But how closely have you looked at a dogwood lately? There was something very basic about the structure of dogwood flowers that I never realized until I really started studying plants. See if you can guess what it was from this picture:
Those big white petals? Technically they're not really petals at all; they're called bracts. The actual flowers are collected in the center, and have tiny little greenish petals. I'm reminded of a quote by Georgia O'Keeffe, who spent an awful lot of time looking at flowers:
Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time.
May we all remember to take the time to look closely this spring!
Elizabeth biking through the dogwoods on the C&O Canal in mid-April