For the past five years, I have been enjoying the sight of butterflies covering every flower on this pink Mimosa in the early summer. I have also spent thousands of hours pulling up Mimosa seedlings from every inch of my yard. Despite this tree’s overly prolific reproduction plan, it breaks my heart to know that this will probably be its last year as a host to "living blossoms" as the butterflies flutter amongst the flowers.

While even the seedlings in the shadiest corners have leafed out and are looking fantastic, this faithful old tree struggles to put out even a few branches of green. At first glance, you don’t notice, though, because it is home to several hundred wild violets, which have been seeded by nature in an effort to clothe the bare tree.

You may be wondering how a gardener could have a tree in this shape, but the truth is it was damaged beyond repair when I moved in and I’ve been holding my breath each year in hopes that it would make it one more season. Careless lawn crews let their mowers gouge the trunk and someone butchered a pruning job.

I hope to see one more glorious pink summer and then this steadfast old tree will have to be cut down because it is hazardously rotten and the kids won’t stay off of it. (It is perfect for young climbers, with its low branches.) I can’t bear to get rid of it completely, so we’ll cut the trunk right below the "V" in the branches and put a picnic table top on it for a few more years. In the meantime, it is the scene of quite a bit of activity, as little birds nest in the birdhouse and woodpeckers damage the diseased limbs even further to dine on grubs and assorted insect life.