first

When I came down to the kitchen and opened the blinds on a Sunday morning a couple weeks ago, I was shocked to see a huge magnolia blossom looking back at me from across the back yard.  There are a lot of volunteer* shrubs and trees along the back line of the property, and I let them do pretty much what they want to for a few feet into the yard - partly because I like the privacy they provide.  I thought I had noticed some magnolia leaves in that area, but hadn't gotten back there to investigate.  When I looked more closely that Sunday, I realized there was a tall magnolia tree with a lot lot of branches, but the trunk wasn't very big in diameter.  The kitchen window provided a good view to take pictures because it put me at about the height of the blossoms.

*I sent this post to a friend and got this reply from her.  (The image of the "volunteers" made me laugh out loud.)

"Magnolias!!  I love magnolias and particularly love that they are volunteers in your backyard.  We have a now-quite big oak just off our patio that was a volunteer.  I have always loved imagining the tree (and your magnolias) with their hands up and crying out, "I’ll go!!  Send me!!"

These pictures were taken from my kitchen window between June 7 and June 18, 2020

Photos ©Jane Hogan