waiting for forsythia

In the gray green gloom of early spring, I have been waiting patiently for the forsythia to bloom. It has - finally. In my impatient moments, I painted the birch tree with its tiny buds. I could not wait for the blazing of the forsythia, but now that it is here, I cannot find the right paint to express how eagerly it blazes. I will someday.

The forsythia was blooming in Portland, just 40 miles away a month ago. Even just 15 miles inland it has been blooming for several weeks. It is the first time that my proximity to the ocean has inhibited, rather than encouraged, plants to bloom and grow. Though the spring - everywhere it seems - has been warm and even hot at times, the ocean's nearness has moderated my miniclimate, and my forsythia has just now bloomed. I recommend patience. The forsythia is putting on a spectacular show!

The tulips are also beginning to bloom as are the daffodils. Even though the snowdrops have been in bloom since January, having larger flowers showing up, with their bigger colors, has been welcome. I have not painted flowers in a few years, like I was painting them in California, and I am eager to paint them again. It is a different flower painting tradition here than California, and I will try and interpret my East Coast flowers as if they grew in California, under an Asian influence.

The tulips I planted last fall were planted for the wedding of my son, Dan. His fiance wanted tulips for her wedding on Memorial Day weekend. Alas for them, the winter and spring has been so warm the tulips are blooming in April instead of the end of May. Unlike the forsythia, they could not wait! So for now, the wedding will be full of lilacs instead of tulips, or perhaps even peonies. Who knows what weather will happen now? Lucky for Dan and Lindsay, they are adaptable! Patience, like the forsythia's blooming with the tulips, can bring its own reward!