What's that blooming tree?

Trees and shrubs are blooming everywhere, making people wonder "what are those flowering trees/shrubs I'm seeing?" Color is everywhere and spring is here.

The trees covered with white blooms lining west College Parkway in Carson City are ornamental pears, probably Bradford or Callery. Their snow-covered appearance makes them obvious at this time of year throughout Northern Nevada. Fruiting apple and pear trees also have white blooms, but apple blossoms are usually tinged with pink. Purple leaf plums are widespread with their pink blossoms. Crabapples are showing colors from white to deep red. Peach, nectarine and cherry trees are all in bloom.

Forsythia is a spring shrub that always generates interest because of the intense yellow of its flowers. People can't help but notice a bright yellow bush that looks as if it is on fire. It is one of the earliest flowering plants, a harbinger of spring. Quince is another early blooming shrub with its coral to deep rose-colored flowers that come out before the leaves. Another shrub currently flowering is the sand cherry showing off pink buds similar to its full-grown cousins, the cherry tree and the flowering plum.

Siberian elms are blooming now, but are more difficult to spot because the flowers are chartreuse green. Soon the seeds will be flying through the air, filling the gutters and littering the ground with brown papery pods. Cottonwoods and willows are flowering, but since the flowers are not brightly colored, you may not notice them until the cottony seeds rain down. Maples are also in bloom, but less obviously so than many colorful bloomers.

Out on the wild hillsides you may notice a shrub blooming with pink flowers. This is the desert peach, a member of the rose family. Although the actual leaves and structure of the shrub can be a bit scraggly, when it flowers, it is beautiful. It is blooming in colors that range from light to deep pink. It has thorns and pinkish gray bark. It will develop a fuzzy fruit less than an inch in size with an inedible pulp. This shrub can grow to 6 feet or so in height.

Of course, there are many other delightful spring bloomers and soon lilacs will be in full array, with not only their showy blossoms but also their lovely scent. This is the time of year that delights gardeners.

For information, contact me, 775-887-2252 or skellyj@unce.unr.edu, your local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office or at www.unce.unr.edu. "Ask a Master Gardener" at mastergardeners@unce.unr.edu

- JoAnne Skelly is the Carson City/Storey County Extension educator for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.