Spring Flowers

As the title suggests, in spring lots of flowers spring to life. The landscape pops with lively colours and so does my overall mood. With that said, I completely understand now why Japanese make such an event out of cherry blossom watching. At first, I thought it was also strange to have a word for it 'hanami', but after enduring a dull, gloomy and cold winter, spring reminds us that we really are alive and it reminds us that winter will always end. A brighter day will always come and we can always sit still and observe the beauty of life or sit beneath sakura trees and picnic all day. 

Sakura trees aren't the only blossoms that Japanese love to look at though. Plum 'ume' blossoms are also a treat. They bloom earlier in March and pull out big crowds who go to gardens to view their beauty. In fact, I went to a garden recently that had plum blossoms in grand style. They were spectacular. A friend of mine calls the views surreal and I agree with him. The landscape in this country is just amazing. Here are a few pics from my recent plum blossom viewing. 

 People came out in droves to see the plum blossoms. The blossoms must really feel appreciated :).

 The pink and white road with the lovely flowery scent of plum blossoms.

 Getting a close up with this beauty.

x

These weeping trees are so splendid in all their pink glory. The petals on the ground create a magical scene.

 Another close up 

Three colours, all in one shot! Yatta!

 Look what I found, early blooming Sakura (cherry blossoms)
!      

The weeping forest, well, not quite a forest.

On the other side of the plum blossom garden were Camellia flowers (tsubaki - in Japanese). 

 A nice spread of Camellia on the soft, green moss.

 Just lovely.

 A hybrid!

Photographing the photographer :)

These babies were so stubborn. They just would not move with the flow and go downstream. Apparently they're 'upstreamers' ;)