Magnolia is my favourite tree. My grandmother used to have an old magnolia tree in her garden. All winter it stood there, brown and leaveless with it’s twisted, knobby branches and twigs, covered in moss. It looked like a relict of a time long gone, dead and forgotten. But once april came along the morphing began. Brown, dry capsules started to build, no green at all. A bit like aliens waiting to eclose. No sign of life but something was swelling underneath. When finally the flowers started to free themselves from their shabby shell, it was always like a miracle. Big fleshy, leaves, soft like velvet in powdery shades of white and pink with hints of green started to unfold and all of a sudden this dry old tree was like life and beauty itself for a few days. But like all enchantments, it doesn’t last for long. That’s what makes it so precious. You have to wait a whole year for a few days of beauty – I call that luxury.
Eleni wears dungarees and a sweater from FARA charity shop, socks by Happy Socks, sneakers by Geox and leggings by H+M.
©Julia Richter