Why not?

I give a few words to the pictures, but I also probably shouldn’t need to, at least for some. Beauty is objective.

Here is a sunrise, taken on my way to work one very early morning. Winter’s days are short in the Pacific North West and it often results in dark journeys, early as heck, but with some breath-taking rewards.

(left click any image to enlarge)

My adopted city of Louisville, Kentucky offers some special regional delights, in particular the Springtime views of Dogwoods of all types, mixed so incredibly well with Azaleas and the other local beauties.

The gracious splendor within the confines of the very sobering Cave Hill Cemetery compliments the conservative Southern values which so value history and which combine beauty with the silent respectfulness inherent in this gorgeous ‘final resting place’ of Louisville’s finest.

But Louisville is not necessarily alone in the “Gracious Beauty Sweepstakes”. Having lived in more than one fine city, I hold Portland to be every bit the equal of anywhere on Earth for sheer urban horticultural respect. Speaking merely of Dogwoods, Portland has its very own resources:

Portland offers certain “extremes” in gardening and landscaping. As the home of an incredible number of nurseries and the nation and world’s “grass farms” where seed originates,  it has an otherwise widely-known ‘experimental’ side of social experiments, some of which include gardening.  Portland can surprise one with singular brazen beauties in a simple city block. This Variegated Dogwood – a nearly perfect “freak” that someone grabbed as a sapling at a local nursery and whose development is fascinating as it can be, from it’s earliest Spring look, as blooms and leaves develop together:

To its ultimate “Whiteness” –

 

 

I obviously followed this one closely as it unfolded a few Springs ago. I found it really fascinating, this plant stuck in someone’s front yard, a brainstorm of someone’s 15-20 years ago and no doubt a real deal at some nursery at the time. This is a very cool tree.

Here, below, is an otherwise nondescript garden in some Portland neighborhood. Its simple beauty begs for a moment of fame, in my opinion, simply by looking so pretty, delicate and otherwise fresh.

 

At times, simple spins around a neighborhood can give as big an eye full as one could ever want. Here are various gorgeous layers of various gorgeous plants:

The parks are another hot topic for me. In Portland, there were so many and – it turns out – in Louisville perhaps even more. I have adored the entrance to the Chrystal Springs Rhododendron Garden for years.

 

Nice, eh?

Near Preston Highway in Louisville is an under-utilized park – site of the Dogwood Festival – which may have the most incredible display of dogwoods it has ever been my pleasure to see:

Louisville has Bernheim Woods, an absolutely gorgeous entry into the incredibility sweeps. Let’s face it, it’s hard to argue with this view of life as we know it…………..

 

 

The color above could nearly be described as  “violently colorful”, it is so rich and lush. The term struck my mind as I took this picture.

And here’s a gratuitous rhododendron picture…….with a rose to follow!