Arbutus Flower Oh So Sweet!

Arbutus flower Oh so sweet ...

You perfume the air, Oh what a treat!

Arbutus flower, you have scent divine!

I wish you blossomed each and every time!

Arbutus blossoms do not happen every year. The Arbutus tree makes its blossoms in the spring depending on the heat of the previous summer.

If a drought happens, then the tree will blossom to create berries in the fall to ensure the survival of the species. But if there is adequate rain during the summer then there will be few or hardly any blossoms at all.

And in severe drought, then it may not have the energy to make blossoms in the spring...

Sometimes it will be only one Arbutis tree in ten that will make those yummy blossoms.

And in a good year, all the trees will blossom. This is usually quite rare but has changed recently with the more radical summer weather on the coast.

But when they produce on all the trees, it is spectacular to see the gorgeous white flower blossoms in full bloom.

And oh the scent! Like a subtle lilac wafting through the breezes, filling the air and the houses everywhere!

And this spring will be a spectacular one because of last summer's drought. You can see the early buds in mid March and they cover the trees.

Soon soon they will open and release that delicious perfume that will last a couple of months!

And then new leaves will appear underneath the blossoms allowing the old ones to fall off in July making way for the blossoms to turn into berries in the fall.

And do the deer and birds love those! The birds will swarm a tree, knocking down the berries that the deer feast upon underneath.

Cycles. The Arbutus tree has so many distinct ones. The tree, the bark, the leaves, the flowers, the berries...always something changing to delight the senses.

I love the spring time here. I always marvel to see what trees will blossom and how sweet the air will refresh!

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