Magnolia's Secret © 2010 Bo Mackison

This particular magnolia blossom is one of the “little girl” magnolias; she is called “Pinkie.” It is a saucer magnolia and is one of the first trees to bloom in early spring. The blooms are huge, sometimes as large as 7 inches across, pale red-purple on the outside, and with white interiors. This magnolia usually blooms in southern Wisconsin in late April through mid-May, but this year Mother Nature has been kind to us northerners, and it feels like we’ve had May weather all for much of the month of April. Because of the warmer weather, most of the magnolias are past their peak, though a few of the late bloomers are prime now.

Happily, the crab apple blossoms are coming in profusely, and with great colors. I walked around the arboretum grounds a couple of evenings ago, and the scents from the various blossoming trees — crabapple, pear, magnolia, a bit of lilac — ah, surely a bit of heaven!

I’ve really been enjoying using my Olympus 50 mm, f/2.0 lens for some close ups of the blossoms this spring. It’s the lens I take off my camera in favor of the more all-purpose zooms, and forget about. Then one day I look in my case, and see this little lens all tucked in and waiting. I’m always happy when I decide to  add the discipline of using a only prime lens for a while.