Fringe Trees

Do you remember when we cut the flowers that were in bloom; when we ate what was in season? Yeah, I'm old enough to remember looking forward to the German iris bloom in my grandmother's rows and to asparagus and soft shelled crab in early spring. Seems like most things are available without wait these days. But we miss the anticipation.


Right now in my garden both the American and Chinese Fringe trees are in full glorious flower. It's not the azalea and dogwood that herald spring for me, but these two beauties. Nothing can substitute for the rare and delicate nature of the flowers, for the staggering impact of a large tree full of them, nor for the fleeting nature of the experience.
Chionanthus virginicus flower
Chionanthus retusus flower

Chionanthus retusus habit



Feast on these pictures for now. The flowers are already fading. Go quickly to find one up close. Smell that faint sweet fragrance that just smells perfectly like spring. Remember the lines from that old Tom Waits song...

I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown until I stayed away too long
I never heard the melody, until I needed a song.... (San Diego Serenade)

Enjoy them now. Look forward to them forever after.