TREES and SHRUBS

Here are just a few images of the trees and large shrubs, both wild and cultivated, that flower near my house every spring. They make for a long, visually stunning season.

 

About 15 forsythia bushes, some now huge, are scattered around the grounds

 

Bilberry (shadbush, sorbus), Amelanchier sp., has many tree forms that cross-pollinate freely. The following photograph shows one variation. The bilberry bears delicious edible fruit and is a close relative of the Saskatoon bush of western Canada, also an Amelanchier.

 

 

"Profusion" is the name of this flowering crab-apple

 

I see this wild apple tree every day from the window over my kitchen sink.

A flowering crab-apple planted in memory of my dear friend, Olga Cruz

 

"Anne" magnolia photographed in early morning cross-lighting, dark forest shadow behind

 

I planted this horse chestnut tree as a nut about 1974

 

Close-up of a horse chestnut blossom

 

The horse chestnut with a white lilac (right) and azaleas in the foreground

 

A hybrid azalea aptly named "Total Awe."

 

Our native wild azalea, Rhododendron canadense, was used by the University of Minnesota to breed hardiness into its now-famous Northern Light series of hardy azaleas. These wild plants bloom in the field near my house in May.

 

The balcony on my barn was a recent birthday gift to myself. I can see various parts of my large rhododendron-and-azalea garden from there.

 

A view from my balcony in late May

 

Fallen petals surround a rhododendron

The hawthorn, a member of the apple family, is one of the last trees to flower in spring.

The cinnamon rose, an escape from the gardens of early settlers, is now established in the wild. Its highly fragrant blossoms mark the transition from spring to summer.