summer whites

It's been a while since I joined in on the weekly thematic photography escapades.  I was intrigued by the theme that Carmi chose......... White.  Of course, my initial thought was to post a few winter wonderland shots.  I have several of them.  This is after all, the Great White North.  When I went in search of something unique from my photofiles from last winter when we had major dumps of the white stuff (we actually havent had much snow this year ..... yet), every single shot just made me feel cold.  When I stumbled upon a bouquet of white blooms, I decided I would feature them.  Summer whites are so aromatically alluring aren't they?

 Above, are double white lilacs from a hedge that was once a part of a Victorian garden.  The branches are old and gnarly, but every June, it blossoms with the effervescence of youth.  And the aroma?  It lingers in the summer breezes which float up the hill, wrap their elegant essence around my backyard, and slip in through the open windows.

Every year, I take my clippers and snip a few lovelies for my home......... and every time I walk by the bouquet, I stop, lean down and put my face right in the middle of the petals......and take it all in!  Of all the perfume aromas in the world, lilac is one of my all time favourites. 

We had a wet late spring and summer.  It wasn't the best year for blooms, especially the tulips.  They all seemed stunted and unable to show off as beautifully as they normally do.  These past prime blooms had barely survived a day long downpour when I found them aching in their beauty in a rock garden at O'Dell Park in Fredericton. They seemed more delicate than tulips normally do.  Even though they were on the downside of their elegance, their white petals seemed innocent to me, like a young ballerina learning how to pirouette.

Wild roses grow.........um............wildly in this neck of the woods.  Like the old fashioned double white lilac bushes, these bushes have a long hearty history.  No doubt this particular hedge, which runs more than 50 feet long, and a density of 6 feet, has never been sprayed or cultivated.  It grows as it should, thriving in the elements.  Not far from the Nova Scotia shoreline, it is protected by the old summer house own by a friend of the family, but still it must take a beating during the harsh winter months.  

The white and pink roses cover the hill to the side of the house, and the perimeter of the backyard.  They smell DIVINE!   I love to visit this glorious hedge when we visit Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia in the summer to inhale the sight and aroma of them.  Their brilliant randomness always takes my breath away. 

Shasta..... Daisy.  I have them growing in my own garden every year.  These flirty perrenials arrive mid July right smack dab in the middle of a multitude of other colourful blooms and stretch up until they are about 4 feet high.  For some reason, my personality relates to the Shasta Daisy.  It's not sophisticated, and not too showy.  But, it makes its presence known. I think that's me too.

Carmi?  Thank you for the chance to revisit.  I havent looked at these photos in a while and on a night when the cold winter air seems to have found its way through the cracks in the foundation of my home chilling my feet.......when the lingering snow sits just outside the door, a breath of aromatic summer beauty is just what the doctor ordered.

For more white photos, check out Written Inc by clicking on this link.......