IT'S HAPPENED AGAIN!

SURPRISES IN OUR GARDEN

Last year it was the tulip tree.  It was growing and thriving and produced these two weird looking 'blooms'.We hunted all over the web to try and identify the tree.  Then it sprang a surprise on us. The so-called blooms were actually buds and lo and behold each part of the bud snapped open to a beautiful tulip bloom, each flower head putting forth five or six 'tulips'.

This year it has been another small shrub or tree, about 6 foot high that has surprised us.  We kept watering it and feeding it for over a year, but it looked dry and dead and we almost pulled it out.  No buds, no leaves,  Then I suggested that we try putting the hose on it on low for a few hours.  (This was before the actual declaration of the drought.)  Eventually a few months later, leaves began to push forth, so we knew it wasn't dead.  But then those leaves shriveled up and died, but more leaves began to grow.  That was all we got last year.

Then about a month ago, with leaves now growing thicker we noticed spikes of black berry-like growths on the spikes.  We continued to faithfully feed it and water it while I tried to track down what this tree was.  Couldn't find anything like it on the web.  It was those darn berries that defied identification.

Suddenly one day Barry came in from the yard to tell me that the berries, now prolific all over the tree, were actually opening up into small red flower. 

Look how many there were about two weeks ago.

So now I took them apart to examine them more closely and continued to scour the web.  Couldn't find anything quite like it. Then a few days later Barry came back from the Garden Center to say that he had seen our tree there.  It was a

CREPE MYRTLE.

They are quite common really and come in all different colors.  Ours as you can see, is a beautiful rose red.

It is now almost fully in bloom and a great asset to our yard.  I'm SO glad we didn't pull it out last year.  I think this tree is going to be quite large and showy eventually.  Look how beautiful it is in its first year of blooming and many more blooms to open yet:

We still have one more tree that is a mystery to us.  It has done nothing in the 16 months we have lived here.  It has had leaves all that time, but no flowers or fruit.  Then last week it suddenly dropped all its leaves.  We thought that was the end and we would pull it out in a week or so...BUT we just discovered this week that there are new shoots, small branches and  a sprout on the end of each branch. So what is going to happen next, we wonder??

Our yard is full of surprises.