual.

Soon the blossoms will be gone and we shall have to wait for the colours of autumn to brighten up the bushes, but right now they're glorious.