Spring rebounding

I am continuing to enjoy photographing the camellia blossoms that were zapped by the cold and instead of white look bronzed.



We have gone back to spring temperatures and there is a surprising number of blooms considering how many started too early and were killed by cold.



I love delicate blossoms on trees.



Bill and I went to the WRAL Azalea garden today.



As expected many of the azaleas bloomed too early and lost their buds and blooms before it was time to bloom.



There were so many other flowers in bloom, I didn't miss the sparse azaleas.



Normally this would still be too early for azaleas so, as I mentioned last week and probably the week before, it has been a strange year.



Tulips are among my favorite flowers.



I also love violets and pansies and they are starting to bloom.



I love the way spring petals look after dropping to the ground.



Overall it looks like this will be a beautiful spring.



Considering we had a beautiful early spring in winter I've been enjoying spring intermittently for over a month already. 

Returned to Winter and back to Spring

The week of March 13 saw a return to winter, temperature wise, although yesterday (Saturday) was moderate. 



Today was chilly and sunny, pretty typical for early spring.



After getting way ahead of themselves the azaleas blossoms were mostly a loss other than the early ones I enjoyed prior to winter's return.



I'm sure I mentioned this last week but I've never seen azaleas bloom this early.



I'm used to crocuses, camellias and daffodils in March where I live but azaleas usually hold off. 



I took some road shots on the way to a paved walking trail that goes along the Neuse River in between Wake Forest and Raleigh, NC.



I don't think I've ever seen a silo covered in vines before.



I've seen a lot of barns covered in vines but not silos.



Today (Sunday) was a perfect day for a walk.



I like chilly weather when I walk especially when it's not too cold.



Kind of like the 3 bears, not too hot, not too cold, just right. . .



There were other walkers out but not like when the weather is warmer which is an advantage to slightly chilly weather.



I could have done nothing but shoot the sky and I would have had a ton of shots.



I like areas of tall grasses allowed to overwinter. I can image all the life that seeks shelter there.



The paved trails are popular with cyclist but there weren't too many of them.



There were a few solitary cyclist as well as a few children on their bicycles with parents running behind them.



Some of the trees have the feathery look I associate with spring.



There aren't too many flowering trees left since most lost flowers after the cold snap.



There have also been a fair amount of trees starting new leaves that are now curling up and look ready to drop.



My neighbor's Japanese Maple is one of those. Still looks pretty but the early spring leaves are mostly dead so not sure what will happen to it. 



I remember one other year when a lot of trees leafed out too early and they did start another bunch of spring leaves but didn't do very well for an entire growing season.

Lambs and Lions dance together

March came in like a lamb but not for long.



The lions and lambs of March keep trading places this year.



My camellias bloomed early and were so pretty that it wasn't a big deal when they got freezer burn from the ever changing weather.



The American Robins have been out full force.



I almost think the camellias are as pretty with their cold snap color against white.



I need to weed around my narcissus and cut out some of the volunteers.



Because of the ever changing weather I've taken a lot of shots because I know there will be a lot of damage with everything ahead of itself.



I made a point of photographing the trees below yesterday.



They are always so lovely.



I was particularly motivated to take a lot of pictures yesterday.



Some of the flowers frequently start blooming in March but others are about 6 weeks ahead of schedule.



I took the rest of the pictures in this post today (Sunday, March 12, 2017).



Yes, it is snowing this morning.



There's a lot of white on white.



I do enjoy photographing flowers in the snow.



It's a soft snow and not too cold.



The crazy part is my azaleas are blooming a month early for some and a month and a half early for others.



This is definitely a first for me.



I've photographed narcissus in the snow many times but I've never photographed azaleas in the snow.



I worry about the farmers as they've had problems with strawberries and other plants getting ahead of themselves.



Back to the many faces of my camellias.



I have photographed them in a lot of phases.



My neighbor's Japanese Maple has already leafed out.



I'll end on another one of my azalea bushes.