FLIMBY: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

This is another installment in our Flowers in My Back Yard series, devoted to everything that blooms.

Is there anything prettier this time of year than a fruit tree in full bloom?

The orchards of almond trees in the Capay and San Joaquin valleys kick off the show in February, soon followed throughout the Central Valley by apricots, plums and other stone fruit, the navel orange trees, apples, pears and cherries. Warm weather can speed things up, but spring rains, freezes or winds can play havoc with a tree's crop, knocking off or destroying blossoms before pollination.

Whether the blooming trees are in roadside orchards or in a home garden, they are a joyful site.

This series is focused on flowers, not about growing fruit, but it's good to know some things about fruit tree blossoms:

-- Flowers on deciduous fruit trees start forming as buds the previous late spring and summer. Whatever was going on with a tree last June and July can affect the size and vigor of the bloom. The summer of 2025 was a moderate one, so trees in the Sacramento area likely weren't as stressed as in 2024, which had a three-week extreme heat wave. Adequate water and fertilizer also are part of this summer-before scenario.

-- If the tree had a heavy fruit set the year before, it could be producing fewer blossoms this year, as a way to recover. Orange trees are famous for this alternate bearing cycle, but it also shows up in other fruit trees.