Singing in the Rain: The Flowers are Singing Praises for April's Showers (ahem, April's Downpours)

Tomorrow marks the end of the thirty days of this "so-called" cruelest month of April (alluded to in a previous post that can be seen by going here), and, it has been a cold and rainy one in New York City, where I live and have an urban garden on my terrace. 

Thankfully, with the help of April's rain, my flowers are singing; a sentiment appreciated and expressed by Mutts (in the comic strip posted above this blog entry). If you listen closely, the songs of the flowers might even be heard by you, dear reader, as you view my garden photos below:

TULIPS

As you can see, my white tulip (that I discussed in a blog entry this past Tuesday), has been joined by a friend, clothed in purple. I did not guess the color properly from looking at their tips (as you my recall from that post which you may click here to read if you'd like to refresh your memory or just to take a second look at the tulip's tips before they opened), but I am overjoyed by its magnificent presence.

To its immediate right are the burgundy leaves of my Avellana corylus (Contorted Hazelnut), a plant I have written about in the past which you can reread by clicking here as well here. The twisting and turning of its branches are fun to look at during the winter months when they are bare, but the lovely textured burgundy leaves are always a miracle to behold as spring commences, and a smidgen of this can be seen in the photograph posted below:

CONTORTED HAZELNUT

Funny how folks shed their layers of clothes in the spring and summer months — the exact time that my plants, herbs, trees, and shrubs get dressed. In any event, The Avellana corylus will be featured in my soon to be released You Tube movie that I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry. My crew and I have had some technical difficulties, so the release has been delayed, however, we won't have nearly the delays of Broadway's, Spider Man Turn off the Dark. Please stay tuned for release of my movie, or leave me a comment with your contact information and I will contact you with the details on when and where to view it.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no delays with my plants and shrubs celebrating spring. Even the Continus Coggygria (Smoke Bush), also known as Grace, is bursting with buds (as indicated in the photograph posted below)...

SMOKE BUSH LEAVES

...and it appears that it will flower this year, which will truly be a treat, as Grace has not produced any flowers in previous years, but this has been all right with me because Grace's branches and foliage stand on their own— and have added beauty to my garden in all seasons (as indicated in previous posts which you can access by clicking here as well as here and here). 

Grace has been the inspiration for  the collection of single-sided greeting cards that I produced, which are great to send if you want to send a greeting that goes beyond communication. Please feel free to view it via the store-front of my web-site where purchase information is available.

Also there is a new voice that joined the chorus of my flowers, and that is the presence of these little white flowers (seen in the picture below) on my ornamental grass called hakonechola macra 'All Gold' (Japanese Grass) whose foliage provided the inspiration for my 2010 Christmas card, as you may recall from a prior post.

JAPANESE GRASS

In terms of today's post (but not my garden where there is much more growth than this blog entry can hold), my H.F. Young Clematis, is once again bursting with buds as you can see in a photograph posted below.

H.F. Young Clematis

These precious buds never fail to provide inspiration and even hope, something I discussed last season when remarking on the on going gift of the H.F. Young Clematis.

Most of the images from this season's garden growth will be rendered into my collection of invitations that preserve a moment in time, event program covers that enhance any occasion, and greeting cards that are about more than communication.

On another note, if you have an immediate need and want to use a certain image for your communication needs, arrangements can be made for exclusive, custom made orders.

Happy end of April, dear reader, with a suggestion to my gardener comrades — go out into your garden and join your buds and flowers in their song of praise.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop garden in NYC,  Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

SUMMER 2020 ADDENDUM: 

                             

"Never say never," the saying goes, and I suppose that applies to saying, "I no longer....," which I did in my 2018 addendum and now I'm here to announce at the advice of Chris Deatherage, my book series formatter, who is also my web-master (for patriciayoungquist.com) I now have some versions of the greeting cards that are referenced in this blog post available via FAA, please click here to view them.