I want to do to you what spring does with the cherry trees.
~ Pablo Neruda
Spring changes everything. Trees blossom to life, flowers push out of the cold, damp ground and animals get busy finding mates and making preparations for the next generation. Even our bodies seem more at ease after rigidly holding up our shoulders during the cold winter months.
We’re changed internally too. We feel lighter, and not just from shedding extra layers of clothes. We have more energy to clean the cobwebs out of the corners of our homes and minds; we’re eager to spend more time outdoors and cheerfully look forward to warmer days ahead. Spring is in the air and we’re transformed.
For many, love is also in the air. This week I’ve been working on a wedding invitation design for a friend who’s getting married later this summer. Along with a Celtic knot, the design incorporates a phrase chosen by him and his fiancée that speaks of the transformational effect of love…
Like spring, love awakens that which is lying dormant within us and beckons us to be transformed. There is a call to action and growth… a moving up and forward into the future while also giving us enjoyment in the present moment. This is what the tree buds and our winter-weary hearts have been waiting for. Ahh… spring!
We’re on the same track again. I took pics of apple blossoms this morning. (not posted til tonight). And aren’t we so glad of the transformational qualities of spring that open us up after the long hard winter?
And I took some photos of that same flowering shrub/tree and want to know please what it is?
Yes centria, spring’s effect is especially wonderful after all that snow and cold. I will check out the apple blossoms
Gerry, those are wild cherry blossoms. There are lots of them in bloom right now along the Salt Marsh Trail.
You know, I thought wild cherry, but when I looked it up, the images I found didn’t look like these so much. Your photo and my examples show longer, more oval petals. I tell ya, this plant identification business is more complicated than a person might think. Absorbing, though.
I called them wild cherry after seeing a photo online that looked identical to mine and was named as such. Woops! You can’t believe everything you read online!! Luckily I have some real books about trees… lots of them. So I decided to look deeper. Here’s what I found:
The plant is in the Rose Family (as is the Wild Cherry) and is a… Shadbush. It is also known as Wild Pear, Bilberry, Juneberry and Serviceberry. I found this information in my copy of Trees of Nova Scotia – A Guide to the Native and Exotic Species by Gary Saunders. Sure enough the petals are elongated.
I checked every single wild cherry tree I could find in another book of trees and every one of them had the rounded petals. So there you have it: Shadbush.
Lovely thoughts of spring! You should share the wedding invitation drawing when you get it done – I love Celtic things!
Amy, you clever minx! I could have rooted around for days to no purpose. Given the names I made progress and I agree you’ve solved the puzzle. There’s an effort to grow Serviceberries (a/k/a Saskatoons) commercially here in Michigan. Now I have to watch my little volunteer and give it a taste.
Thank you Cindy. Will post the invitation when it’s done and approved. There is quite an interest in Celtic things on Canada’s east coast, especially in Nova Scotia.
So glad this solved the puzzle Gerry. The Shadbush trees were all in bloom along the Salt Marsh Trail this morning, and seemed especially beautiful.
The Celtic Knot has been added to the post.
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