When we moved back to Washington from Saudi Arabia in 2016, we had to have our old dogwood removed and replaced with a young crape myrtle, which do well in our climate. Every year I had to tell the tree service to trim it so it would grow upward instead of sideways over our walkway and the sidewalk. This year all that training paid off, and it’s almost as tall as our second floor. It also went crazy blooming – I literally couldn’t believe what I saw from our bedroom window (although this shot was taken from the first floor).

Surprise visitor, posted earlier: