Wild Plum Blossoms.
The Wild Plums (Prunus Americana) are blooming.
As you scan the countryside here you see dark clumps of trees scattered about on the horizon. These are windbreaks, usually planted as part of a WPA program in the 1930's and 40's to halt soil erosion.
Usually, the first line of plants soldiered in the windbreak are the wild plum bushes. They have the unsavory job of being the first to bear the brunt of slowing and lifting the harsh north winds. After the plums, there is usually a line of junipers, then elms, or locusts, followed by pines.
Every spring these plums are blanketed with intensely fragrant white flowers. If the spring frosts and summer rains are timed right, they will be covered with small sweet-tart edible plums in the fall. These resilient thickets provide food and shelter for all kinds of birds, bees and rabbits. In August, as you drive down Road 12 you can see tire tracks where the neighbors have pulled far to the side, driving at a crawl, checking to see if they have blued up and are are ready to pick. Come September, the roads will be dotted with big coyote scats like plump scones; deep purple and full of plum pits.
Many years ago, Gary and Gail took a walk around the section when the plums were ripe, and on their way they picked a bag of them from the windbreak. On the other side on the section, as they walked toward home on Road 10, a neighbor driving by pulled over and stopped for a chat. They stood in the road visiting, eating their bag of plums, and tossing the pits in the borrow ditch.
Now there is a large stand of plum bushes there in that borrow ditch. Every year they flower. Some years they manage to bear fruit. But they always bear witness to that walk, and that cool, late summer evening.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 11:03AM
Reader Comments (3)
Ned... I so enjoy your site.. You have a true gift...you are a poet.......your pictures and words take me to where you all live and it is an extraordinary journey......to be able to share. Thank-you love susan
I don't think I have ever noticed the plum bushes! I thought the junipers were first. Love the story of Gary and Gail casually tossing the seeds of future trees into the ditch. Blued up? Nice term.
Since I'm eagerly awaiting a new post, I thought I'd go back and savor older ones.
Never thought I'd imagine the beauty of violet coyote scat.
But there it is, next to the talking plum bushes.
Thanks, Ned, for these windows.