Blooming Order

Its blossom time in the valley.

Your nose is going to run.

The trees along the road are in various stages of bloom.

In my front yard the bloom cycle is somewhat predictable. The first trees to bloom are the pluots. They are nearing the end of their cycle. The bees have hit them hard. Next come the peaches. They are a little more reluctant to be covered with masses of blossoms. The first week just a few pink blossoms show and before that just little hot pink tips show on a light white knob are evident.

We are now at the next stage. The peach trees are fully bloomed. Its a a little different show even in full bloom from the pluots. The pluots have blossoms that completely cover the the branches of the trees. The peaches on the other hand have just well positioned blossoms on the tips of the branches and down the arms in well separated spacing. The smell coming from these trees is as strong as they have ever been. The bees completely nailed the pluots when they came out. The peach trees seem to attract fewer bees. It may be that the bees were responded to the pluots because they were in the fields of the almond trees waiting for blossom days. Now that the almond blossoms are out, they bees are staying close to home and doing what they were intended to do... pollinate the almond trees.

During this time of the year, bee keepers from all over the United States bring in their hives and have contracts to commercially pollinate the huges fields of almonds around Merced, Modesto and Madera. They come from the Dakotas and further east. California has its own bee keepers but they cannot keep up with the demand required by so many nut farmers.

I saw the first signs of blossoms from the apricot tree in the backyard this morning. The apricots are the last in the string of stone fruit to bloom. The oranges will bloom around Easter. The pomegranate shrubs will bloom in June. The kumquat tree will bloom whenever it wants to..  

: ) Pat