What was blooming then?

Last summer Wendy of Persimmon Pond Plants had several handsome lime trees. The dwarf lime trees looked more like small bushes than trees, and had beautiful waxy leaves with "lime green" color. Wendy told us that she and her husband got some seeds when they were down in Puerto Rico, which they grew into several trees taking up space in their green house. It was time for Wendy to let some of the lime trees go, and Dan and I were one of those lucky ones who got to adopt one. We wondered if we could use the leaves in Thai cooking, and Wendy told us that's what she does when she cooks Thai. 

We placed the lime tree  in the front porch, and brought it inside the house when the weather got cold. One January day, I found a tiny white bud at the tip of the branch. It was so small  it looked like a cooked white rice grain. I patiently waited several days and then finally saw the flower! The entire tree had only one flower. How precious! I couldn't wait for the flower to turn into a fruit and reveal us the shape and flavor of the lime.

After few hours from taking the photo, Dan and I took out the Christmas tree which was sitting by the window drying up. When we were all done and cleaned up the millions needles that the tree shed, I found that the lime flower was gone. The tree knocked the flower off when we carried it out. I felt like the lady crying over the spilt milk.

The flower will come back as long as we keep taking care of the tree.  So we wait.