"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Any day now... Trees in bloom!

Now that the sun is gone for a couple of days and the rain has returned I guess I'll have to take a break from all the work I've been doing outside.  I did notice how fast the buds on the trees have grown.  I think we'll have blooms any day on several trees.  Other trees are probably still a couple of weeks away, but they are definitely getting closer!

The apple tree

Apple blossom

Pear blossoms

Pear blossom with a friend.

Magnolia 'Vulcan'  A little frost damage, but I'm sure it'll still look pretty.

Pink Flowering Dogwood

There is another variety of dogwood in our backyard, but it looks like it will be behind the rest of the blooming trees.  I'm hoping we'll get a pretty good crop of apples this year.  It's a 5 way grafted, semi- dwarf tree.  The two pear trees were just planted last fall, so I'm not expecting much fruit from them.  
As I walk through our neighborhood I've noticed the sweet scent of the blooming plum and cherry trees.  I love seeing all the pink and white flowers coating those trees.  The magnolias and redbuds are just starting to bloom now too. I know that soon the apple, crabapples, pear and dogwoods will be next.  There is an ornamental apricot tree at my daughters school the kids call the "popcorn tree".  It's kind of a big deal when the big tree blooms.  The kids write poems about it and do art projects based on it.  
There's just something about seeing a tree in bloom.   I'd love to hear what trees are blooming where you live.
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28 comments:

  1. No trees in bloom yet here Catherine. The pink blossoms of the crab apples will most likely be first along with the redbuds. Your magnolia blossom is still pretty. I really need to get mine in the ground. I bought 'Jane' last year and it has sat for a whole year in its container. How pathetic is that?!

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  2. Wish we have blooming time in spring like yours too ..... so spectacular! cheers. ~ bangchik

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  3. It will be wonderful if you have some blooming trees for Easter. Our Dogwoods are finished and are leafing out, the pears trees finished we have pears now, Peach, Tangerine, Grapefruit, Apple have buds and or blooms right now.

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  4. Catherine, Our plums are in bloom right now- the smell fills my nose as I work! I know it is spring when they bloom! In the evening, when I'm beat from working out there, it is so nice to smell that beautiful smell!

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  5. Mornin' Catherine, Your Magnolia is beautiful and your others are coming right along. I have to get a Magnolia. That's neat about the tree at your daughter's school. That teaches them something other than 'school' stuff.
    All I've seen blooming is Flowering Cherry. In fact I commented to my husband that the 2 towns sure love them because they are everywhere, including lining driveways which is spectacular.
    I FINALLY put my journey on this morning. Took me long enough!!!

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  6. I love the picture of your magnolia. Our weeping cherry and dogwoods are blooming now. It should be a pretty weekend. I always enjoy your posts - wishing you a nice Easter.

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  7. It's going to be a great year for fruit trees I think. This cold Winter will have formed lots of fruit buds. My trees are looking good too since we've also had a few days of sunshine.

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  8. Hi~~ First, HUGE kudos for the staff for encouraging their students to observe and write about the flowering apricot. This just thrills me.

    There is towering pink or white froth decorating the landscape in these parts. I keep wishing I could stop dead center and get a photograph but I hesitate because of unpredictable drivers behind me.

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  9. I love magnolia's. I have 5 trees and one that looks like a magnolia bush. It is leaved out and has blooms on it but it sits on the ground. All of mine are white. This one looks like red or pink. Love it. Great pics. Happy Easter.

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  10. Do you think more trees are blooming at the same time than usual this year? I feel like it's a faster roll-out due to starting late, but don't have any hard evidence. My allergies tell that tale too, since I don't usually have pollen problems until June but do at the moment. So pretty out, with the plums, cherries, forsythia, apricots and magnolias all going at once. I hope the wind doesn't knock too many off today!

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  11. The lady bug is surely a friendly little one and your picture makes it looks so good!

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  12. I like your fence. It looks like mine. I also like your other photos.

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  13. Katheleen - The crabapples are so pretty in bloom. I've had things sit in containers for a long time too, maybe you'll find just the right spot for it this spring.

    Bangchik - Thanks. I bet a lot is in bloom there now though, you're probably much further ahead there.

    Darla - You can grow so much more fruit there. I remember seeing your pear tree in bloom awhile ago.

    Tessa - It is a nice reward isn't it, to get that nice sweet smell when you get a chance to rest.

    Rain Gardener - I've noticed a lot of people have plums planted all along their driveways too. They are pretty, but it's also nice to have some variety. I hope you can find a place for a magnolia.

    Mildred - Thanks, you are very nice :) Don't you just love the dogwoods? I can't wait to see ours.

    Matron - That's great to hear! It does seem like the apple tree is much more full of buds this year, but I just thought it was because it's getting a little older.

    Grace - I think it's pretty great that the school has made a big deal out of the "popcorn tree" too. So many kids don't have much appreciation for the nature around them. At least they take the time to see the beauty in this tree.
    I keep thinking of all the photo ops as I drive around too.

    Becca - How pretty to have all those magnolias. I've seen the star magnolias here that are grown like a bush too. They are so pretty in bloom.

    Karen - I'm noticing my allergies kicking in too. I think most of my trees are blooming pretty close to the usual time. I think the cherries might be a little late though. It's kind of nice to see so much in bloom all at once.

    Tina - It's pretty cute isn't it? It was soaking up the sun I think.

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  14. Abe Lincoln - Thanks, we are hoping to work on the fence some more this weekend!

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  15. Catherine

    My neighbours magnolia is beautiful at present usually the frost damages it but not this year. We also have cherry blossom coming out and Amelanchier in flower.

    Anticipation sums it up.

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  16. Dogwood are in bloom here as well as cherry. We're having a beautiful spring.

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  17. Thanks for visiting my blog! I'm going to give wintersowing a shot. I have never heard anyone say it didn't work for them and I'm running out of space using "conventional" methods. Do you have a Kousa Dogwood? They bloom later that the others...

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  18. Joanne - It's nice when neighbors yards give us such a nice view as a magnolia! I looked up the Amalanchier and it sounds like it's what we call Serviceberry here. They are very pretty.

    Susie - It sounds like it with those two in bloom!

    LJ - I enjoyed your blog! Glad to hear you'll try wintersowing, it's been fun to watch.
    This dogwood is cornus florida. The kousa are also really pretty, but you're right they bloom later here too.

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  19. The deciduous magnolias like M. x soulangiana are blooming now. The purple-flowering plums (Prunus cerasifera cv. atropurpurea) and various acacias (mostly A. dealbata and A. baileyana) growing everywhere as street trees recently finished blooming. Redbuds and buckeyes are starting to bloom. I saw elms blooming up in Sonoma last weekend.

    The very young, very small apples and cherries in my yard did not bloom this year--hopefully just because they are very young and very small.

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  20. Catherine- Your trees look really ready to give you a wonderful view. Very exciting. All of my trees are starting to bud out but not quite to leafing out yet. Soon. Rain means we can all clean the house.
    Heather

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  21. We are still in a holding pattern here, we seem to be in a real cold pocket. Just twenty miles and the bloom time has at least a week on us.

    Your photos are terrific.

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  22. YAY YAY YAY! Apple blossoms! To me Apple Blossoms are Amaryllis. I gotta be content with them. If only they could grow here. [sigh] If I could I might install a air conditioned room for their cold dormant stage! LOL!

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  23. Hi Catherine! I just love apple blossoms! Growing up, we had 2 apple trees in our yard (1 green, 1 red). We used to love climbing the apple trees! And we also had a cherry tree, my mom made apple pie, and cherry pie! We also climbed the cherry tree;-) We had a crabapple tree too and that blossomed beautifully as well. You are fortunate to have so many blooming trees in your yard! In my yard, the only trees with flowers are the crepe myrtle, and those won't bloom until June. We planted 8 of them years ago...3 of them never made it because they didn't get enough sun. The other 5 have really grown up! This is the first year my husband cut them back a whole lot...and I'm not sure how tall they will be now. Supposedly they will send up new shoots and grow tall, we shall see...
    Anyway, just wanted to stop by to say Happy Easter, and hope you have a wonderful Spring!!

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  24. Chuck - I bet all those trees blooming look really pretty. I think it's normal for really young trees to not have too many blooms. I think our apple tree only had a few the first couple of years.

    Heather - I guess all your cold weather means you have later bloom time. It's funny that once the rain comes back I'm forced to do house cleaning too :)

    Lanny - It's interesting what just that difference in distance means in bloom time. You probably have more blooming at once there i bet.

    Chandramouli - Now that would be dedicated :) A room for cold dormant stage. You could have lots in there too, lilacs, bulbs,...I think you should do it!

    Jan - Those old apple trees are great for climbing aren't they? We had one growing up too and we would each have our own branch that we would sit on. It's so nice to have all that home grown fruit.
    I love crepe myrtles. They don't grow here. Your yard must look beautiful when they are all in bloom. I hope you will show pictures of them.

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  25. I'm so jealous of your pink flowering dogwood! I've tried to grow one twice, with no luck. They're so pretty!

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  26. You got some great closeups. I can see every detail. Very cool.
    Debbie

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  27. They all look really grand and next week will be a whole new ball game. You'll be posting blooms left and right cause these are about to burst. I feel so much better now that its' Spring. I was ready for winter to be over and out.

    I noticed that you've got a lot coming up outside. Do you think this will be your best gardening year ever?

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  28. Kylee - That dogwood is so pretty, we're lucky that is was here when we bought the house.

    Debbie - I've been working on my macro and now that's my favorite setting.

    Anna- I'm wondering if this cold winter will end up being good for some of my plants. It seems like they are growing really fast right now.

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