First dogwood sighting of the year...

I love dogwoods. The northwest has lots of dogwoods. Utah does not. It is a major flaw with Utah in my opinion. When we lived in Kirkland, each spring I would begin my dogwood watch the end of April. I knew the few trees that blossomed first, and once they were in bloom, I knew where to start looking for the next wave of blossoming trees, until most of them were in bloom. In my old neighborhood and its surrounding areas I would slow down and just gaze at the dogwoods as I drove by (annoying, I'm sure, to drivers following me). The white ones always bloom first, then the pinks. Oh, how I love a pink dogwood! I even tried to grow one in my yard, but my black thumb prevailed, and it died. Rapidly.

Well, this last week I was back in the Seattle area (more on that in another blog), and I was shocked to see the dogwoods still in bloom. Oh happy day! One morning I went at 6:30 a.m. to get my hair cut, and on my way home stopped to take the pictures below. The pink dogwood is the tree just around the corner from my old house on the way to the pool. (I now have the pink dogwood picture as my screen saver.) Part of my trip was going to Leavenworth, and there were more dogwoods all along highway 2 on the way to Leavenworth. I was in heaven.

It's the end of the season, so the flowers aren't at their best, but they were plenty good enough for me.
My all time favorites.