Welcome, Newcomer

A new little tree arrived this week and we finally got around to planting it - a 7-foot or so tall Japanese Snowbell, Styrax japonica. A friend of our botanist neighbor wanted to find it a home and even brought it to us for free - with all the trees that have come down around here lately, we never say no to a new tree.

So finally the hole was dug and the tree planted:

Here it is, with the as-yet-untouched mulch pile where our old tree once stood.

 If we are lucky and good caretakers, it can grow up to about 30 feet tall with a 10 to 25 foot spread.

Better yet, it will get white flowers like this on it:

It certainly won't take the place of our fallen oak or the 8 trees removed from the vacant lot, but a fragrant flowering (and free!) tree can't be a bad thing.