Azaleas!

Recently, @jamesmovic asked me, "Why do you prefer spring to summer?" Besides not being as oppressively hot as summer, spring offers such a wide array of flowers to enjoy, such as the azaleas that bloom this time each year!

I really like this shot of one azalea flower taken last week, with the flower backlit by the light of the setting sun:

At the moment, the yard is ablaze with six different colors of these beautiful flowers! 😸

There are white, pale pink, medium pink, dark pink, fuchsia, and red. Another variety that is not on this property but common in the nearby mountains is the orange variety which is commonly referred to as "Flame Azalea" (Rhododendron calendulaceum).

All of the azaleas on the property were planted by my parents, who dearly loved flowers. My mother planted flowers during her younger years. When her many health issues (including Fibromyalgia and Lupus) prevented her from gardening, my father did it for her until he lost his eyesight to PXE and was unable to continue.

I spent many an hour on my knees, pulling weeds as a child, and watering the flowers was one of my regular chores while growing up.

Azaleas have been cultivated for hundreds of years, and enthusiasts have developed over 10,000 cultivars! ^[1] I do not know the names of the species/cultivars on this property, save for one: the George Taber azalea, pictured in the photograph above. I only know the name of that one because it was identified in Wikipedia. 😹

Since pink is one of my all-time favorite colors, the profusion of different shades of pink this time of year is purely delightful! Encountering an azalea bush fully-laden with flowers is breathtakingly beautiful.

Many communities all around the world have azalea festivals each year, and the small town closest to me is no exception. I've never attended it, though, at first because of the rigors of 24/7/365 caregiving for my elderly parents, and not recently because of anxiety issues in crowds which I suffer since my husband passed.

And finally, a self-portrait with azaleas...