A Spring Walk Across the OSU Campus

Whatever strengths and weaknesses Oregon State University may have- and I could go on ad nauseum about either- one thing that you have to grant is that its landscaping is absolutely beautiful. Our winters may be gloomy, but the spring flowers, when we get a few days of sun, are mind boggling. Today's highs were probably mid 70's, about perfect in my book, and the next two days are supposed to be even warmer and sunnier. The rhododendrons and azaleas peak in early to mid May; at that point the whole campus is a riot of color.
Rhodies near the engineering buildings and a close-up.A magnolia near Chemical Engineering, and another close-up.One rhododendron is just coming into bloom; the others are still budding. Milne Hall (Math) on the left, and The Valley Library in the middle distance.Azaleas Since OSU has a world-class forestry school, there are many non-native species on campus, but lately they've been trying to give the natives some representation
A trillium; I'm not sure what the flower in the middle left is.
And a close-up of the trillium, with a background of diabase (intermediate grain size between gabbro and basalt), another native material.Again, I'm not sure what this is, though it looks like some kind of apple or a relative- maybe a crabapple? Note the moss and lichen growing on the twigs. Epiphytes like it here even better than the flowers. Most trees here stay green through the winter even though they've lost all their leaves.