The first day of the month is always a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for the first of May, the theme is Smell. This was chosen by Anna, who lives in France but has blogged regularly about Tahiti. You can find other takes on the theme here.
My choice for this was simple. Each May here in Ottawa and Gatineau we have the Tulip Festival, with a rich variety of tulips in public parks and private gardens. While not all tulips have a scent, there are those that do, and they're all a delight. I took shots at various locations of tulip beds through April, with the plants starting to push up through the soil. With these first two shots, this is at the War Memorial, where the plants were just starting to come up through the soil, contrasting nicely with the remaining snow at the time.
This view is in Major's Hill Park, with the National Gallery beyond the tulip bed.
Nearby, these tulip beds have the Gallery and Notre Dame Basilica as a backdrop.
And these tulips were pushing up through the soil on Parliament Hill.
These were taken early on Friday morning at Dow's Lake, where the park serves as one of the focal points of the festival, which runs this year from the 12th of May to the Victoria Day weekend. One tulip bed was starting to show its colours- it's always one of the first beds to bloom. I will be starting a series on the festival in a few days; hopefully more blooms are showing very soon!
We have good theme for the month and ... very good spring.
ReplyDeleteHave a good one, William !
Tomás.
a good choice!
ReplyDeleteApart from the tulips it looks like the fresh cool air would be very appealing also William!
ReplyDeleteI think your header picture sums it all up William, tulips are so beautiful....
ReplyDeleteThey have to get started blooming yet, same as here.
ReplyDeleteThere must be a wonderful aroma surrounding these beds of tulips!
ReplyDelete@Tomas: thanks!
ReplyDelete@Tex: thank you.
@Grace: yes, but some warmth can get the tulips going.
@Geoff: they certainly are.
@Marianne: hopefully more are showing within a week.
@Lowell: with some of them, yes.
Soon Soon and you will think you are in a little bit of Heaven
ReplyDeleteMB
Must be an exciting time. Tulip time!
ReplyDeleteJanis
GDP
Tulips...if only scratch & sniff photos were a reality!
ReplyDeleteI would have photographed a big pile of manure for this theme. Or an outhouse.
You've photographed something that everybody ignores. People only go for the razzle dazzle of the brilliant colors of the blooms.
ReplyDeleteNice chronology. I lived near a city in Michigan which hosts a world renown tulip festival. Beautiful flowers. I don't recall their fragrance. Seeing the flower bed covered in snow, though, certainly triggers the senses for a crisp, cool winter day.
ReplyDeleteTulpen sind sehr schöne Frühlingsblumen in tollen Farben.
ReplyDeleteGruß
Noke
Lovely series!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that tulips had a scent! I do remember pix from you in previous years and they are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteEverything is pushing up and smelling wonderful!
ReplyDelete@MB: a few days of warmth will help things!
ReplyDelete@Janis: I'm looking forward to them.
@Norma: I could have gone with that fossilized dino-dung I posted a few days ago from the Museum of Nature.
@Red: true. I hadn't photographed them before in the pre-bloom stage.
@SRQ: I believe that would be a place near Grand Rapids. I have relatives in the area.
@Noke: thank you!
@Linda: thanks!
@Cheryl: some do, yes.
@Jennifer: spring finally turned up.
It bet it smells like spring!
ReplyDeleteIt will be even more colourful.Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWe have had a colder week, even with a bit of snow, but next week will be back to normal I hope.
It looks promising!
ReplyDeleteThey've been blooming like mad here in Berlin. I don't recall ever seeing bigger and bolder tulips here than this year. It's been a great year for them and the magnolias, not so much for the cherries though.
ReplyDeletenow wait a moment, snow & flowers ... what??? pretty blooms, thx again William for all your comments so kind of ya I appreciate knowing some 1 is looking, usually is not your cup of tea so to speak but all the same it's well noted. thumbs up! ( ;
ReplyDeleteThey will probably be a bit late this year!
ReplyDeleteThat is a massive display of tulip beds. The display will be a carpet of colour in time.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures! I look forward to more photos of blooming tulips coming!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of smell, it rained hard last night. I opened window and I could smell rain - I like smell of rain :-)
Looking forward to your upcoming posts.
ReplyDelete@Sharon: it does.
ReplyDelete@Gunn: we had a warm up, but today felt like pulling the jacket back out of the closet again!
@Marleen: hopefully the blooms are in good shape in three or four days, because I've only got things scheduled until the 7th!
@Halcyon: I have seen years where they've started blooming in the last week of April.
@Beth: thank you!
@RedPat: I think so.
@Gemma: I won't have a shortage of tulip beds to photograph.
@Tamago: I can see that.
@Whisk: so am I.
I think I have to pay closer attention to the tulips I've been photographing. Haven't paid much attention to the scent.
ReplyDeletePretty soon you'll be tiptoeing through the tulips :)
ReplyDeleteThey really thrive there.
ReplyDeleteTulips are indeed gorgeous. I guess I need to put my snout next to them sometime to recognize the smell.
ReplyDeleteIt's a surprise to see how far behind us your tulips are. It's a good thing you're a winter lover. I'd be hitchhiking south by now if I were you.
ReplyDeleteYou have great time looking and waiting all these tulips. It'll be beautiful time.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy new (spring)month.
Tulips have been blooming profusely here, although they are a little short due to the weather.
ReplyDeleteWe have some tulips in our garden and they have just come out. I love them. Yours will be spectacular, I expect, when they are in full bloom. I could smell that snow in your top shot :). Wonderful!
ReplyDelete@Revrunner: I have noticed with some it is more than others.
ReplyDelete@Bill: soon enough!
@Mari: they do, yes.
@Jack: they are my favourite flower.
@Kay: we tend to have long winters.
@Orvokki: I look forward to seeing them in their glory.
@Linda: we will see what effect the winter had here.
@Lauren: hopefully plenty start blooming in the coming days.
It is amazing how tulips (and other plants like them) just burst through the dirt and explode into color. Pretty symbolic...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't take long. It might be a bit late this year.
DeleteOh do enjoy it all William - I sure have enjoyed this post
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteExcellent post for the theme! It looks like they are coming along nicely.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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