“To me, flowers look best when there are masses of them.” Those words came from a guy who, overall, doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Namely, from me. Once in a while, though, I realize I do know what I’m talking about. which led me to post that comment recently on In The Net! – Pictures and Stories of Life, Lynette d’Arty-Cross’s fine website that focuses on the beauty of the natural world.
What’s better than flowers? They are bursting with life, yet are peaceful. And, I’m certain, they connect positively with just about every human on Planet Earth, even with evil motherf*ckers. I wouldn’t be surprised, for instance, if the residences of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, and the surrounding grounds, boast flower displays that would knock your socks off.
Yes, I believe that you can’t have too many flowers. I began to embrace that opinion strongly circa 2018. I’m not sure why it hadn’t dawned on me much earlier. Whatever, I’m happy that I eventually wised up.
As fields of flowers don’t exist anywhere near where I live, I’ve developed a semi-obsession with flowering trees, which contain oceans of blossoms in relatively concentrated spaces. Those trees are miraculous. And, seeing that their performances don’t last for more than a handful of weeks, it behooves a flower aficionado to feast his or her eyes upon them while the feasting is good.
The spring season, here in southeast Pennsylvania, USA, was in pretty full gear by the second half of April. Various species of flowering trees were strutting their stuff. So, when a nice sunny day rolled around on the 22nd of April, I decided to take advantage of it, knowing that the blue skies would help the blossoms to look their very best. I wasn’t wrong. As I rambled for an hour through my neighborhood and an adjoining neighborhood, I soaked up the loveliness of thousands upon thousands of tree flowers, getting as close to them as I could, and allowing plenty of blue to enhance the views. My phone’s camera immortalized my walk. A few samples of its work accompany this story.
You know, when I left my house to go flower-hunting that late morning, I didn’t know that my mini expedition was taking place on Earth Day. I thought that Earth Day, an excellent event, had been celebrated two days prior. When you think about it, though, every day should be Earth Day. If humankind were a whole lot smarter than it is, individuals, governments and businesses would be doing whatever it takes, urgently, to try and repair the wounds that we’ve inflicted upon our gorgeous orb since the start of the Industrial Revolution about 250 years ago.
However, I’ve read (click here) that, despite substantial inroads made by renewable energy sources, fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) remain dominant, accounting for about 80% of global energy usage. Heat-trapping greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) produced by the burning of fossil fuels are the main culprits behind climate change. That 80% figure needs to drop enormously in order to mitigate climate change’s manifestations: global warming; rising sea levels; extreme weather events; droughts; forest fires and floods, to name some of the biggies. Analysts, though, are divided as to when, or if, this might happen. Even under the best-case scenario, depressingly, enormous quantities of fossil fuels will continue to be burned for many years to come.
And don’t get me started on deforestation, plastic pollution and other mammoth non-climate-change-related crimes we have been committing. Holy shit, it’s absolutely incredible how destructive, and self-destructive, our species is.
On that note, I now shall sign off. By the time this story is published I will have bathed in the beauty of flowering trees several more times. They are good for my spirits. I damn well need them.
Yeah, Another Blogger 
Love this! Very interesting 🙂 thanks for sharing!
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Hi. I appreciate your stopping by.
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nice
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Your photos are gorgeous, Neil. Some of the things that comfort my angst these days are the moon, stars, flowers, trees, and the ocean. Each one eases my worry but also makes me wonder how so much evil can be found on a planet with access to so much beauty. It breaks my heart that it’s all dying at the hands of greedy humans.
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I think that a big part of the problem is that there are eight billion humans, and the number keeps going up and up. The demands for energy and other resources would be far less if the human population was much smaller. For comparison: When I was a kid, there were three billion people.
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Wow, what a staggering rise in population. That would definitely put a strain on resources. To give future generations a chance, I hope companies and governments do everything possible to preserve what’s left.
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Lovely pictures, and a thoughtful look at the problems we face worldwide, despite the beauty of flowers in nature!
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Humans have made a mess of things. We’re not good caretakers of Planet Earth.
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EVERY day should be earth day!
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Thumbs up to that.
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Everyday SHOULD be Earth day. I’m not sure the flowers should be the spokesperson. The leaves are the heroes that extract the C02 from the air! Bless that which is green!
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Excellent points.
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Excellent piece of writing from you Neil and hats off to anyone who can shoehorn in the word “behooves” into a post.
The blossom trees are out in full glory here in Scotland too – soaking in the pinks on a daily basis as they don’t last long.
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Hi Alyson. Enjoy those blossoms while you can!
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Spring is still my favorite time of the year. You are right– every feakin’ day should be Earth Day. – Marty
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Hey there, Marty. I go for autumn over spring. But spring is a fine time of year, for sure. See ya!
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I hope you zipped over to DC to catch the cherry blossoms! And yes, let’s celebrate Earth Day every day. 365 days, one to pick up trash, one to find new plastic re-use, one to plant a tree . . . The planet could use a little more day-to-day attention. Maybe you can start that movement. 😊
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You should start the movement! I’ll be your assistant.
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Well said. Yes, our part of Edinburgh is awash with cherry trees flowering especially. It lifts the heart and spirits for sure!
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Afternoon! Cherry trees mostly have dropped their blossoms where I live. But dogwood trees are still in flower. And various bushes are doing their flowery thing now too. (A gorgeous rhododendron is in flower outside my front door.)
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Beautiful photos!
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Thanks a lot.
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I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment. I love flowers. And trees. When you put the two together? Amazing. And so so many flowers. When they smell nice to boot? Heaven. Love the correspondence with Earth Day. Perfect! Thanks for sharing this beauty with us, Neil!
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Hi Betsy. Flowers for sure are among Nature’s best inventions. Thanks for adding to the conversation. Have a good week!
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You as well! 🙂
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Beautiful pictures! I love watching everything bloom. Outside my library window, our dogwood is wearing a gorgeous pink flower coat.
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Flowering trees are amazing. We’re lucky they are part of our world!
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This was a lovely exploration. Flowering trees are not common in my little burg, so I especially enjoyed your photos. A light spring snow is falling today… I do miss the cherry blossoms from my Japan days.
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Hi there, Ruth. Have you ever had a big snowstorm in May?
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The big ones are in March, sometimes April. Although it can snow anytime around here! The biggest since I’ve lived here was 7 feet over 3 days! It took more 4 days until my driveway was plowed out.
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And one of the nice things about Spring flowers beyond their raw beauty is, it’s spring! The harsh greys, browns, and dirty whites of winter are replaced by brighter colors and enthusiasm.
Not unlike the floral kingdom’s version of kittens and puppies.
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Hi Dave. It’s good to live in a region that has four seasons. Makes things interesting. Autumn and spring are my favorites.
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I agree that even the evil among us like flowers . . .there’s something about the beauty of nature that connects with all of us and is beyond compare. We have lilacs in our yard that bloom this time of year and their scent is music to the nose.
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Like you say, the natural world is incredible. Beautiful and impossibly complex. Thanks for adding your thoughts. Take care.
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🙏
.*
Shivoham* 🙏🙏🙏
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Thank you for sharing your floral loveliness and bounty, Neil. Someone somewhere said, “Earth smiles in flowers.” It’s a hard point to argue.
Best,
Tanja
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That’s a great quote.
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I agree.
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Flowers are simply glorious! I love Lynette’s blog 🙂 Nate got me some very nice Mother’s Day flowers, which I am enjoying. Cheers!
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Happy Mother’s Day!
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Very pretty and one of the joys of spring! NICE post! 🙂
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Hi Denise. Most trees in my area have dropped their blossoms by now. But I saw a beautiful shrub today — a Japanese Snowball.
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I’m late to respond, sorry! I love these trees, and we have many blooming right now. Beautiful colours on yours. As you say, we should enjoy them while they’re here , given our tendency to destroy beauty.
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Not many trees still have blossoms on them here in greater Philadelphia. But one type of tree does, and I learned its name only a few days ago. It’s the Empress Tree.
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/paulownia-tomentosa
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Beauties!
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It’s hard to have too many blossoming trees! Your photos are lovely.
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The more blossoming trees, the better. Absolutely.
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Absolutely stunning! Those branches are absolutely laden with flowers. So wonderful to see.
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I didn’t use to appreciate flowering trees. Now I do, of course. It’s amazing that thousands and thousands of blossoms are on each tree.
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I do so love the spring blossoms. I could appreciate them more without allergies, lol, but the colors here are beautiful to look upon, my friend.
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Hey there, Jean. The shows that flowering trees put on are hard to beat. Thousands of flowers per tree!
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