May 02, 2006
The trees wear white, puffy sleeves
This year the cherry trees are loaded with their beautiful, white flowers filling the branches leaving the ends to turn, slowly, green.

Of course, the flowers are early and there aren't lots of bees yet. We haven't had the rains we need so it will be an interesting year. Still, the tree smells quite wonderful ... so cherry sweet.

Last year the peach tree peaked with 36 flowers. We got nine peaches. The tree is pink with flowers.

The numbers are uncountable
Soon, the gently aromatic show in pink will pass and the tree will become entirely green ... hiding its prizes in behind its dense leaf.

While the view is substantially the same as last year, one can see the fruit trees are a bit fuller and we're about a week ahead of schedule.

The apple tree is showing blossoms now. We can see quite a few on the granny smith part of the tree ... and several on the red mcintosh apple part as well. The mac blossoms seem to be a bit pinker than the smiths - which have a darker pink to almost burgundy hull around the blossom - before they open. The northern spy seems to be the slowest part of the tree but there are definite signs of life so we know it survived and is just the straggler of these varieties.

The magnolia tree is already loosing it's flowers. It was a typically wonderful show. We enjoyed it and now the greenery is on its way. There certainly are, still, an abundance of flowers but it won't be long and the tree will be green instead of it's stunning, spring pink. The view today is much like this picture

from mid-may of last year. By the end of summer next spring's buds will be set but, for the next couple of days, our back yard is layered with a soft, pink and white carpet of magnolia petals.

The hyacinths have run their course but the white stuff remains near the walkway ... overhanging our ever-spreading strawberry patch.

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