Today we are wrapping up on the last day of a very long, cold month of January. But luckily there are signs all around that spring is just around the corner!
The Chinese Magnolia trees are all in peak bloom here in Charleston and despite the freezing temperatures and heavy rain this month the blooms decided to persevere, open their petals, and show up just as they do year after year. One would think that would make me more productive, but instead the twins and I tossed our to-do list back on the table, waved goodbye to the piles of laundry sitting on the sofa, and headed to the park for a picnic snack break. The park was quiet and still with only a couple of dog walkers, a handful of joggers, a few Canadian geese drying out their feathers, and my twin two year olds running and laughing beneath the cascading branches.
We have been coming to visit these trees for years as Chinese magnolias, also known as saucer magnolias or tulip trees, only bloom once year for about a week. When the blooms are closed they look more like a tulip and when the blooms are opened you can see their white interior, resembling a typical magnolia flower. Our weather has been back and forth between cold and overcast and warm and sunny so it makes sense that this year, the tree was filled with a variety of blooms that were opened wide and some that were still closed tightly.
I love that the magnolia tree always blooms right before or right around Valentine’s Day. Getting us into the mood for all things pink. Olive was very excited to wear her vintage smocked dress (similar found here) and Ziggy is wearing an old Hannah Andersen sweater (similar one here) both were found at a local kid’s consignment store.
