I have had several springs this year. Of course here in California spring usually comes early in a blaze of color. Then it was off to Mexico City to see the beautiful Jacaranda trees.

Then it was back home for a nice dose of mid spring and a different set of flowering trees before heading off to South Korea.

In Seoul, yellow blossoms were slowly appearing and were almost in full bloom before I headed back home.

Now that I am home there is yet again a different set of colors appearing.

I will start with one of my roses. Two weeks ago before I left for my trip, there were already many buds on my rose bushes. I knew that they would have many blooms when I got home and I wasn’t disappointed.

I will disappoint some by not showing an overall picture of my rose bed in full bloom, but I hope you are not disappointed in this bloom.

This bloom is on my St. Patrick Hybrid Tea rose bush. I really love the coloring of this rose. The bud is mostly green and as it blooms it develops a beautiful yellow color. It also has these intriguing red dots or highlights that really make for a beautiful rose. They also are beautiful when they dry out and seldom lose petals. Instead, they are like parchment roses when I cut them off the bush.

Next, is my view when I open my front door and step out to pick up my newspaper.

In my front yard I have a beautiful Purple Robe Locust. It is also know as Robinia ambigua or Idaho Locust and is a hybrid of the Black Locust. I really love the color of these trees in the spring. There used to be a lot of these trees on our street, but many of them are now gone. This is not the original tree from when I moved in. The original tree died and it was replaced by the city about five years ago.

In my backyard I have a Black Locust or Robinia pseudoacacia. It is a volunteer tree that has sprung up from the seed of one of the Purple Robe Locust. They revert back to the Black Locust when they grow as volunteers. Instead of purple blossoms they have white blossoms. I had planned on showing a picture of the white blossoms, but instead decided to post this picture.

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
All except one, and that’s Little Anne
For she has crept under the warming pan.

A couple little Coccinella septempunctata (seven-spotted ladybug or C-7) were crawling around on one of the branches of the Black Locust. It reminded me of the nursery rhyme above. Depending on where you are, these little beetles are know as Ladybugs of Ladybirds. Interesting that they are know as Ladybugs, as they are not bugs. They are beetles :-).

I hope you enjoyed another glimpse of spring and for those of you who are still waiting for spring, I hope it arrives soon :-).

Steven