Flower Pictures

After working in the garden for an entire day, I decided to take some pictures of the flowers we have blooming here and on mom's property. I'll start with the garden picture, even though it is very difficult to tell....we have 2 asparagus shoots that have come up! This is the second year for the asparagus, so we will get to harvest just a few this year...but I am so pleased to see these two little beauties!!

Equally exciting to me is that my Rosemary bloomed again! Our Rosemary hedge is about 7 years old and one single stalk flowered last year. Now we have blooms on it again. It's not a great picture because I was very tired and the blooms are deep inside the hedge. I'll try for a better one soon.I also got a couple of nice shots of our pear blossoms. Our dinky little pear tree might actually give us a pear this year. We just planted it last year.And another pear blossom cluster....

I have no idea what this next one is. It's towards the back of mom's property and it is the prettiest shade of pinkypurple.

Okay, so he's not a pretty flower....but I got a picture of Ben working on his girlfriend's car....And these last 2 shots I am very proud of. Mom has a single dogwood tree on the back side of her property just where it drops off. I can't get any closer than about 20 feet to it, but I got 2 shots that I think are just awesome.There's a legend about the Dogwood. Two thousand years ago, few trees in the Middle East were not big enough to construct anything. However, one tree was valued above the others for its thick trunk and fine, strong wood.

At the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree.

Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red -- and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember.