Flowers in April

Flowers in the garden and at home

April 15-27

Petunia seedlings in the greenhouse

On the garden beds

crocuses and daffodils

Leucojum vernum

Chionodoxa forbesii white and blue

Iris xiphium in the rocky garden

 

 Indoor flowers: saintpaulia, pelargonium, orchid dendrobium:

What pleases you in the April garden and home?

Golden Domes of a Church. Happy Easter!

Today is Easter therefore I want to show you the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin in St. Petersburg. 
1721 is considered the foundation year of the monastery on the Neva river embankment. Later a new monastery church in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin was founded in 1895 in the pseudo-Russian style.

I admire the decorative facades, interesting stained glass windows and interiors of the church.

The lower part of the church is covered with gray granite. For the first time in construction the domes were lined with aluminum sheets. As you see they are of rare and original forms. I took pictures of interiors that are beautifully and richly gilded. The size of the iconostas is amazing, the walls are completely covered with paintings.

In the 1920s, all values ​​of the church were removed by the authorities, and the rest of the monks were arrested. The priceless paintings on the walls were simply painted over. Restoration work began in 1990, which is still going on.

There is an Orthodox choir during the service. Although this amazing church is not recognized as a tourist destination, I'd recommend you to visit it when you are in Saint Petersburg.

HAPPY EASTER!

Spring in California

 

When it was still snowing in St. Petersburg in early March, spring arrived in California, the temperature was +15 C (59 F). This temperature is pretty cool for the locals. In general, there is no snow in California, so the climate is always warm. Many plants bloomed along the roads and in the parks of Los Angeles. Looking at the photos, I noticed that I know some of them - azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, kniphofia. I do not know others, I have not seen them in my area.

I think you agree that flowering plants give the city a festive look, the air is filled with aromas of young leaves and blossoming apple and cherry trees.

In the evening garlands decorate and illuminate the trunks of trees. There are many very old and young trees growing in parks and streets.

Fountains, ponds and waterfalls always adorn parks. The sound of the water is relaxing and soothing, especially in the hot weather in  subtropical climate of California.

I thank my family member for providing these photos. After all, looking at these pictures, I was glad for the vernal flowering plants and I thought spring would soon come to my garden.

Los Angeles, California, March 2019

Click to enlarge photos.