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This blog is dedicated to Malta - my island home. My aim is not to bore you with history but to share my thoughts and a few facts together with a photo or two. For a more in -depth background of the island please go here. The purpose of this blog is not to point out the short-comings of the island. There are plenty that do that already. My wish is to show you the beauty of an island at the cross roads of the Mediterranean, a melting pot of history; a place where fact and fiction are sometimes fused to create unique myths and legends; a country that has been conquered so many times that our culture is a mish mesh of the lands that surround us and of lands far away. I confess that my greatest desire is to make you fall in love with this tiny enchanting island.

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Wednesday 21 April 2010

Orange Blossoms

Oranges and Orange Blossoms (5)

It’s that special time in Spring when the orange trees adorn themselves with blossoms. The air is heavy with their fragrance and with the droning sound of the bees as they move from flower to flower, collecting nectar and pollinating the buds. It is a magical time, with nature’s perfume pervading the orchards and thousands of petals adorning the ground, like confetti after a wedding. This beauty is short-lived though, as soon the small fruit  start to form, growing bigger and stronger, until the late autumn days are with us once again and it is time for a new harvest of oranges.

Oranges and Orange Blossoms (3) 

Note

It is thought that oranges originated in south-east Asia and were widely grown in the Mediterranean during the Arab conquest of the region in the ninth and tenth centuries.

9 comments:

  1. Ah, beautiful post! I know how wonderful those blossoms smell because my neighbor has an orange tree. True, the blossoms don't last long, but they are gorgeous.

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  2. Super lovely post...I loove oranges! Wow..they sound so fragrant..awesome! Beautiful photos!
    Kiki~

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  3. Just looking at your lovely photos is enough to make me imagine the scent filled orchards.
    ♥...Wanda

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  4. Great photographs Loree..
    Mediterranean perfumes.
    Costas

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  5. Oh yes, marvellous, this reminds me of Southern Spain: the gorgeous smell and the taste of the oranges...

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  6. Ooooh, I wish I could smell that one day, it must be heavenly!

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  7. That's strange, I just realized that I have never seen an orange blossom, only the orange on the tree ! The flower looks beautiful !

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  8. The scent of orange blossoms was one of my favorites when living in Arizona. Believe it or not, I never saw the blossom until your post! It is very beautiful. The petals have a waxy appearance similar to orchids.

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  9. I haven't seen an orange blossom before, so this is such a treat! Beautiful, Loree!

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