The riotous fuchsia and pink of early May have faded and gone as has the purple lilac. The white spirea and mock orange and apple blossoms ditto. This week I saw only the Japanese tree lilac, which I managed to get a picture of. I knew it was a lilac because of the shape of its leaf, but it was not in my Trees of North America, so I had to find it on-line.

The other blossoms I saw were on two tall trees, one on Annette and the other on Davenport. I thought I remembered that the leaf was that of a catalpa (Northern Catalpa). I had long ago learned that on a nature walk in Rondeau Park. I stopped twice on my drive home to have a closer look at the two trees I had noted, but traffic and rain have so far prevented a picture.

The flowers are like tiny orchids with four petals and red stamens that stain the petals yellow and draw the eye into their heart. The leaves are about 4 inches across and smooth edged, plain as the palm of a hand and pointed. The trees are over 60 ft. high, I think. There are many beautiful pictures on-line, but none that are shareable here.

Once again they are an introduced species that not everyone cares for. The Ontario government calls catalpa ‘invasive’ and recommends that you plant a native species instead. Too late, too late, O bureaucrat! Because of someone’s ill-advised decision 50 year ago, I can have an exquisite moment just outside a traffic lane.