When we returned to Aberdeen earlier this week, Gail was thrilled to see magnolia bushes out in bloom, one in a garden opposite our house, and the other near the entrance to Duthie Park. She took some photos of them on our early morning walk.
But when I suggested this would be an excellent subject for the LLB Gang's Nature Friday, Gail rather pooh-pooh-ed the idea.
"Nobby, I suspect most of your readers live in places where the magnolia flowers appeared weeks, if not months, ago. Although we might find it exciting that these gorgeous white and off-white blooms have finally put in an appearance in our neighbourhood, I fear others will regard the news as rather 'old hat'."
But I disagreed, reminding Gail that we live at 57 degrees North - that's further North than Moscow and Copenhagen, and almost as northerly as Juneau, Alaska - and just 'cos our spring flowers come later than in many parts of the world, it doesn't make them any the less special. Quite the opposite in fact.
So I'm posting the pictures anyway.
Do you have magnolias where you live?
