Damsel

We were watching the last rays of the setting sun in the courtyard this evening when I noticed that there was a flower open on our flowering plum tree. The open flower surprised me since the tree is completely denuded of leaves after the recent freezing weather (well a few nights, at least).

The mature plum tree is a replacement for the original tree the landscapers planted in 2011. The old tree snapped off at the trunk (it was a smaller tree) during a 2014 microburst that took out a lot of the natural vegetation that summer.

Soon, this tree will be growing it’s new spring leaves, but not before we prune off a few of the very low branches and suckers to encourage the tree to grow vertically and not into the walkway or the courtyard wall. Click on the image to enlarge.

We have had some relief from the sub-freezing temperatures over the past couple of weeks. The really cold temperatures may be behind us, as attested by flowers opening in the desert.

In recent days, my Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus) have begun to bloom in the courtyard. We have had these perennial flowers come up every January since we planted the bulbs shortly after moving here, about five years ago.

Any resemblance to daffodils is not a coincidence according to Wikipedia:

Narcissus papyraceus (from papyrus and aceus; meaning paper-like), one of a few species known as paperwhite, is a perennial bulbous plant native to the western Mediterranean region, from Greece to Portugal plus Morocco and Algeria. The species is considered naturalized in the Azores, Corsica, Texas, California and Louisiana. The white flowers are borne in bunches and are strongly fragrant. It is frequently grown as a house plant, often forced to flower at Christmas.

Paperwhites are part of the Narcissus genus which includes plants known as daffodils.

In addition to the places listed above where these are considered “naturalized,” I submit Arizona should be added to the list. Click on the image to enlarge.