These spring flowers are blooming brightly thanks to all the rain

Walking to the Stanford Shopping Center along Bay Laurel this week, it was impossible to ignore the abundance of blooms. We checked in with Menlo Park resident Kathy Brenzel, who served as Sunset’s garden editor for many years when the magazine was in Menlo Park.

She emailed: “[All] this rain has done wonders for home gardens. My garden is literally leaping for joy. Of my 45 rose bushes, five are starting to bloom now, much earlier than usual. One of my David Austin roses —’Paul Bocuse’ — is loaded with buds for the first time in five years, and my lavender and westringeas are covered in blooms, again earlier than usual. My smoke bush was leafless a little more than a month ago when I pruned it, and now it is fully leafed out and starting to bloom. The garden is looking more lush than it has in years; it’s as though all the plants have been waiting for this moment!”

And the flowers and plants continue to get sprinkled on. Reports InMenlo weather watcher Bill Russ this morning: “.2″ in my gauges. Now at 33.95″ season-to-date. As to rain year 97′-98, at this point the total was 35.35″. It went on to finish at 38.6″. We may get close!”

We share some of our snapshots taken along Bay Laurel: dogwood (top), tulips (above right) and Rhododendron (bottom), with apologies to our much more talented contributing photographers.

Photos by Linda Hubbard (c) 2017