Oh LOOK! It's a dogwood tree!

During our travels, there were several things that would make me gasp. Tight squeezes between 18 wheelers while driving 60 mph on the interstate, someone pulling out in front of us - not realizing that approximately 10 tons of truck and trailer cannot stop on a dime, and last, but not least - a beautiful dogwood tree in bloom. Of course, these gasps were not terribly helpful to my husband as he drove and he never knew which was the cause - potential accident, close call or breathtaking beauty. I tried, I really did. I tried to be self-controlled to be a better helper for him with the tremendous task of getting us safely down the highways. There's just something about those early spring blooms in the midst of an otherwise drab forest backdrop!

My husband remembered my fondness for dogwoods and acquired one for my Valentine's gift. We've read that transplanting a dogwood is very tricky, so we hope that we can keep this one going.

Once again, the guys were hard at it with the shovels and a handy post hole digger:

One of these days, maybe we'll get the rare shot of me working on something ;)

Here we have it - nicely braced and freshly watered. Please, please grow strong and bless us with those beautiful blooms!

I've loved dogwood trees for as long as I can remember for their simple beauty alone. I remembered that some find symbology in the blossoms and found this summary online at flowerinfo.org (I like the last paragraph the best!):

Dogwood flowers have found their way into a good deal of legend, and have also long been touted for their many uses. One of the better known legends – which is still of unknown origin – states that the dogwood plant was once the size of an oak tree, and was considered one of the largest trees in Jerusalem. The bark of the dogwood was used as timber for crucifixions, and from one such cross Jesus was hanged. The trees, though, felt the pain of all that were hanged from them, so Jesus took pity on the poor plant and said, “Because of your regret for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross.” And so the tree shrank to the petite size that it is today. Another myth tells of a Native American princess who was killed by a jealous brave whom she had scorned. As she lay bleeding, she blotted her wounds with the petals of the dogwood flower. Because of this – according to the story – many of the blossoms carry trace amounts of red on their petals.

As for their variety of uses, early American settlers used slivers of the bark to clean small crevices of watches and lenses – they also used it to create tools such as hammers, knitting needles and even printer’s blocks. American Indians used the bark to fashion arrows, and the spring blossoms to predict the time to begin planting their crops.

In North America, dogwood flowers are considered an all encompassing religious symbol. These flowers are often given as gifts for holidays – especially Easter – as the four bracts can represent the four points of the cross; small indentations along the outer edge of the bracts represent the marks left by the nails; the spiky yellow and green flowers at center are related to the crown of thorns, and the fruit is indicative of the blood of Jesus. These flowers may also be given for a number of other symbols, such as sacrifice, regeneration, and enduring love.