Flower Power

I'm definitely NOT a flower guy.  I don't really like flowers, especially not white ones. I like things with color, but right now there are a ton of white flowers blooming. Walking around in the backyard it's hard not to notice the Bradford Pear tree in full bloom.  This tree is an ornamental, I think, since I've never seen it produce an edible pear.  It is a nice tree to look at now when it is blooming or in the fall when it's leaves turn colors.  I got this tree delivered to me when it was the size of a pencil.  I joined the Arbor Day Foundation and they sent me some free trees and this was one of them.  I planted it thinking I wound dig it up and replant later, but it grew so quickly, and put down roots so deep, that I couldn't dig it up!

Bradford Pear in bloom

Right next to that tree is another tree about to burst forth with blooms - a navel orange tree.  Sorry that the photo is blurry, but you can see that there are a bunch of blooms that will soon open, filling the air with orange blossom fragrance.  I can't think of a better smell on earth than orange blossoms.

Blurry shot of orange blossoms

Walking around to the front of the yard, I crossed the road and looked around in the road ditch.  Yes!  Just what I was looking for - Dewberries in bloom.  Dewberries are like blackberries and they grow wild in our ditches.  We pick the dewberries and make the best jelly that a homemade biscuit has ever seen.

Dewberry blooms

From the looks of the vines shooting all over the place, 2014 is going to provide a bumper crop of dewberries.  Other fruits and berries we have to plant, but these just come up wild every year in our ditches. What a blessing!

Dewberries running all over the ditches

Finally, one last white flower.  These are the flowers on our edible pear tree.  We use the pears from this tree to make delicious pies.  Last year was not a good year for pears, but this year looks to be a better year if you judge by the flowers loaded up on the branches.

Pear blossoms

Although admittedly not a flower guy, I do like the fruit and berries that follow these flowers!