Friday, April 11, 2014

Twilight in the Garden of Eden

I have a tree question. So if you're a botany enthusiast familiar with the North Texas region, listen up. Last night, while sitting with my husband on my newly installed bench swing, I watched dozens of black and orange moths swarm our backyard tree. There are actually three of this species of tree on our property. I see this tree EVERYWHERE in Dallas and I have no idea what it is.

It's in bloom right now. The tiny flower clusters start off smelling mildly sweet and then as more and more blooms open up, it smells more like urine. But the bugs and pollinators LOVE it. I took photos so that my amazing blog readers (that's you) might help me to identify this pee-scented tree. Ready, GO!





And here are some extreme close-ups of the bloom clusters. They're gorgeous, but oh my oh my, they make me sneeze. The yellow powdery centers are like pollen salt shakers. Every surface in my backyard and every car on the street is covered with its yellow pee-pee powder.





Also, I created a little graffiti yesterday on my new arbor with a Sharpie. I don't know what got into me. It was a perfectly good arbor, but I wanted to mark it and make it my own. I used to do the same thing on the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom - make little pencil marks to show that I was there. You can never go wrong with a little "Namaste". What do you think? If you hate it, don't worry - the Wisteria will grow over it soon enough.



3 comments:

C. Araxe said...

I think, it’s the Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana).

Connie said...

Don't know what your pee-tree is, but love the artwork on the arbor.

Sarah Greenman said...

Yes, Araxe - thank you! It is a Callery Pear. Also known here in Texas as a Bradford Pear. Thank you for putting me on the right track!