Magnolia Flowers are Blooming at City Park
As I was driving past Paso Robles City Park a few days ago, I noticed the flowers on the magnolia trees, but had to hurry home and couldn't stop. I went back yesterday in the late afternoon to photograph them. I couldn't help but notice that most of the flowers were near the top of the tree.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
Most of the magnolia trees were next to the parking area on 12th Street. Here are a couple that were next to each other. You can see that most of the flowers are at the top or on the outer edge of the tree, close to the light. As far as I can tell, these are Southern Magnolia trees (Magnolia grandiflora.)
These evergreen magnolia trees are one of California's most widely cultivated street trees. The trees around the park aren't as tall as those I found on Oak Street two years ago. (See them here.) On those larger trees the flowers were more evenly distributed. The park trees also have some flowers on the lower branches but they seem to prefer to grow at the edges.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
The flowers seem to want to get as close to the sun as they can. One on the tree below actually got above the roof of Pappy McGregor's Irish Pub, or so it appears from this camera angle.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
A Bird Fell
It was as I stood on the park side of Pine Street between two parked cars shooting the picture above that I felt something fall lightly against my leg. When I looked down, this is what I saw.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
I have no idea where the bird came from. I was not standing under a tree. I never saw the bird in the air. I just felt it hit me. I didn't see it until I looked down where it lay on the street. It was alive and could move its tail to fan it out, and it also spread its wings a couple of times. Its actual size was smaller than this photo. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I left it there, hoping it would recover and move before something hit it.
A Closer Look at the Magnolia Flowers
It was hard to get a clear close-up shot of the flowers because they were not only high in the trees, but they were also facing the sky. I had no way to get a shot of them from the top where one could see their faces best. Below you can see the white edge of a flower near the bottom right edge of the photo. When only partially open like this it somewhat resembles a very large tulip.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
In the photo below, taken in front of Pappy McGregor's Irish Pub, there are two visible open flowers . The open flower at the top right gives you an idea of the flower's size, even though you can't see its face. You can see the face of the open flower near the center of the photo close to the bottom. The flowers are eight to ten inches in diameter and are very fragrant.
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| © B. Radisavljevic |
Do magnolia trees grow near you? Have you enjoyed their fragrance during the summer?
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