The fruitless mulberry is now covered in blossoms. They are strange little things. A stem about two inches long sporting fat little leaf-like extensions, at the end of each of which there is a small off-white flower no bigger than a gnat. The overall effect is of a pale green caterpillar with white spots. When they drop from the tree, they begin to turn brown. Soon, the ground will be covered with a thick carpet of them.
A few houses up the street is a small tree which has exploded into a mass of pale purple blossoms. They are a bit darker than Frank is when he is mauve. There used to be quite a few of these trees in the neighborhood, but all other than this one have been taken out. At first I wondered why people would remove such a lovely tree, but then I got close to one of them when it was in bloom. It turns out that bumble bees love them, and huge swarms of bees collect around the trees throughout their period of blossoming.
The honey bees are still noticeable by their absence, however. The cherry tree is now clothed in new leaves and its blossoms are rapidly fading, and I doubt that many of them were ever pollinated. A few of the other plants have attracted some bees, but not the cherry tree. I guess I'll be buying cherries this summer, instead of picking them.
