Apple Roots and Blossoms

I was at Berkeley Horticulture today, buying a Mexican lime tree for our back yard (for margaritas in years to come). While I had the clerk's attention, I asked her why my three-year-old apple tree hadn't bore fruit yet. She told me it was still young. "A young tree expends its energy setting deep roots, not blossoms."I thought about my own young children (seven year old twins) and how much like apple saplings I hope they are -- digging deep roots and not expending energy on anything showy.Like most good things that bear fruit, it takes time, and deep roots.