paper + white + blossoms

 

As promised, here are some images of the Paperwhites in bloom. The rain has continued over the last several days, but I thought I'd try photographing them anyway since the forecast predicts rain, rain & more rain for the week ahead. I don't remember a January in Florence as wet as this one has been—even more reason to be grateful for Paperwhites brightening up the studio! And that scent—oh my...

I find it fascinating to compare these photos to the ones in the previous post—the palette of light is so utterly different that it feels as though they were taken in a different season altogether. These shots are in fact more in keeping with winter. I do hold out hope that I may still capture the sweet little blossoms basking in the sun—at the very least those from the second batch of bulbs, which I have just "planted." (I am merely setting the bulbs in a tray with a few millimeters of water, so that only the roots make contact with it, then transferring them to glass containers in order to contain the wayward stems as they grow taller. Talk about easy gardening!)

I continue to be astounded by how much joy these bulbs & their blooms have given me, but I suppose part of it is simply the awe of watching something grow...and at a rate that is at once fast enough to actually take note of, yet also so fast that you can scarcely believe it: the "small" miracles of every day...