I love it when the tulip poplars bloom!!!  Isn't this great?   The trees are covered in these beautiful orange and green flowers.

 

Liriodendron tulipifera, botanically.  Common names include tulip tree, yellow poplar, tulip poplar.  If you work with wood, you've probably seen it for sale as yellow  wood or yellow poplar.  
 

Our neighborhood is full of Tulip poplars.  Lots down on the trail. They grow tall and straight, not branching until very tall, making them excellent for straight grain timber, and ships' masts.  Normally, they grow to be 100 feet tall, with a 40 foot crown.  Great shade trees.  We park under one at the Walmart in Blairsville.  It's near the gas station, at the outside edge of the parking lot.  

Orange blooms on a huge tree are easily spotted at 45 mph.  I can't miss them.  (You probably don't want to ride with me driving in the spring, cause I'm all about the trees, and everything else in bloom.)  Tulip trees have distinctive leaves too.  They are the only tree with 4 lobed leaves.  Even the leaves look like tulips.  
 

When you're out walking and see orange petals on the ground, look up.  You may be in the presence of a fabulous tree.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!