It's Not Work, It's Gardening!: trees

Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts

Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts

Ash

>> Monday, June 25, 2018 – trees

There is a bit of a panic right now in Missouri, especially in parks and neighborhoods where ash trees were planted decades ago -- my own city and street included. The Emerald Ash Borer has arrived, and that means that our ash trees will soon be a memory only. I'm not too worried about our forests, as only about 7 percent of the trees in our about 15 million acres of forests will be affected, and I'm not even too concerned about my own garden.

You see, my single remaining ash tree is kind of a jerk.

What to do?

>> Wednesday, May 23, 2018 – damage, trees

I've got a problem. It's this hinoki cypress (fernspray cypress?) -- Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Filicoides'.

It was a perfect choice 10 or so years ago when the bamboo was tiny and this space was mostly empty. The flattened evergreen foliage on curving branches looked so great! Unfortunately, things have changed.

Don't be tempted: fruit trees

>> Monday, March 26, 2018 – fruit, Spring, trees

Is there any symbol of spring more powerful than a fruit tree in blossom? Is there any thought more appealing to the winter weary shopper than being able to walk out into your garden and pick a juicy, ripe fruit straight from the tree?

Combine the two and you have a very strong potential for impulse buy: fruit trees!

So early

>> Monday, February 27, 2017 – Spring, trees

When you have four days or more in a row of 65ºF (18ºC) temperatures in February, strange, potentially bad things start happening.

Trees wake up early. Very early. I noticed this magnolia when driving home from the bakery on Friday. Yes, that's Friday, February 24. Magnolia blooms.

Some Fall Color

>> Thursday, November 17, 2016 – autumn, bamboo, trees

Things are so busy right now, writing these blog posts gets a lower priority -- hence the skipped days. It's a bit disappointing as I've been so good with daily posts for so many years (then weekday posts), but it can't be helped.

That being said, here are a few things that have been catching my eye lately in the garden and around town. Starting with those fallen leaves and bamboo. What a great color combo!

Monday Miscellany

>> Monday, August 1, 2016 – foliage, panorama, project, trees

So many random things happen and fill up the phone storage, sometimes it's fun to just go back through and take a look at what I've forgotten to share.

Like this combo of trees in my stepson's yard. They're technically the neighbor's trees, but what a visual delight (taken in late June when it felt like early August already).

Bradford Pears: Spring Beauty and Bane

>> Tuesday, March 22, 2016 – damage, trees

One of the first trees to come into flower in the St. Louis area each spring is the Bradford Pear. These trees with their full canopies of white blossoms make any neighborhood more cheerful at this time of year.

If you take a drive around more wild areas of town though, cheerful is not what you'll be feeling.

A quick visit to Missouri Botanical Garden

>> Wednesday, March 2, 2016 – Spring, travel, trees, winter

Like many, our weekends are shifted one day to Sunday/Monday, and on Mondays we like to get out and do something different and fun. We didn't have a lot of time this past week but we decided to take a quick walk around Missouri Botanical Garden.

We visited in late March last year, so this may be the earliest I've ever been here. Some things never change regardless of the time of year you visit -- the Climatron will always draw your eye -- but as expected the planting beds look so different in late winter.

Winter trees: last chance?

>> Thursday, February 25, 2016 – trees, winter

I'm hoping this is my last winter trees post for this season, as surely spring is just a week or two away, right?

A need to stretch my legs let me discover these wonderful trees at a rest area somewhere between Springfield (Illinois) and St. Louis. Mainly sycamores, which are probably the best trees to see around here in the sunlight against a blue late winter sky.

Winter wilds, and reminiscing

>> Tuesday, February 23, 2016 – travel, trees, winter

Last weekend I was visiting my mother in the Chicago area again. Although I didn't take photos of the trip this time, I did take a hike into the nearby "Forest Preserve". Some pretty scenes on this balmy day (high of about 60ºF/15ºC), and I got to reminisce a bit too.

The power lines are always interesting, always crackling. This is the view of them before I got into the park, just a block or so away from my childhood home.

Grey

>> Monday, February 15, 2016 – trees, winter

A weekend of bitter cold gives way to warmer temperatures, bringing us a foggy morning and a taste of Spring later this week.

For now though grey wins the day, and Spring feels so very far away.

Winter, in black and white

>> Tuesday, February 2, 2016 – trees, winter

The stark beauty of Winter is often overlooked, as the clearest, prettiest days are usually the coldest.

Today I've decided to post a few photos that I've taken recently, but in black and white. The removal of color variations lets you focus on the structure, and of course winter structure to me means trees.

Winter Trees are Art

>> Monday, February 1, 2016 – trees, winter

On Friday we took advantage of a sunny afternoon and spent a couple of hours at the St. Louis Art Museum. Before we had even gotten inside I saw art...

...not in the outdoor sculptures, but in the birch trees. Winter trees really speak to me!

Random tidbits from the phone

>> Wednesday, November 4, 2015 – birds, cats, trees, vines

I was looking through the photos on my phone this morning and realized that I had quite a few things that were worth mentioning but didn't warrant a post by themselves. So they piled up.

Lumped all together though, there's some interesting stuff here. For instance, this photo of a small tree planting ringed by pavers at my mother's neighbor's house. Not really interesting in itself (and not very attractive in my opinion), but...

Snake! Wait, snake? (and other questions)

>> Wednesday, October 21, 2015 – trees

I noticed something momentarily exciting yesterday:

What certainly must be a snake climbing high up in my pine tree! I haven't seen a snake in the garden for a few years, and they're one of the things that I've been trying to attract -- any reptiles really. So this sighting was exciting!

Phantom Forest

>> Friday, August 28, 2015 – travel, trees

As you probably know about me already, I love Nature. Although it doesn't happen every weekend, my wife and I regularly take trips to some park, conservation area, or other place of Nature. (Besides my own backyard that is.)

Although Missouri has many state parks, it has many more "Conservation Areas". Conservation Areas are to State Parks what National Monuments are to National Parks -- they're usually not as big, have fewer amenities, but can be just as impressive. This past weekend we visited for the first time a couple of the closest Conservation Areas to our house.

More early Spring at MBG

>> Wednesday, March 25, 2015 – blooms, Spring, trees

Yesterday I showed you some cactus eye-candy and the amazing crocus field at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I had never visited at this time of year before, so there were surprises.

It happened to be the last day of the Orchid Show, so we took a quick look around. I was drawn to some of the blooms for sure, but only took a few photos (didn't have the right camera with me). If you want to see more orchid blooms I visited specifically for the Orchid Show a couple of years ago.

Rockwoods Reservation

>> Wednesday, March 11, 2015 – discovery, lichen, moss, travel, trees, winter

We seem to have rather abruptly transitioned into spring here in the St. Louis area, and last weekend my wife and I decided to go for a hike -- but where? We knew that Queeny Park would be packed, as would the nearby bike trail, so we had to think a bit. Castlewood? We've been there many times. Shaw Nature Reserve? Same there -- have visited quite often. What about Rockwoods? Neither of us has ever been there, so it was decided!

Rockwoods Reservation is an 1880-acre conservation area on the western edge of the St. Louis metro area. We decided to take the long way there, driving down 44 until we hit 109 -- that stretch of Interstate 44 is really quite beautiful at almost any time of year -- and about 30 minutes later we reached the conservation area.

They get big

>> Tuesday, January 13, 2015 – trees

On my recent trip to Chicago, to my childhood home, I was in awe of the trees. This happens every time I visit this place, where the trees that grew up with me have become towering giants.

It was too cold on this day (single digits F) to venture out with my camera, so I was limited to what I could see from the windows. But that was enough to impress me.

Waking up

>> Tuesday, May 6, 2014 – bald cypress, trees

The garden is finally to the point where everything is waking up, and the ones that aren't stirring, well, they most likely are not coming back. My favorite tree (of those in my garden) is one of those that are slow to wake, but finally has started showing that yes, spring really is here.

I think this bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) has been in the ground for six years now (maybe seven), and for the first few years my wife and I were really worried that it had died each winter -- until we learned that it doesn't start showing green until well after everything else in the yard.

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