tilia

the dark green leaves and lime green bracts of the linden tree are a delight for the eyes right now. the bracts are an ingenious mechanism to carry the seeds away from the base of the tree when the time comes. these linden bracts, along with the fading spruce tips, mark the end of this season of new-growth citrine.  it’s one of my favorite colors. perhaps precisely because it only comes around for six weeks of the year, and then i won’t see it again until next april.  the older i get, the more i enjoy these once-a-year but only-for-a-short-time seasons. strawberries in june. blueberries in july. tomatoes in august. they are all worth the wait. and all the more delicious because of it.

linden leaves and bracts (tilia)