Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Springtime in Austin

I love Austin's springs. Austin has enough of a winter that I start to miss the color. But the leaves don't finish falling until December, and the grass stays green about as long (not to mention the millions of live oaks around here which stay green all winter). Toward the end of February, buds start opening up on the deciduous trees, and now at the beginning of March, all the leaves are starting to unfurl.
3 months is pretty tolerable for winter, especially when the days rarely fall below 50 degrees and there are plenty of 70 and 80 degree days thrown in!
Florida was beautiful and green and colorful all year round, but almost too much so. You don't appreciate beauty as much when it's surrounding you all the time.
It's pretty hard for me to get around and take pictures the way I'd like, but I was able to capture some of my favorites. I just pull the van up to the side of the road and lean out and take the picture. Or in the case of the daffodils, pulled up as close as I could, got out and got down on the grass. The pictures are even sweeter to me because they were not easy to get!



There were bees swarming all around this tree. If I'd have had my macro lens with me, I could have gotten a cool shot of a bee.


I LOVE the bright, shiny green of brand-new leaves.


The Presbyterian church around the corner from our house has several beds of daffodils. In a couple of weeks, the bluebonnets will start appearing!


I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but it is gorgeous. These huge blossoms are really amazing. They don't last long, though. Only 5 or 6 days at the most. So pretty!

6 comments:

Rachel said...

dogwood tree.

Rachel said...

nevermind, not dogwood. I'm not sure, either.

Amy said...

Do you guys have any Texas Mountain Laurel trees around? We have some in AZ and they are beautiful (and smell like grape kool-aid! lol)

Gabrielle said...

Yes, there are lots of the mountain laurels around here. We're thinking of putting some in our front yard, actually. The blossoms look like bunches of grapes, too!
I've been wanting to take a picture of those, but I can't find one where I can drive right up next to it.

Rena said...

You are still a fabulous photog Gabby!!
Hope you are feeling well. Miss ya.

Anonymous said...

Looks like magnolia to me...