As luck would have it, my Mayday tree opted to bloom one day after I had hoped it might. By yesterday afternoon, the entire canopy was filled with clusters of white blossoms and honeybees.
Mayday trees are first cousin
to chokecherry. I have both species in
my yard. The Mayday tree fills with blossoms
a week or two ahead of my chokecherry bushes.
While the blossoms of the Mayday are exceptionally fragrant, the fruit
of the tree is unpalatable to you and me.
The berries do serve as late summer provender for birds.
Each year, since the mid-1990s,
I have noted the date of my first bluebird sighting in early spring. Bluebirds are the surest harbinger of spring. In my mind the blooming Mayday occupies a similar
station. To me, the Mayday’s sweet
canopy of blossoms is the surest sign everything will renew in the north where
we live.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent a
few minutes standing under the Mayday tree; admiring the flowers and the
honeybees dancing handsomely among them.
The scent so sweet it must be
vital.
Mayday Tree and Sun
—Mitchell Hegman
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