Early April in LA

Now we are in the middle of Blooming May, but before writing anything else I must write about those early signs of Spring that mean so much to me.  This is one of the few times I get homesick, yearning to see the first hedgerow wild flowers- primroses, violets, windflowers, celandine.  Coming from the UK, a country where we have so many deciduous trees compared with Los Angeles,  here in LA I am always searching for that first delicate bloom you see on the trees and which I find so moving.  This post will be devoted to some of these trees.  In a post I wrote about the Fall in LA, I spoke of some trees I saw regularly when taking my young granddaughter out and these are the ones I am now showing in their new April state. First, here is the Tulip Tree- Liriodendron tulipifera:

I was fascinated to see that the seed clusters remaining from last year's flowers were still on the branches, interspersed with the fresh new leaves:

Similarly, the round, pom-pom like seed clusters of the American Sweetgum tree- Liquidambar styraciflua- were still in evidence:

But what surprized me more was the fact that on these American Sweetgum trees many of the Fall leaves- red, purple, orange, yellow- were still there, intermingled with the new bright green ones.  I do not remember ever seeing this in the UK (apart from occasionally some dead, crinkled ones left behind on, for instance, oak trees) as there Winter winds have normally blown them all away.

This gave the trees an interesting patchwork, hybrid effect...

Ash trees, too, still held some of their dead "keys", but that I have seen in the UK.

Another example of Autumn and Spring combined was on the Silk Floss trees, where their wonderful sci-fi "pods" hung among the new leaves, the floss having not yet burst out:

And what about this Yaupon holly- Cassina aquifoliaceae- that seems to be totally confused about the seasons: 

Apart from these trees, some in LA seem to suddenly be covered in technicolor green foliage, having completely missed out on that delicate first bloom.  Unfortunately I have not yet discovered the name of these particular ones (can anyone help me?):

Finally, down the street I am living on, there are these tall, rather straggly trees- Black Locusts (Robinia pseudacacia) that suddenly became transformed by ravishing pale pink flowers- similar to Wisteria- making one's walk a delight:

Now, of course, it is May and there are many more glorious, exotic flowers on both deciduous and evergreen trees- but more about that later...

LA Trees on December Walk

And now it is December...and the acceleration to Christmas is in full swing. However, simultaneously the Fall is taking place here in little pockets among the evergreens. Being in Southern California, one does miss the total dramatic effect of the changing seasons, so one gets very excited by these vignettes...

This morning when I took my granddaughter Violet to the nearby Playground, there was an amazing blue, blue sky and the reds and yellows of the occasional Maple and London Plane trees were exhilarating. It is never that easy to concentrate on taking photos when looking after a baby, so in the late afternoon I went out alone with a camera. By now, of course, there was a totally different light and those particular trees were no longer exciting - but that's the wonderful thing about changing light, you always find that something else now looks exciting, the unexpected...

At the start of my walk, the evening sun's reflected "glow" was burnishing the leaves:






And now it was lighting up the limbs of the trees too:



Next, as I walked down onto the Eastern side of a hill, the glow was no longer on the trees, but was reflected on the Eastern sky, the trees becoming silhouettes:




I then turned South-Westwards, and here was another sky. I have photographed these Palm trees many times against a clear blue sky, so was elated to see them in this evening light:




My next excitement was seeing a tiny slither of upside-down (to us from the UK) new moon, behind the trees:



And then a shaggy, bird-like Palm:


Finally, a completely different visual experience:- side-walk trees turned into magical Christmas Trees:

LA Trees on November Walk

I am shocked to see that it is over a month since I have written anything here- not because I feel I SHOULD have to just for the sake of it, but because there have been so many things I have intended to write about but have not had the energy to do so. My pathetic excuse is that I have been too busy with Grandmotherly duties to do anything else....

That said, most days I take my Granddaughter to a little local playground and afterwards explore different routes home, thus getting visual surprizes from the very varied trees. Granddaughter permitting, I then have the added joy of photographing them.

Here are some images from a recent walk:

Eucalyptus trees inevitably delight me with their elegant, sculptural shapes, emphasized by the exciting colours and patterns of their peeling bark. I totally fell in love with the twist in the trunk of this one:




Pepper trees always fascinate me- with the extraordinary "carbuncles" on their trunks contrasting with the delicate patterns of their foliage:



Finally, here is another tree that gave me great pleasure with its twisted limbs. I believe it is a form of Carob tree, although others I have seen are not so entwined. If anyone disputes this please let me know as I always welcome other opinions, not being an authority on this country's trees!

Walking with Violet...

I have often written about how I love to walk with my camera, not only in the country but also round the streets of Santa Monica- always seeing something new and- to me!- stimulating.

Now that I am staying with my daughter's family in Los Angeles, when she has meetings to go to I often help her by looking after my baby Granddaughter, Violet. This entails driving with them both to the location of the meeting and then Violet and me exploring the back streets, which are always rewarding. Needless to say, like any baby, she is not ALWAYS peacefully sleeping or lying contentedly in her stroller- yes, sometimes she is SCREAMING and needing to be danced and sung to, which can be frustrating when one is trying to hold a steady camera...but the advantage is that I am constantly been fed with new experiences, apart from the joy of bonding with Violet!

So here are some of the images that caught my eye on a recent walk: