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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

In the green, balmy breeze of May

These days have been warm like early summer. It might be no wonder because May 6th was “rikka”, the beginning of summer, according to the twenty-four divisional seasons in Japanese calendar originated in China. In my impression, winter comes through gradual cooling from autumn, while summer abruptly comes while enjoying the arrival of spring. Let’s enjoy the greens special to this season together.

A brook flows whispering and wishing milk vetches and grass grace and color.


Barley are luminous and growing lush.


I especially like fresh translucent green of young maple leaves. When the sunlight became brighter for a moment, I took this picture. Foliage show subtle change of color according to the lighting.


Wisteria vines and other vines are creeping each other beside murasaki-hanana.


Moss color is brighter: ivy color is deeper.


Not only flowers but also blades are beautiful.


Feel like walking on and on.....with a camera.


御衣黄 Gyoiko at Kasuga Shinen Botanical Garden, Nara City

Gyoiko at Hase-dera Temple, Sakurai City

Talking of green, there are cherry blossoms with green petals. They are double-petaled. When single-petaled flowers are over, double or multiple peatled ones come to bloom, and Gyoiko is the last to bloom at the beginning of May. Due to people's satisfaction already with preceding cherry blossoms and the petal's green color mingling with color of leaves, flowers are hardly noticed. When the center becomes reddish as you see, it is time for them to leave. Cultivation of this tree was started in Edo era (1603-1868) and is seen at about 100 places in Japan.





Wisteria are in bloom: sweet fragrance fills the air.



It's impossible not to find fresh greenery at this time of year.

I got refreshed in the balmy breeze soaked in the shades of green.



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33 comments:

  1. All of your photos are gorgeous!I love lush verdure very much. Maybe I love beauty of young leaves more than flowers. I'm glad your blog and photos depict exactly my feelings towards them.
    Something wrong with blogger and I could not access it. I hope they will fix the problem soon.
    My favorite is barley's shot. Have a nice week!

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  2. Your photographs are wonderful. They feel cool and refreshing even if the heat of summer is upon you.

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  3. Your world is very beautiful. I like all the photos you have chosen, the colors and shapes are lovely.

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  4. These are lovely images of a gentle spring. You are right, though, summer will rush at us quickly. Here in my part of the world hot, dry summer days will soon turn the world to shades of brown and gold.

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  5. your captures are panacea to the Monday morning blues. thanks.

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  6. Beautiful and restful!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  7. So refreshing and so enchanting, Stardust! Your green is fabulous!! I wish I could be there feeling the balmy breeze of May!! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. A breathtaking look at your world through your superb photos! A lovely tour and such a restful part of your beautiful world! Thanks for sharing! Have a great week!

    Sylvia

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  9. That is so beautiful, so verdant and alive. We're finally starting to see some green where I live.

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  10. How I feel blissful with these verdant surroundings I could touch! When a well-known Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata returned from his long space mission two years ago, the first thing he mentioned was the fragrance of the grass.
    Thank you for sharing beautiful and peaceful feeling.

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  11. You, too, snowwhite? Actually I found editing problem last night and just changed editor from new one back to old one for a try. Luckily it worked! New editor was still un-functional when I went to bed. How about now? To see many bloggers’ new posts, I’m not sure whether that problem was with Blogger or mine, but since you and I have same trouble, try what I did, and maybe you can do it. Good luck!

    Thank you for the nice comment.

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  12. Although far away, your world is much like my world at the moment. As spring transitions into summer new leaves are forming on trees making the forest a semi-transparent canopy where one can still see between the branches. The brook, iris, twisted vines, moss and barley would be wonderful sights to discover along the various pathways.

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  13. Extremely beautiful post! I love the moss covered ground and rocks, the twisted wisteria vines and all the peaceful greeness. It's as warm as summer here too!

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  14. Such spectacular and soothing photos. Spring is such a magical time, even with all the pollen...

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  15. My beloved friend
    Wonderful photos, wonderful spring!!!!
    You have right about the seasons. I remember 30 years ago, 1 May, we had the first swim in the sea.
    Now it's cold and late June can swim.
    The spring in recent years does not last long, sharply Im great warm.
    Many kisses

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  16. Hi,Stardust.
    So beautiful photos of greens! Now we are really enchanted with new growth, beautiful flowers around us, and early summer coming soon!

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  17. I work in Tokyo on weekday. I can't see any green.
    So I envy you that you can see and take a many beautiful nature things.
    I'll try to explore the nature on weekends.

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  18. your photos are simply magical! these are a feast to the eyes.

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  19. The flowers, Gyoiko, are really uncommon, or I've never noticed those modest blooms.
    Than you for sharing these beautiful greenery photos.

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  20. what a wonderful sequence of gorgeous shots - beautiful!

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  21. I love the greenery and the tree roots you've photographed. Those steps invite my eye to do some more exploring. It would be wonderful to walk in Nara at this time of growth. We are under a winter storm warning here in the mountains of CO, so I am especially enjoying your blooming world.

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  22. What a lovely blog with beatiful fotos! It is exiting to follow a japaneese garden and the surrondings of it from Norway!

    Thank you for you inspiration:-)

    Helene

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  23. Hello Stardust. When I visited Japan, I went to Kiyosato and stayed there for days and we had walks in the forests at some point. I was amazed at the beautiful nature there, so clean, and all so green and refreshing to see.I was able to see the orange maple tree leaves common during the season that I was there. It was so lovely. What a beautiful world you have there, you are so lucky.


    Inside Cambodia

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  24. What a lovely blog! And fantastic fotos! It is exiting to follow the Japaneese nature all along from Norway:-)

    Have a great evening:-)

    Helene
    http://helenesblogadresseat.blogspot.com/

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  25. Hiya Stardust,
    Beautiful post with lovely pictures.
    That pink Wisteria you show?
    I have great bunches of that hanging right in front of my kitchen window. I shall be sad when they are over.

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  26. What a beautiful post again Stardust. Your photo's are all wonderful, the flowers, the greens, beautiful. I did have a penpal in Japan more than 50 years ago. She sent me beautiful cards of your famous mountain.

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  27. You have a talent for taking lovely photos, and such beautiful places and things that you find to photograpy. Lovely post. And, yes, my little granddaughter is an angel and a true joy in my life. Mickie :)

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  28. Now it is the time when space is the kindest to eyes in one year.

    Fresh verdure seems to embrace me...

    ruma

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  29. these photo's are just lovely with great angles and light. spring is just so magical with all it's beauty and offerings.

    soothing blend of colors and green.

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  30. So very beautiful. I'm jealous that orchids are growing in the trees. :)

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  31. I can almost smell the fresh colors boil, trees and flowers

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  32. What a lovely place to visit. Wonderful pictures. Thank you for sharing… I so appreciate the spring blooms, especially after a long winter.

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  33. I've never seen young green barley before, only riper one, when I visited my grandparents' village in summer. To my surprise I found fields of wheat and rye inside the city here. It's still strange for me to see this kind of plant in urban area.

    Beautiful photos, like usually :)

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