Asiatic plum trees can be spiritual, especially when their exquisitely delicate flowers are blossoming. Which is now. Despite their English name, they’re apparently a special part of the apricot family. In Japan, they’re known as ume and public viewing of them there was popular long before viewing cherry blossoms, according to the literature.
To be sure, cherry blossoms are beautiful. But Asiatic plum blossoms are not only beautiful, they greet you eagerly with a mixed scent that can induce near-euphoria to people who have good-working noses connected to their minds. It’s a subtle and indescribable greeting, something like a mixture of undulating fragrances of peppered-sweetness, tangy-fruitiness and sexual scents.
Moreover, these trees are guardians, if you believe in feng shui. For centuries in China, Asiatic plum trees have been planted in the northeast corners of properties to defend against the misfortune and evil that tries to sneak in with the northeast winds. That might be something to think about here on the Maine coast. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on May 17, 2026.)