Have you noticed that flowers in the spring don’t just gradually open? They BURST forth, and I have been trying to figure out why.
We have two plum trees in our front yard. They were really planted too close together, but we didn’t plant them, so we don’t worry about that. In fact, we only really think about the plum trees a couple times a year. One time is in August when the fruit ripens and Andrew hauls in bags and bags of them (which we usually throw out, because I am too lazy to make plum jelly – although last year I did actually buy jelly jars and pectin to do so, but then the plums just kind of fizzled out; probably as a result of the snow we had after they bloomed last April), and the other is in April when I carefully (12 times so far) try to discern exactly when they bloom and why.
See, yesterday, they were not blooming. They had little nubs that looked like they might bloom in a week or so, but no evidence of anything white and flowery. Today half of the smaller tree is in bloom, and a few white blossoms have popped out on the larger tree. My guess is that if the trees don’t turn brilliantly snow-white by late this afternoon, they will by tomorrow.
Now how can this be? I have given much thought to the matter, and I think I have it figured out. My hypothesis is that it’s all hydraulics. Somewhere in the trunk of the tree is a solenoid that controls the flow of power to the branches. On a certain warm night in early April, a mother opossum, with nine young clinging to her back and/or hanging off her tail, climbs the plum tree in order to get a birds’ eye view of the nearby highway and initiate the eruption of some tasty plum blossoms.
The weight of the possum family on the branch is transferred to the trunk, causing a shift differential which generates an electric current of some eight volts; thereby opening the solenoid which releases the fluid pressure that has been steadily building up within the trunk. As this pressure rushes at 40 mph through the plum tree’s limbs, it thrusts the blossoms forcefully out of the stems with a soft “plop-plopping” sound. The pace is akin to popping popcorn, but the sound is more muffled. In forty-seven seconds flat, the entire tree is loaded with brilliant white, extremely pungent blooms.
The possum family feasts till dawn, but considering the huge numbers of flowers, makes an imperceptible dent in the supply. We humans awaken the next morning to a visual feast and wonder how on earth the plum tree(s) managed to burst into bloom overnight.
I am fully convinced that God simply holds the fully-formed flowers (folded flat for easy storage) in each twiglet until the possums arrive. Then, once the switch is tripped, BOOM: flowers appear.
It’s really all just hydraulics.
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