Welcome back photographer Jim Ross. He took these photos at Brookside Gardens, a 50-acre formal garden with multiple ponds and rolling hills in Montgomery County, Maryland. He talks about them in more detail below.

Apricot Blossom was taken in early January. There are two flowering Japanese apricot trees at Brookside — this one typically starts blooming in late February to early March. This year it began blooming in early January. The other tree reached full bloom by mid-January. Due to the see-saw changes in temperature, this flowering apricot never had a full bloom despite its stunning early start.  

Water Reflection was also taken in early January at roughly high noon, looking into a canal that surrounds an island where a Japanese garden is located.