One of the delights of this week in Southern Michigan has been seeing the Star Magnolias in their full glory of blooming. Our friend Julia says the blooms only last a few days and, if so, today or tomorrow will be the end of most of them. Liz speculates, based on the similar size of many of the trees, that they may have come into vogue and been planted in a number of yards over a short period of time. Many of the trees are fifteen to twenty feet or more in size and are quite impressive in stature.
I’ve enjoyed going back over some of the photographs I made earlier this week, seeing again the many faces the blooms present and the different qualities shown as the light changes. Here are two of them and more can be found here.
I love the soft diffuse light and what it does with the whites, sky blues and pinks of another Star Magnolia in the background.
With the morning sun behind them, the sepals and flat background both set off the tight buds in a special setting.
Still Learning To See 
I’m a Maryland girl and star and grand flora are my favorite flowers.
Beautiful photographs.
I love magnolias. I planted one in my front yard – hope it lives here in VT
Love the pictures–the white, smaller flower is the star magnolia, and I believe the other with the pink flower is called a tulip magnolia. I loved finding out that the magnolia is old enough that bees were not yet on the planet, so it is fertilized by beetles!
And yes, as I was driving to the Coffee Mill to see Liz and Howard, I noticed that the pink tulip magnolia blossoms are now falling to the ground. Such loveliness is a great, if short-lived gift 🙂