Aprils Showers Have Their Own Flowers: Smith Garden, St. Paul, OR

My grandfather, who amazes me with his memory of scientific plant names and his dedication to flowers, has been volunteering at the Cecil and Molly Smith Garden in St. Paul, Oregon for many years.  This April, I drove out to see him and his wife as they were stationed at the garden entrance, manning the ticket booth and plant sale.

April has been filled with many things, but flowers have been plentiful.  The Rhododendrons at the Smith Garden were lit like fireworks in blooms bright and tender.  Some of the Rhododendrons at the garden are rare, some are hybrids, many are more than 50 years old.  The flowers are various in color and size.

Some are the color of creamed corn, smooth and buttery.

I tend to be partial to the blossoms with long cat-whisker stamen and a variation in petal color with a darker color radiating from the center, like so:

There are purple/blue star-shaped Rhododendron flowers and pink bell-shaped ones:

Some, like the Rhododendron Schlippenbachii below, are less leafy than other Rhododendrons with their broad spear-head-shaped leaves.  My grandpa said that this was one of his favorite Rhododendrons, but when I asked why, he didn't have a reason.  Maybe looking at it is enough of a reason.

 April was full of other things too. Good and bad.  My Charlie-cat was poisoned when he ate an Easter Lily.  He spent 48 hours hooked to an IV so that his kidneys wouldn't shut down.  I got to see my youngest sister as she was only an hour and a half away at a track meet in which her team was competing.  I cried at the misery of missing my girlfriends in Boise, only having a cat for a friend here, and feeling incapable of meeting people I can relate too.  I conquered my fear of driving through Portland to the airport in rush-hour traffic, as I did some chauffeuring of a Vice President at work.

I could write and write more about those other things, but really, I'd rather forget it all and focus on the flowers.