Apple Blossoms

I love the soft pink and white of these flowers.

My daughters used to have a stuffed lamb named Apple Blossom, white with pink inside her ears.

Skywatch Friday

Lilacs

It's that time of the year again!

Don't they smell heavenly!!

Geese

This pair of geese only have the three goslings.

Watery Wednesday

I spent my afternoon at the Tulip Festival in the area around Dows Lake.

I could look across the lake and see the Arboretum.

Ottawa Tulip Festival

Another lot of photos from the Tulip Festival -

this time, looking deep into the throats of the blossoms,

all in various states of disarray.

Garden around the Pasque Flowers

Sort of like a rock garden, but with a lot of colour.

At least at this time of year.

I will have to go back in the summer and see what it looks like then.

Trillium

The white trilliums are approaching the end of the flowering season, and becoming pinkish.

Flowering Almond

There are a lot of these shrubs in bloom now.

The rest of the year, they simply have the red leaves,

but for now they are covered with little flowers.

Not much scent, though.

White Lilacs

The lilacs are varying from this

to this. Maybe it depends on the amount of light they get.

Not that I really care, so long as I can bury my nose in them!

Apology

I wanted to space the tulip photos out more than this, but I got my dates mixed up and posted all of them today. I apologize if any of you end up with tulip overload.

Pasque Flower

I have no idea what flower this is.

There are several plants of it in a garden near where I parked for the Tulip Festival.

The flowers are actually the purply colour, not blue.

PS Monday - Thank you to the people who identified this as a pasque flower.

Ottawa Tulip Festival

Sometimes the petals have ragged edges.

And sometimes they are a single colour.

Sometimes they have a single round of petals, and sometimes more.

I remember this one is called Queen of Night, and I think it is my favourite photo from that afternoon. I love the shadows cast by the petals.

Ottawa Tulip Festival

There are so many colours of tulips, and patterns on them as well.

Some of them have even been bred to have the Canadian maple leaf in their markings.

Some of the tulips are just coming into bloom now, and others have seen their glory days fall behind them.

Today's Flowers

The Ottawa Tulip Festival is winding down this weekend.

I spent a couple of hours after work admiring the plantings, and taking photos.

The Festival started in the days after WWII, when the Netherlands started sending thousands of bulbs to Ottawa,

to thank the city and the country for providing a refuge for the Royal Family.

They still send thousands of bulbs, although the city has planted some 3 million altogether.

I was surprised at the many patterns of planting the bulbs.

Sometimes they are intersperced in one bed,

and other times they are planted in bands of colour.

I started out, trying to keep track of the many varieties, but soon gave up in bewilderment.