The Cherry Tree

The Cherry on Top

This is our cherry tree. I adore its twinkling white blossoms and its sweet delicious scent that envelopes the garden. When I sit in the family room it is perfectly framed by our windows at the back of the house. I can always tell that spring is in full swing when our cherry bursts forth into swaths of pink stamens and pearly white petals. And I know that summer has arrived when the fruits mature and adorn the tree in tiny, festive glowing beads of crimson.

But we have to cut it down.

Sad but true. This poor tree was simply never meant to be. It might have been a splendid specimen in its day but then someone chopped off all of its branches and left a stump behind. A small offshoot growing near the base, during our residency here, has sprouted eight feet. It produces plentiful fruit but they're small, immature and sour. Not inedible mind you, ok for jams or pies when accompanied by other fruits and lots of sugar. But it's sour unhealthy fruits are only a part of the problem. The one long spindly branch is growing at an angle, interfering with the deck space, and the stump is literally crumbling and rotting away before our very eyes.

I have never been able to capture it's mystical beauty in a way that fully encapsulates the tree because it's so grossly misshapen. Only a branch or blossom here and there. Even though it is rather unsightly as far as cherry trees go, I'm going to miss the routine I've built around its phases. Most of all, those sweet little florets that sway in the wind and call to me, telling me to sit, indulge, and that spring is here.

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Gardening!