Flower for the Day Sweetbay Magnolia 6-15-26

This gorgeous blossom is from the sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) bwhich has flourished by our garage for over fifty years. It is a deciduous tree which can grow to 100 feet. The flowers are creamy white with multiple petal-like tepals. A tepal is an outer part of the blossom (the perianth) when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals which in magnolias is because they are undifferentiated or very similar in appearance. The flowers have a very strong vanilla scent.  Here is an unrelated poem. If Adam Picked The Apple There would be a parade, a celebration, a holiday to commemorate the day he sought enlightenment. We would not speak of temptation by the devil, rather, we would laud Adam's curiosity, his desire for adventure and knowing. We would feast on apple-inspired fare: tortes, chutneys, pancakes, pies. There would be plays and songs reenacting his courage. But it was Eve who grew bored, weary of her captivity in Eden. And a woman's desire for freedom is rarely a cause for celebration. Danielle Coffyn