pink magnolia blooms

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Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “blossom”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I was lucky to visit Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia when every tree was in bloom this past April. Let me share just a few of the many beautiful tree blossoms the area has to offer in the spring.

Washington D.C. is known for its cherry blossoms, but once you see these pink magnolias in bloom, also known as tulip trees, you may just fall in love with them as I did. There were many, many of them in the gardens of the Smithsonian red castle.

Tulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castleTulip trees - pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle — Tulip trees – pink magnolia trees in bloom at the Smithsonian red castle

Tulip tree blossoms - pink magnolia blooms — Tulip tree blossoms – pink magnolia blooms

You’ll find many cherry blossoms (some of them white, the others pink) all around Washington D.C. but the highest concentration is around the Tidal Basin. They sure are pretty to look at and walk by, and when their petals fall, they look like snow, except it’s not freezing cold.

While visiting Thomas Jefferson’s estate at Monticello, I stumbled upon these lovely pink tree blossoms. I believe they belong to the dwarf almond tree.

There are many Eastern red bud trees in that area of the country and they sure welcome spring with their bright pink colors.

Dogwood trees were in bloom too, in various colors. This dogwood tree had yellow blooms.

When an Eastern red bud and a dogwood tree hang out together during blooming season, this is how beautiful they look next to each other.

Easter red bud tree and white dogwood tree blossoms

Finally I discovered the weeping cherry blossom tree during my trip. It’s a cross between a weeping willow and a cherry blossom tree. Getting lost underneath one of these trees wouldn’t be so bad.

Do you have favorite tree blossoms?

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “work of art”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

During my recent trip to the East Coast, I got to see many works of art, including in the various Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. Some of the art you find in D.C. is larger than life, such as the Thomas Jefferson’s statue inside the Jefferson Memorial.

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art - Thomas Jefferson's statue at the Jefferson Memorial — WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: A work of art – Thomas Jefferson’s statue at the Jefferson Memorial

Or the Marting Luther King Memorial, the latest addition to the monuments around the Tidal Basin. The monument represents this famous line from Dr. Luther King’s speech in Washington: “Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope”. That quote is engraved on the side of the stone in which King is featured. What a great image for that quote. By the way, Martin Luther King directly faces the Jefferson Memorial, looking for hope in the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C.

Sometimes man can takes nature and create beautiful works of art. I enjoyed photographing this small man-made waterfall from behind.

Of course nature makes some of the most beautiful works of art. I got to see a lot of them in the shape of stalagmites and stalactites when I visited Luray Caverns in Virginia, the largest caverns in the Eastern United States.

Luray Caverns - transparent stalactites with layers — Luray Caverns – transparent stalactites with layers

Luray Caverns - giant stalactites — Luray Caverns – giant stalactites

Here’s Mother Nature at work, displaying its latest creation, a small stalactite in the making. Another million years and it will be as big as the ones shown in the photo above!

Luray Caverns - small stalagmite — Luray Caverns – small stalagmite

Nature in the spring on the East coast displays many works of art in the form of tree blossoms. I got to enjoy many Eastern red bud trees in bloom. What a sight!

But I’ll admit that my favorite probably were the pink magnolias, or tulip trees. A cloudy sky that day made for a great background to photograph the pink magnolia blooms from under.