Happy Hawthorn (and other things)

Our new hawthorn seems to be settling in nicely:

The bees like it too. These pictures are from a few weeks ago. Now the flowers are gone but the flower remnants (not sure what they're called - if this was a rose, they would be the rose hips) seem to attract squirrels. I wanted to snap a picture yesterday when we saw one hanging out on a tiny limb, but he was too fast for me.

A long, mild, wet spring has made our garden finally come alive. Plants that we'd given up on are in full bloom and plants that bloomed last year, like our clematis, are stronger than ever. I'm sure it will all look dried out and downtrodden come July, but at least it's pretty now.

We've been continuing to clear out the space in our backyard to about where we think our property line ends (we still haven't gotten it officially surveyed and it borders an empty lot). We kept the two strongest looking trees that must have grown from seeds/acorns. However, they're too close together to both live, so we're trying to decide which to keep (it would be too hard to dig one up in tact and move it, plus we don't really have another space for a new tree).

The nearest one is a tulip tree - we even found a flower to prove it:

Not sure what the second one is. The leaves have two different distinct patterns. Any guesses? I'd like to figure it out before deciding which one stays.

One more pretty picture to leave you with - another creature enjoying our yard:

(Never seen a blue one outside of special butterfly gardens!)