Monday, May 12, 2008

A gift from my grandfather



More than 30 years ago, my grandfather Johnson planted this pair of flowering plums in the front yard. There have been a few recent years when I feared the plants were dying, either because the blossoms were few or the leaves were, too. (Check out the post from the first day of spring, March 20, where I posted an "I wish" picture from a few years back when the rhododendron and forsythia were bursting while the plums in the background were barely a whisper of white.)

But the past couple of years have lessened the worry. Over this past weekend, the flowers started to open, filling the yard with an indescribable perfume, light and airy, yet potent enough to make one long for spring all year.

Oddly enough, the bushes do sing when they are in full bloom: Winged insects of all shapes and sizes congregate and hum their joy at finding such bounty and beauty.

Our gift this year is that it looks like we may have the blooms for a week or so until rain arrives late in the week. The past few years have been washouts, with blossoms just coming into their prime and then days of heavy rain to wipe the fragile blooms away.

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