Spring marches on

I flew back to northern California the other day after a whirlwind trip back to Nebraska. As I exited the airport I was immediately struck by the floral smell in the air. It was humid and sticky in Nebraska, as it always is in the spring and summer, but here the air was crisp, and so fragrant! I looked around but could not see where the smell was coming from. Flowers begin blooming here in March or so and continue on until the heat of summer and dry season. Each bloom marks the seasons for me. The Camellias and Wisteria are the first to bloom sometime in March, then comes the Lemon Bottlebrush tree in April and May. But it is the bloom of the Magnolia tree that amazes me most year after year, and it signals to me the end of the lush spring and an ushering in of the heat of summer.

We have two Magnolia trees in the yard. I was curious and did a little research about them. I am guessing ours are the magnolia grandiflora species--that is, the Southern Magnolia. Magnolia trees are ancient; they have survived ice ages and continental drift, and have been around for over 20 million years! They existed before bees, and the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles.

Their flowers are short lived, so I take the time frequently to stand and admire them before they disappear. A couple of weeks ago I noticed one of the two trees in bloom already. It stands near the garden bed, and as I was tending my garden I noticed things were dropping like rain onto the ground around my feet. Curious about this, I glanced up, hoping it was not a bird! I was amazed to discover that the bees were busy around each blossom, and as they dove into the flower, they would throw down the stamen to the ground below. Soon enough the flowers will disappear, their leaves will be all around the ground, and we will once again be cursing their cones all over the place. But for now, for these brief few weeks, I stand in awe of this ancient, magnificent tree species with its flowers that span the size of a small dinner plate.