Apache Plume

Outgoing postcard US-3941386 to France shows Fallugia paradoxa, commonly known as Apache plume. Native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, it is found in arid habitats such as desert woodlands and scrub. I have seen it in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area near Las Vegas, along with other wildflowers such as Cliff Rose, Windmill, and Beavertail Cactus blossoming during the same period in spring.

Beavertail Cactus seen on April 1, 2016

Cherry Blossom in DC Signaling the Start of Spring

The National Park Service announced last Friday that the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC were officially at peak bloom on March 25, 2016 with 75% of the trees in full bloom. It was peaked more than two weeks earlier this year than last year.

Postcard US-3373353 to Czech Republic shows the cherry blossoms around the Lincoln Memorial with a matching USPS Gifts of Friendship stamp.

Get Ready for the Spring

DE-5016521, a greeting card from Germany, came just before the spring officially starts on March 20, 2016.

Crew members were seen busy in setting up another Japanese Spring Celebration Show at the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas yesterday. The show will feature 82,830 flowers in total, with a lot of Azalea Brilliant, Begonias, Ivy, Hibuscus, Cherry Blossom, Magnolias, and Bamboo canes, from March 18 to May 14, 2016.

Spring Time at Bellagio

A departure from the Theme Dutch featuring a giant windmill and live butterflies in the past few years, Spring time at the Bellagio’s Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in 2015 celebrates Japanese culture with more than 82,000 flowers including tulips, daffodils and snapdragons among bonsai trees. Modeled after the Golden Temple in Kyoto, a 26-foot or 8-meter tall Japanese temple in a gold veneer with rice paper Shoji screens is the center piece of the display. Shown on the outgoing postcard US-3373301 to Japan is an 18-foot or 5.5-meter tall cherry blossom tree featuring 300 acrylic leaves and blossoms, with many oil-paper umbrellas hanging from the sky. The Spring Celebration, a collaboration with master gardener Kanji Nomura from Nagoya, Japan, runs from March 20 to May 11, 2015.

Today in history: the German zeppelin Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed instantly while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937; a jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries on May 6, 1981.

Cherry Blossoms About to Reach Peak Bloom in D.C.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the gift of 3020 cherry trees from Tokyo, Japan to the city of Washington D.C.  First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park on March 27, 1912. This weekend, the cherry blossoms are projected to hit peak bloom while the Annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and the 55th Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival will attract a large crowd.

Earlier today, USPS and Japan Post jointly issued the Gifts of Friendship Forever stamps on April 10, 2015, featuring cherry blossom trees and flowering dogwood trees, celebrating the enduring bond between U.S. and Japan on the centennial of the thank-you gift of flowering dogwood trees from the United States to Japan in 1915.

Outgoing postcard US-3263842 to Japan shows the Washington Monument with cherry blossoms in the foreground. It has one of the Gifts of Friendship stamps in the front featuring the Lincoln Memorial with vibrant cherry trees.

Unusual Warm Spring Season in Las Vegas

After an unusually warm winter, the warm weather sticks around for the spring in Las Vegas. The temperature surpassed 90°F or 32°C for the first time in 2015 and reached a record 91°F or 32.8°C on Saturday March 28, 2015; the previous record high for March 28 was 89°F or 31.7°C in 1986.

Today's high temperature 90°F or 32°C also broke the previous record of 88°F or 31.1°C set in 1971. , and it will hover above 90°F or 32°C through tomorrow, the end of March. The normal high temperature for this time of year would be around 74°F or 23°C. The forecast says the high temperature will drop to 82°F or 27.8°C on Wednesday April 1 and to 75°F or 24°C on Thursday April 2, 2015.

Postcard NL-2907738 from the Netherlands arrived on March 28, 2015 showing a spring scene with a beautiful butterfly.

Schachblume

Postcard DE-3953158 from Germany shows Fritillaria meleagris (Schachblume in German), a species of flowering plant native to Europa in the family Liliaceae. It is originally known as snake's head, probably because of its snakelike appearance of the nodding flower heads on their long stems. It is also known as chess flower, checkered lily, or checkered daffodil because the flower has a checkered pattern in purple, or sometimes in pure white. Usually grown in grasslands and river meadows at altitudes below 800 meters or 2,625 feet, it blossoms from March to May. 

Schöne Grüße aus Daun

Postcard DE-3495274 was a nice greeting from Daun, Germany. It shows die Dauner Maare, a group of three volcanic lakes 2.5 km  (1.6 mi) to 3.5 km (2.2 mi) southeast of Daun’s town center. The main town of Daun has only about 5,000 permanent residents. It is known as a spa town and the mineral water springs in the surrounding area, due to the volcanic geological features in the area. Daun is home to the Eifel-Vulkanmuseum, a museum dedicated to provide information about volcanic and other geological phenomena in Eifel and world wide, using interactive computer models to explain the exciting and complex geological processes including both physical and chemical processes. 

Windmill Shaped Card from Holland

Windmill shaped postcard NL-2427110 from the Netherlands is perfect for marking the end of April as the spring season is on its full swing.  Locally, flowers are in full bloom at the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas. You can find Mr. & Ms. Green Thumb there for gardening tips daily in the morning from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. The Spring Celebration will continue through May 11, 2014 with live musical performances from 5 pm to 6 pm.

First Day of Spring

Spring starts with the vernal equinox on March 20 at 9:57 P.M. PDT, 2014. Equinox is the day when daytime and night are of approximately equal duration, which occurs twice a year.  the March equinox which, in the astronomical system of seasons, is the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (vernal equinox) and the first day of autumn (autumnal equinox) in the Southern Hemisphere.

Although March equinox is precisely defined as when the center of the sun is, moving northward, directly over the Equator, meteorological and ecological spring, defined by other events or indicators such as the values of average monthly temperatures or the first appearance of flowers, changes from year to year and place to place. According to the National Geographic, spring is It arriving earlier as snow melting and flowers blooming sooner than usual in the U.S.

Postcard TW-1190199 shows cherry blossom in Taiwan. There are four major areas noted for cherry blossom activities.

• At Wulai, the high season is in February. The local festival features Atayal culture, one of the aboriginal tribes inhabiting in the mountainous areas of northern and central Taiwan. 
• For Alishan, the one-month long flower season lasts from March 15 to April 15. However, at the lower elevations, it sometimes starts as early as in late January. 
• Sun Moon Lake Cherry Blossom is said to have the most romantic spot for enjoying the seasonal colors with many activities scheduled throughout the season.
• Mt. Yangming National Park, one of the most popular national parks in Taiwan, offers cherry blossom against its volcanic mountain formations. It has gained increasing popularity due to its close proximity to Taipei City.

The First Sign of Spring

Postcard US-2675215 from Vermont, USA shows the first sign of spring whereas the Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the U.S. starts at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 9, 2014. While people in many parts of the country still feel cold and get cranky over an early start over the DST,  at 78°F or 26°C in Las Vegas today, I can certainly breath "spring" in the air.

Austin, Texas

Postcard US-2628163 to Japan shows a fun map of Austin, the capital of Texas, designed by FunGraphix.  It is the 11th-largest city in the U.S. and the fourth-largest city in the state of Texas, and home to the University of Texas at Austin.

Austin hosts South by Southwest (SXSW), a cluster of festivals of film, interactive media, and music, and technical conferences every year in spring. It will run from March 7 to March 16 in 2014.

Four Seasons in Japan

I received this thank-you card from Japan for one of my official PostCrossing card. It shows four major landmarks in Japan in four seasons.

Top-left shows the Kinkaku-ji Temple in winter; top-right is the Himeji-jo Castle in spring. Sunset at the Toji-no-toh Pagoda  shows on the lower-left; the famous Mt. Fuji and Kawaguchi-ko Lake in the fall is on the lower-right.