The First Day Of Spring!

Today is the first day of spring, and while back in Denver this day could be sunny and in the 70s or below freezing and covered in snow, here in Stuart, Florida it is usually always pretty nice. Up north the leaves on the trees start to appear and flowers begin to bloom, but here in Stuart, the spring brings "the vibrant golden yellow blooms of the Tabebuia trees," one of which can be seen at the entrance to Stuart's Memorial Park in the photograph on the left. These trees are all over town. My sister wanted to know what kind of tree they were, and to my surprise, there was an article on the internet about them.

Evidently a man named Edwin A. Menninger came to Stuart in 1923 to start the Stuart News (which still exists, by the way) and felt there should be more flowering trees in the area. Palm trees and Australian pines just didn't cut it for him. And so, he contacted people from all over the world and asked them to send seeds from their flowering trees, which they did. He in turn distributed them to people all over the area. His favorite was the Tabebuia tree, and through his efforts, they now bud and bloom here every spring, including the ones in the photo on the right taken along the banks of the Indian River at Riverside Park in Jensen Beach. And so now Susan - and you, too - know their origin. No thanks necessary.