Daily Doodle # 15: Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossoms

“The bud is on the bough again,
The leaf is on the tree.”
— Charles Jeffreys, The Meeting of Spring and Summer

This year, for the first time, I noticed something about the blossoming cherry trees.  When the blossoms first appear, there are still no leaves on the trees!

Cherry tree at Green Lake

I discovered this when I contemplated painting cherry trees, and because I find it difficult to paint white things, I looked for green leaves to break up the massive sea of white.  But I looked in vain.  There were no leaves to be seen.  I thought that was odd, since I had never remarked upon the bareness of the trees once the blossoms fell.  I was determined to watch and see when the leaves would appear.

In the second week of bloom, I saw tiny tree leaves start to appear any the ends off the branches.  Over the next week, they leaves grew substantially.

I now see that when the cherry trees lose all their blossoms, they will be clothed in new green leaves.  Spring is rushing ahead.

Fallen cherry blossoms