Fringe Tree

 

A couple of different looks at the Fringe Tree captured just at peak bloom.

Peony

As for me, one of the truest first signs of spring has to be when peonies begin to bloom. The one shown above was absolutely the first to shine in a whole garden devoted to them. I'm actually not sure I ever paid much attention to them, however, until I moved next door to a couple who grew them on a plot right next to my house so that I was able to watch them bloom all spring long as I hopped into my car each morning to go to work.  

Camellias

 

Live Oak

"The name live oak comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and 'live' throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant and leafless. The name is used mainly in North America, where evergreen oaks are widespread in warmer areas along the Atlantic coast from southeast Virginia to Florida, west along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana and Mexico, and across the southwest to California." -- Wikipedia