The first flowering tree to produce blossoms in spring here, right after the yellow Forsythia bushes, and before the apple trees, seems to be the serviceberry. There are several different species of serviceberry in Ontario, and I’m not certain which one this is, but the Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is among the more common in our area. We have a couple of serviceberry trees not far from the house, set back in the first field. The larger of the two stands guard over the nestbox the bluebirds nested in last summer, almost but not quite nestled in its branches. I hadn’t paid too much attention to the tree last summer – being past its spring blooming it was unremarkable, bearing generic oval leaves and having a rather plain trunk – so its spring display took me by surprise. Its flowers remind me of thin, loose cherry or apple blossoms – perhaps not too surprising, since it’s in the same family, Rosaceae. My mom recently did a nice post about serviceberries with some further information about them – check it out here.
I was away this weekend, down to Toronto for a writers’ conference which was a lot of fun and also very informative. I opted to leave my computer at home as a break from the obsessive email-checking, so I missed getting any posts up while I was gone. I should be returning to my usual frequency now that I’m home again.
seabrookeleckie.com 
Here, too! They aren’t in bloom just yet, but am waiting patiently! The forsythia’s just bloomed in our area and the tamarack is making teeny tiny bursts of needles, barely noticable. Glad you enjoyed your writer’s conference. ~karen