Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Big Leaf, Big Flower, Big Scent

I was afraid Mopsy, my big-leaf magnolia, would flower while I was away in Southern California. It had produced a big, but still green bud before we left, but fortunately, the weather here was cool and cloudy, and when we returned, the bud had turned white, but still hadn't opened.

Big white bud


But, with our recent warm, sunny weather, it opened last week.

It was really kind of magnificent.

Such a yummy scent!


I wonder if crab spiders have as much of a sense of smell as the bees they lie in wait for. A really tiny crab spider was living in the bloom, hoping for a meal or two. Maybe he got a wasp instead of a sweet little bee.


Mopsy still looks like a mop, but now she has a flower in her hair.

And it was right at eye and nose level. How wonderful is that? Once the tree starts to thrive and takes off, it'll start producing those flowers way up out of reach. So I'm happy about this one, thank you very much.