In one of my previous post I've said I consider magnolia the queen of spring, even though the flower is not so beautiful. Maybe the rarity of the flower makes me appreciate it more and think of it as an exquisite one.
In 2020 I was so anxious to take some magnolia photos, but covid lockdown made it impossible. I had no business where the magnolia trees are, so could not risk being caught there. Fines were pretty high back then and I had no intention to sponsor the state treasury in any way. Last year it was wrong timing and I think I missed it altogether, which was frustrating and a tough lesson for me to pay more attention this year.
So this year I wanted to make sure to pay more attention and capture every phase on camera. So far I have captured the buds while still in their hairy pod and today I'm here to show you the buds before opening and also an open bud.
Nights are still cold, but as you can see, it's time to move on, to enter another phase and the magnolia is ready to open. The buds are almost all out of their pods and some are ready to open.
I tried to capture as many buds as I could in different phases. The last one is ready to open, you can see the long petals already detached from the others and if you look closer, you can see there's nothing in the middle. This means when it opens, you'll see four or five slim petals all over the place, without any symmetry and this is where the flower loses its charm.
Looking at the magnolia tree from a certain distance changes things at it will be a pleasant view, but not the individual flower itself.
Last time when I checked the buds noticed that the top of almost each bud had a lighter, unusual color. It seemed unnatural, even suspicious to me and this time I wanted to see if I was right. Unfortunately I was.
Among the photos you can see one that at first glance it's shocking. You may think why on earth I uploaded that ugly photo as it has no place here. That is the confirmation that my suspicions were right. Most likely the damage was done by the low temperatures. I remember there was a week when we had -6C or even lower temperatures at night. That is not what these delicate flowers need and you have the proof. Petals were not protected by the pod anymore and the damage was done.
Roaming around the park I had to realize how lucky I am as there was a white magnolia tree not far away from the pink one. That was a totally different type, exactly the opposite of this if I may say. In that case the flower was much more beautiful than the buds and I'm going to share the photos with you another time.
My next target is the German iris, that is common around here, I know quite a few places where to find it and my dad also has a bunch in the garden. In that case the both the buds and the flowers are gorgeous.
