Week of April 19, 2020

The next wave of SPRING BLOSSOMS in our Florida garden involves a variety of fruit that ripen in the late summer or fall.  The citrus blossoms and banana bush are on the decline and the pollinator perennials have been cut back and rebudding for summer blooming.  One newcomer this year is the pawpaw tree, which put out odd, button-like buds on the upper trunk which grew into small, brown blossoms, before any of the leaf buds had shown any green color.  This is a good omen for later years’ chance for fruit.  Another oddity is the chestnut tree on Dina’s neighboring lot, but hanging into our lot.  These have long strings of small white blossoms that somehow lead to a nut.  The three persimmon trees are doing especially well with nice new growth after an early spring pruning.  They have a profusion of flowers, the most ever.  We have three varieties, each with a different shape and colors ranging from white to yellow.  Finally, our guava hedge has loads of red and white blossoms, to the delight of the squirrels, which devour them just outside my home office window.