Friday Fabulous "Flower" - Nanking Cherry

While most people are still driving home from work, the Phactor has walked home, poured himself a beverage, and is taking a walk around our gardens. Nothing helps you unwind more than discovering that some blasted beast has cropped the new shoots off one of your precious, ever so slow growing tree peonies! Oh, oh, don't let such things disturb your wa. New buds will grow. Instead look at the lovely things that are doing well. One of the first shrubs to flower each spring is our Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) and it presents a week of lacey elegance. In late June the crop of cherries isn't bad either although they are too juicy to do much with other than make jelly or just eat fresh provided the cardinals allow you a share. The shrub is decades old with a tough, hard dark bark and that's good because the bun-buns debarked all the young shrubs over the winter. So take that as a warning if you decide to plant one; without protection it becomes rabbit fodder.