Spring In East Tennessee

After a very cold winter with rain, snow, sleet and ice the weather pattern seems to have finally turned in favor of sunshine, sparse rain and flowers everywhere. I don't know if it was because of the amount of cold weather or not, as I'm certainly not a botanist, but I do know from science classes that trees and bulbs need a certain amount of cold weather to make them dormant and then bloom in the Spring. Every where you look you see Redbud trees in a glow of pink. This is my seventh year living in the Seymour area and I can't remember any other year where the Redbud trees were this pretty. And let's not forget the beautiful Dogwood trees.

 

 Redbud trees blooming and on the right you see the Redbud and a Dogwood.

The above pictures were taken along Wildwood about 8:30 in the morning while on a bike ride. Besides the white Dogwood you will also see the pink and red Dogwood trees blooming. The Forsythia in many areas are in the declining stage but when they were full bloom you could see that bright yellow from afar.

 






The tree, above left, is a flowering Crabapple.  This picture doesn't do the color justice for it is amazing with a dark center surrounded by the pinkish hue.  The yellow shrub to the right is a Forsythia and behind it is a Redbud tree. 

 This a a Weeping Cherry, mostly white with a tiny pink center.  There is also another variety that does not have the weeping shape but more like a standard tree.  Some are white and some are pink.



 Almost every flower garden has Tulips.  And they come in just about every color variety you can think of.  However, I really like the variegated type like these to the right.  It is sad they only last a short while as they are such beautiful flowers.

And who wouldn't like to have one of these beauties in their front yard.  Or just imagine along the edge of your patio.  Maybe a mixture of these pink cherry trees and some pink, red and white Dogwoods.

Cross breeding plants now have so many more varieties than they once had.  For instance, I only knew of Dogwoods being white until I moved to East TN.

And now the Azaleas are blooming and I don't want to even guess how many different colors they come in.  These in the picture below are orangish red, a whole row of them planted by this country home.

 

And many of you have certainly noticed the grass has turned from its dirty tan to shades of green, depending on the type of grass and the number of weeds in it.  In some places they never stop mowing but here in East TN we get a break starting about mid-November to early to mid-March.  Then you start the weekly routine of mowing, trimming and edging not to mention pulling the grass and weeds from the flower beds.  
Most visitors to the mountains of East TN come in the summer so the kids can go to the various money required things to see.  A vast number come in October time frame to see the beautiful hardwood tree leaf colors.  But if you don't come in the Spring you will miss a beautiful time of the year.  As I tell a lot of people, visiting this part of the country takes four trips, one each season to really get to enjoy the beauty given to all of us to enjoy.
So the next time you're out and about, take time to look at the Spring offerings.  It may be shrubbery, trees, flowers or a combination of these.  You don't necessarily have to take time to smell each of them but at least take time to look.  These United States of America offer an abundance of scenery.  Try to enjoy it all.  Maybe make a bucket list, then see if you can finish the list in time.