Long Awaited Blooming of the Dove Tree (Davidii Involucrata)

I love how my garden surprises me.  Almost every time I go into the yard, I make a new discovery.  This morning was no exception.  My beloved young dove tree (Davidii involucrata) has started blooming.

When I bought the small tree (really a twig, when I first bought it) in May 2011 (5 years ago), I was told it could take up to 10 years to bloom.  I've read 15 years from seed, and 20 years from seed.  From what I had seen of this wonderful tree, it would be worth the wait.  See this post of my Davidii tree when first planted.

Here it is today, under overcast skies :

And here is a closeup of one of the "doves", which is actually a cluster of flowers surrounded by two long creamy-white bracts (similar in structure to a dogwood flower) :

For some more background about this remarkable tree, which is described as a "rare tree in the nursery trade and the gardens of North America", read this post called "The Legend of the Dove Tree".

My discovery this morning almost overshadowed all the beautiful blooms out in the garden at this time of year, but I did pause to take a few photos of those also.

The apple blossoms are at their peak now, in early April.  The espalier in particular is noteworthy, as the restriction in its vertical growth translates to loads of flowers and eventually fruit :

On the non-blooming side, I am very pleased with these new geckos for my fence, which I bought from an artisan market in Costa Rica last month.  I sprayed them with several coats of acrylic sealer before taking them outside, since it would be a shame to lose those beautiful colours too soon :

When I hung those, it inspired me to revive this set which had been faded by years of being exposed to the weather.  I only had red and orange exterior paint, so I sprayed the top one for now.  I was too lazy to remove it, so had my son hold some paper behind it while I just sprayed it directly in place.  I'll need to get some green or blue paint, and maybe some black, to revive the other one.

Speaking of needing work, these poor frogs are always losing their eyes.  I've bought dollar store marbles a couple of times, and exterior glue, to give them sight again, but they keep falling out and disappearing into the yard.  They could use some re-painting also.

What a wonderful morning.  I didn't end up doing much work in the garden, but I sure have been more than rewarded for any work I have put in previously!