I will never admit that there are too many, but a consequence of an abundant number of trees in this thirty-seven year old garden is that some splendid flowers and foliage are not visible without peering far above into the tree canopy. I regret that lower limbs of stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) and Carolina Silverbell (Halesia carolina, below) are now too far above head to enjoy close up, though stewartia’s flowers fall intact the third week of June to cover the stone path.

I noticed this evening while looking down onto the garden from our upstairs bedroom window that the Carolina Silverbell is flowering. This distant view is the best vantage point for this splendid tree that is far too uncommon in gardens.

While flowers of most Japanese maples are easily overlooked, the Batwing maple (Acer pictum ‘Usugumo’, below) is flowering for the first time in its second spring in the garden. The clusters of small yellow flowers catch the eye as the leaves emerge.

Until significant surgery was required to remove dead branches of the Fernleaf Japanese maple (Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’, below), I was concerned that the wide spreading maple would interfere with the Batwing maple. Unfortunately, that’s no longer an issue, and hopefully the Fernleaf maple grows enough to hide the cuts that were necessary.

In any case, the Fernleaf maple is flowering, the largest and best flowers of the Japanese maples. Whatever its problem that caused so much dead wood, I suspect the decline is likely to continue. Oh well, an opening for another tree.