Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Bees and I have common obsessions.

I mourned the absence of leaves for all of February and March, so now they feel like a gift.

Bluebell season! This field of bluebells rivaled those I saw in England last spring.

Fading cherry blossoms giving way to leaves.

Face-sized peony!

Johnny Jump-Ups, a favorite of my childhood garden.

I love columbine. They look like fairy skirts and come in as many color combinations as you can think of.

Hellebore.

Luscious peony.

Fluffy extra-fancy tulips.

I bet you can guess which ones are called "Queen of the Night."

Ghostly bleeding hearts!

Mr. Buscemi likes the garden too.

Hands-down the most fantastic thing in the gardens (at least at this time of year) were the rhododendrons. Absolutely out of this world.

Purple columbine.

More traditional bleeding hearts.

Goodbye, Sakura.
June is rose season, so this section of the garden was rather subdued.

But there were some small buttery surprises.

Cabbage rose. Up there with peonies and ranunculus in my brain, which I guess favors the fluffiest of flowers.

Second only to the rhododendrons was the lilac garden. The warm scent was intoxicating.

But, in the end, the pure fluorescence and concentration of the rhododendrons prevails. Unreal.