Local flowering trees can rival Japan’s sakura

I couldn’t help but comment on Gideon Lasco’s article “Let our native flowers bloom” (3/28/19). He’s always been a thought-provoking read, and this one also got my imagination going and brought me back in time.

One summer, about a decade ago, my family and I were on our way to Manila from Legazpi City and I was actually searching and counting flowering fire trees along the Maharlika Highway. These trees in full bloom truly can take one’s breath away, so I imagined what a sight it would have been if that entire highway was lined with fire trees. I have seen Japan’s cherry blossoms, and I will bet that a hundred kilometers of them fire trees abloom will be more than a worthy rival!

In March last year, I chanced upon the day my narra tree (yes, almost like I own it, having planted the tree in the summer of 2003) in the front yard of our office shedding the mass of its full bloom, like a shower of yellow falling upon us as the breeze gently shook the branches that were also heavy and thick with leaves of green. Under the tree and immediate surroundings, the ground and the driveway were yellow with fallen flowers, almost blanketing them entirely! I was all at once mesmerized and awestruck by such unusual beauty, and in that moment felt like I was in a different place and time.

March just ended, but maybe I’ll have to wait another year for another chance to see such a rare sight. My narra tree flowered as usual, but not in one great burst and shower of yellow like that morning the year before.

Yes, Mr. Lasco, these flowering trees “largely go unnoticed,” as you say, but we can be sure there are many like myself who not only notice our flowering trees, but also wish and wait and keep looking for more.

FERMIN PETEZA, [email protected]