I never knew what this was. Can anyone tell if it's a Clethra? Victor, you have some, don't you?
CLETHRA - Is this one?
Doesn't look like. Leaves are too plain. Clethra has veined and serrated leaves.
Thanks. I'll have to measure it this year, check bloom time, and take better pics. Maybe I'll get lucky. It is very sweet smelling, though!
It looks like cherry laurel to me, though a clearer shot of the flowers would help verify.
Ooooh, it does! I'll have to research cherry laurel some. It's actually a "wild" one - here-when-we-moved-in type of tree.
Thanks so much, old chap!
I'd say it is definitely in the Prunus group; the bark on the branch I can see looks right and those are cherry flowers. Knowing how big the plant is overall would help in the ID, too.
I assume Prunus laurocerasus when I hear cherry laurel. You didn't say if this plant is evergreen or not.
I don't know what is normally found in your part of MA, but if it's a native plant, then you might look up several like:
Prunus americana
Prunus maritima
Prunus pensylvanica
Prunus serotina
Prunus virginiana
Good wildlife plant, in all cases.
V.V. - thanks so much for the info. I'm leaning toward the Chokecherry (virginiana). We'll see come spring!
Is it evergreen, Sue?
No, is chokecherry?
No, but cherry laurel is - around here, anyway.
Well, I guess it's not cherry laurel then.
It is not Prunus maritima, as 100 jars of beach plum jelly came off these two trees. Patti
Looks like the choke cherry that I have everywhere in my yard, that I am replacing with viburnum. But I don't recall that really deep plum color in the branches at the time of flowering. But I would say it looks like Prunus virginiana to me, from what I remember of them. I have no pictures as it is almost invasive here. Patti
I'll see those jars of jelly, and raise you 25 viburnums you don't have yet. Those really sound good...
V.V. I may just have to send you some for all your very sage Vibs. Here is the full picture. We planted 3 tiny shrubs back in the 80's, but we also have some old native stands that we just finally liberated from the brush, which haven't produced much in years and where too hard to reach. I am still looking for a wild or nursery yellow fruiting one, called golden plums locally. The shads, Amelanchier canadensis, blooms first followed immediately by Prunus maritima, at which point we always drive around checking out the "good" stands in case ours are a bust. Then starting in mid Aug we watch them like a hawk so we can be picked them before the other plummer's or birds get them first. Patti
Well, Patti, I just have to get some toast for that with my coffee this morning. Those shots are simply stellar.
AND, let me be the first to say that I'll steal a straight line in a heart beat. Victor must be slow on the draw this morning.
So -- you're saying that if I have pipes burst or a toilet clog in August on Nantucket, that I'm, well........out of luck.
V.V. Well, one is always,... out of luck when it comes to getting a plumber on ACK in Aug, but I think it has more to do with when the fish are running not when the P.maritima are ripe. We are now blessed with finding one that will actually come to do repairs. He plays hockey with my DH or we would be, well....out of luck, too. Patti