Explosions of joy in my cranium after I crossed the street to investigate what I thought must be a weirdly early crabapple. No! It was something I had never seen before. I was clueless. The flowers looked like lilac, the emerging leaves looked like viburnum, the form...tree-like, but trained so...deeply perfumed and spicy, too. And dripping with blooms in late March. I mean nothing is open. Only the quinces have started. Not even the callery pears, which have buds right now.Very exciting.
Thanks to googling and going with the viburnum idea, I think it is Viburnum farreri*, described as a very early bloomer, sometimes damaged by frost. And this one must have been trained upright from an early age, as most of us should be.
[The tree is on Baltic between Court and Clinton, north side of street]
That's all it takes to cheer this girl up.
That and gallon of hot pink paint from Tony's Hardware.
Update: * The ever helpful Plant ID Forum at UBC tells me this: It is more likely to be Viburnum × bodnantense 'Dawn' (V. farreri × V. grandiflorum).
Sigh. It's so good to know exactly what something is, and how it got that way. Thank you.
Marie, just a short note to say that I have really, really, really been enjoying your posts lately. I am so pleased that you are up for the recognition you deserve! Kind Regards, Pritha :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Pritha: wot's your email? You can email me from the Profile widget.
ReplyDeleteAhhh! Another long-distance breath of spring for me.
ReplyDeleteWe planted one of these lovelies maybe 20 years ago. It is huge, always blooms right after the daffodils and the smell is one I wish we could bottle. It should be in full bloom in the next week.
ReplyDeleteIt is most definitely an eyecatcher!
MIT - well, I do envy you your tamarind tree :-)
ReplyDeleteMary? Are your daffodils open yet? NY should be cooler and later than y'all down there so I am surprised that your viburnum has not opened yet when this new one (to me) has!