Mountain Laurel

When mid-May arrives, so do the white blossoms

of the mountain laurel, also called wood laurel, 

that grows under the oak trees and pines

 in the small wooded area behind our house.

Unlike the spirea's cascading falls of white blossoms,

wood laurel blossoms are round like hydrangea blossoms.

When they are all blooming, the back yard glows under lamplight and moon light.

The wood laurel also has glossy evergreen leaves which I especially like.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/

When I was hunting for photos, I turned to Google Images

and typed in "wood laurel" and a beautiful photo popped up.

I said to myself, that is absolutely perfect; 

it couldn't look more like the laurel in my backyard if it tried.

Turns out, it was my photo from last year's blog on wood laurel.

Here it is:

avirginiashire.blogspot.com

Here's another wood laurel blossom, up close. 

The burgundy pink centers and dots in the flower look like bright eyes:

reservations.tellicovacationrentals.com

Here's one of the Google Images. 

It's from www.flickr.com, photo credit to BlueRidgeKitties:

See the rest of  BlueRidgeKitties' nature photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/

Although this morning's temperatures don't feel very May-like,

the wood laurel tells me that summer is mere weeks away.

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