This Japanese Flowering Crabapple (Malus floribunda) is one of our very old neighbors. It’s not native, but it’s a welcome sight at any time of the year. Here, we see it on Wednesday (May 8), as it’s spring leaves are beginning to form a green crown.
Soon, that crown will become a profusion of pink and red buds that, by early summer, will have evolved into a shimmering white mass of flowers. In the fall and early winter, the tree’s yellow and red fruit will appear and drop, much to the satisfaction of our deer and other wildlife. In the winter snow, its arthritic architecture will be dramatically silhouetted, reminding us that there can be splendor in resilient old age. (Brooklin, Maine)