March Blooms in the Arboretum

Spring doesn't officially begin until the vernal equinox, which is still about two weeks away. But the weather, the animals, and the plants have decided that, for us in Shreveport, the season has arrived in advance of its astronomical formalities. 

Glorious flowering from our Mexican plums (Prunus mexicana) this week.

 

At this time, the flowers have a powerful, distinct, and not altogether pleasant aroma.  Nature's a funny thing.

Here we have a post from March 2019 featuring the same delightful Mexican plum blossoms. And a post from this time last year showing our efforts to transplant some new Mexican plums. Leafing-out season will tell us if that was successful.

Elsewhere in the arboretum, you can find flowers of the paw paw (Asimina triloba). These are less-showy. You will need to go looking for these along the drainage channel that runs north to south through the arboretum.

The juxtaposition of these deep crimson-purple bells alongside the green bells is unforgettable.

We attempted some cross-pollination. Good luck, little tree.

See our post from last summer on planting new paw paw and a similar springtime post from 2022 that features paw paw flowers.