florjus blog

Winter/Spring 2022

Wisteria (Wisteria Sinensis): Seductive & Rampant

Wisteria (Wisteria Sinensis) is a true botanical outlaw. And seduces with enchanting scent and flowers. Then strangles all your trees with its vines.

It takes many kinds of plants to make a world.

Wisteria (Wisteria Sinensis) Flowers Up Close

Wisteria Sinensis superimposes itself on an unidentified tree.

Love Wisteria Sinensis. But don't plant it.

American Dogwood Trees

The first time I saw dogwood (Cornus Forida) was on train trip to Atlanta. From North Carolina through South Carolina, bloomed en masse beside the train tracks.

That was decades ago. But I'll never forget travelling through a dreamscape of white blooming dogwood trees.

Cornus Florida, native to the eastern United States. I think it needs a festival.

White Dogwood (Cornus Florida) Flowers

Pink Dogwood (Cornus Florida) Tree

Eastern Dogwood (Cornus Florida var. Florida 'Cherokee Princess') Flowers

Eastern Redbud: A Romantic's Tree

March. April. May. I've seen eastern redbud bloom in all these months.

From afar, it's a tree with bizarre bright purple branches. Up close, a mass of tiny pea flowers grow along the branches.

Perfectly heart shaped leaves follow the teeny, tiny flowers. See the eastern redbud leaves dance in the wind.

Eastern redbud is a tree conjured from a romantic mind.

Buds of Eastern Redbud Tree (Cercis Canadensis) make the branches appear ultraviolent from a distance.

Tiny but vibrant: Eastern Redbud Tree (Cercis Canadensis) blossoms

Cherry Trees: Glory of Spring

It's not a mystery why cherry trees get their own festivals. Just look at them. Look at the tree structure. Look at the blossoms. Look at the colors. And it's all here for a limited time.

If cherry trees are where you are...please go out and enjoy their fleeting brilliance.

It is a mystery why there aren't more tree festivals. Trees need more celebrations.

It fills me with joy that a graceful tree such as the Weeping Higan Cherry Tree (Prunus Subhirtella 'Pendula') escapes aggressive pruning.

Weeping Higan Cherry Tree (Prunus Subhirtella 'Pendula') Blossoms

Thank you to whoever decided to plant a Weeping Higan Cherry Tree (Prunus Subhirtella 'Pendula') between a medical building and a parking lot. Kudos for allowing it to naturally weep.

Cherry Tree (Prunus Serrulata 'Kanzan') Blossoms

A majestic cherry tree (Prunus Serrulata 'Kanzan') in a southeast Washington, DC neighborhood.

Part of cherry trees' allure is when the blossoms shatter and petals fall to the ground like snow... or float along a spring breeze.

A view of Cherry Tree (Prunus x Yeodensis 'Yoshino') Bloosoms from below.

Cherry Tree (Prunus x Yeodensis 'Yoshino') Blossoms

From afar, Cherry Tree (Prunus x Yeodensis 'Yoshino') look like popcorn balls.

Daffodils I Didn't Grow

All the daffodils in the photos below weren't growing in a garden. They grew on land where there was once a house garden. These daffodils prevailed. Just one of my reasons for writing daffodils over tulips.

Daffodil 'Pink Charm' was found living in a ditch at the edge of a parking lot.

Heirloom daffodils living on a derelict homestead in Virginia.

An upclose look at an heirloom daffodi. I suspect is a cultivar of a wild British daffodil.

Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x Soulangeana)

Like camellias, saucer magnolia (Magnolia x Soulangeana) flowers look like they belong to summer. But here they bloom in early spring amongst still sleeping plants. Except forsythia, another showy early riser.

A contrast of showy Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x Soulangeana) against bare branches.

Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x Soulangeana) and forsythia flowers. A color combo that only nature pulls off easily.

Magnolia, what big flowers you have.

Callery Pear: Once Loved, Now Hated

People make rude comments about callery pear (Pyrus Calleryana 'Bradford') trees. "The flowers stink," you say. It's structure is weak. And it's an invasive pest, a real botanical outlaw. Poor thing. To go from ideal tree to trash tree in less than a century.

But it's stunning in spring...and autumn.