Viburnum opulus, one of few trees or shrubs blooming now. Still bright enough to snap photos 10.45 pm, days are long now.

Yeah, it's amazing how much light remains at 9:45 pm, and also where the light is -- just west of the northern horizon -- much further north than where the sun set.

I have a Chionanthus virginicus blooming.

And a Cornus kousa 'Satomi' blooming too.

Catalpa in neighbor's yard

Brandywine Viburnum

Cotinus obovatus

I have some summer bloomers that I need to go out and get pictures of. If only the rain would stop......... On the other hand, here are some flowers from my crown of thorns plant.

Hey, sam, are those your goldenrain trees? Just wondering since they are improperly mulched and look to have been butchered within the past year or two.

Another late flowering dogwood species: roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii )

Dang it! You beat me to the Stewartia. I saw white for the first time today, but not yet fully open. They remind me of a small peony flower. The one in your picture looks like a very healthy specimen.

Not a true honeysuckle, but honeysuckle-like flowers.

Arbordave, I have been looking for real life pictures of the roughleaf dogwood! Can you please show me pictures of it's form and tell me about it?

Photo of one of the larger roughleaf dogwoods in the same wooded area where I took the above photo yesterday. This species is quite similar to gray dogwood, but seems to have cleaner foliage (less leaf spot), and often a better fruit display IMO.

Thank you very much! I wonder how long it took to get that big? A local nursery has recommended that I plant three of them and I had never seen them in real life. Really helpful to see a picture!! These would be out in the open on top of a hill not in a wooded area.....

arbordave, thanks for the dogwood pics. There's more to dogwoods than just the standard Cornus florida. Kousa dogwoods can produce a tasty autumn fruit crop:

My crepe myrtles are starting to grow flower buds. Hopefully they will be in full bloom in about 3 weeks.

Red-osier dogwood blooms up close:

'Victoria' Southern magnolia:

Beng, Victoria is a very nice, hardy cultivar.

Here are my pics of some of mine from NJ.

First one is Little Gem, second one is Victoria. This is Edith Bogue below.

Majestic Beauty is huge but to high in canopy for a decent pic.

The sourwood is striking. My little shrub-size one is still a week away from blooming -- it has refused to become a tree after 10 yrs even in good sunlight.

They can tolerate alot of shade, but then very slow-growing.

I see sourwood blooming on the roadsides as well.

Never-ever heard of Bee Bee tree, sam. That's a big one, too, according to the descriptions as a small tree.

Hi Ben, the bee keepers are always after Bee Bee tree, the bees are all over the flowers. I was in Hancock yesterday looking for Kate's Mountain Clover, no luck :(

On the way home I passed a Tamarix in full bloom. It was really willowy & wispy. They are difficult to photograph. How about someone give us a pic of your Tamarix in full bloom, let's see what we come up with.

First flower on double-petaled rose of sharon (this is the one I made the pruning and planting article out of).

I can't name any other plant with such a contrasting appearance summer vs winter. It is thick and lush now but in winter just bare stems. I raised these plants from buckeyes that I collected.