Magnolias

Finally Spring has truly arrived in NYC. These crossing branches of Magnolia overlay the busy streets and seem to culminate in an emphasis, a concentration of energy, which are the buds about to open, like the people going by beneath them, about to shed their coats and emerge into the light and air. Magnolia is a tree native to North America and is a heavily used ornamental for city street planting throughout most of the USA. There is a court full of old magnolia trees in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden which all bloom at once - you have to make the time to catch it at just the right day and then it's like visiting a medieval painting of paradise...