A startling sight greeted me this morning when I looked out the back porch: a crew had arrived to take down one of the 2 big Siberian Elms in our neighbor’s backyard. The other tree was going to receive a hard pruning.
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
Somehow, it’s almost the end of October. Yesterday Judy and I decided to walk through the neighborhood to inspect the state of fall foliage. Color continues to settle in, though tardily and somewhat unevenly.
TIMBER!!!
Did I mention that a giant branch broke off our Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) the day before I got home? I think I did. Judy was in the back garden at the time, inspecting our new grill, so it’s lucky she wasn’t hurt. She said it happened so fast there wouldn’t have been time to …
The Wind Whacks The Willow
Our neighbors across the street used to have a magnificent Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica) in their yard. Over the last few years, the tree has sustained storm damage several times. After our most recent storm, though, there really isn’t enough left to be worth saving.
Snowfall At Dusk
We had another snowfall last Saturday night, just a couple of inches. Judy ran out with her camera to capture the scene before the light faded.
Book Review: The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben
I loved this book. I would have to say it is the best book on the science of plants that I have ever read.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Plant Bradford Pear
Like you, I get a daily barrage of unwanted emails from, it seems, every website I have ever visited to make any kind of purchase. Approximately 99% of these missives get deleted unopened. Recently, I got an email newsletter from Angie’s List that was about to share the fate of all that had come before …
An Information Superhighway for Plants
So let me tell you about another website I just discovered that is of interest to the botanically-minded. It’s called Soils Matter, and it’s sponsored by the Soil Science Society of America. These are folks devoted to educating the public about the importance of sustainable soil practices. They also have a website, http://www.soils.org.
The Harder They Fall
Remember back in April, how the white flowers of our Serviceberries (Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance”) mingled with pink flowers of the neighbors’ Crabapple?
A Serious Toy for Tree Nerds
Global Tree Search is an online tool recently created by Botanic Gardens Conservation International with several partners, including Chicago’s own Morton Arboretum. It’s a sort of worldwide inventory of tree species and their original distribution. Here’s a link.
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