Last month saw Shuma's first hanami, but that wasn't his first time admiring flowers. He's been doing so since January, starting with roubai (wintersweet).
OK, so perhaps he's not admiring the flowers so much as tolerating them, but him being four months old and this being his first time seeing blossoms I wasn't expecting much.
He did better a month and a half later with mansaku (witch hazel), actually looking at the long petals for a few seconds before losing interest.
In March we had a surprise snowfall and I took Shuma out to have the local park nearly to ourselves.
He stayed asleep in his stroller though, so missed out on the spectacle of spring flowers topped with snow. Here we have more mansaku, followed by ume (Japanese apricot).
By the time the mansaku were in full bloom he was much more receptive, enjoying the sights of the blossoms, the feel of the petals on his cheeks, and, maybe this was just my imagination, savouring their fragrance.
The sakura (cherry blossoms) came just in time for a greatly improved sense of sight and touch. He was delighted by the blooms and would grasp fistfuls of them if brought up close enough.
Next up in the calendar of flowers is mokuren (magnolia), another blossom whose perfume he enjoyed.
A few others were enjoyed without cameras present. He loved azaleas and went wild for lilacs in particular (and I was delighted to see them for the first time ever in Japan, hiding out at my local park). And most recently we have karumiya (mountain laurel), whose flowers tend to be a bit sticky. I tried my best to prevent him from grabbing them, but when we got home I kept finding little mountain laurel blossoms stuck to his clothes, his carrier, my back, and even my hair.
And now that we're in southern Ontario, which is roughly a month behind Tokyo's growing season, we get to experience an extra-long season of spring flowers. He can't wait for our lilacs to bloom.
Great photos!
Enjoy your time in Canada- Shuma`s first time, right?
Posted by: Lulu | 2011.05.23 at 09:48 PM
Gorgeous photos! And I love that Shuma is already developing a love of nature--can't wait to see you guys...
Posted by: Aspasia | 2011.05.24 at 01:10 AM
Amazing photos, I love the snow covered blossoms!
Posted by: Polly | 2011.05.24 at 02:22 PM
Welcome back to Canada!
If you're craving a good burger, I think there's a 'five guys burgers and fries' in Mississauga now!
Posted by: Stacy | 2011.05.24 at 11:56 PM
Absolutely stunning images... I get to experience a Tokyo spring from afar! Thank you for these; they warm my heart, especially this year.
Posted by: Mari | 2011.05.25 at 10:27 AM
Nice photos! I like 7th photo(=drop).
Have a good time in Canada.
Posted by: takiko | 2011.05.26 at 09:42 PM
Wow, wow, wow! Beautiful pictures! It's sweet to see Shuma-chan enjoying the blossoms.
Posted by: pockosmum | 2011.05.26 at 10:03 PM
Flower shows are spectacular!
Posted by: joeinvegas | 2011.05.27 at 02:44 AM
Hello, I so much loved this post. I too have a small baby (2 months old girl), I love flowers and hope when she will grow a bit she will love them too. I would like your permission to use 3 photos with the cherry blossoms 8th, 9th, 10th and snow on my blog. Please let me know!
Thanks! Sure, use the pictures (they're ume though, not cherry). Just make sure they link back to their Flickr pages and give credit please. -Amy
Posted by: Eshgheman | 2011.05.29 at 12:11 AM
Gorgeous close-ups of the snowy ume blossoms!!
Thanks!
Posted by: Marie | 2011.05.31 at 10:42 PM
Late to comment, but I had a look at these photos before, and just had to come back for okawari (second servings). The first flowers in January, the yellow ones, I always forget their names. Roubai, now how is that a name for such a pretty little blossom?
Hope you guys are ok, drop me a line sometime.
Posted by: Martin F | 2011.06.14 at 12:19 AM
He looks so very cute. The pics look beautiful.
Posted by: Savio | 2011.07.19 at 07:55 PM