A Bouquet for May

The trees are offering up their own flowers for May in the form of beautiful bouquets.

Finally.

Spring---back on schedule

Spring of 2012; this picture is from last year's March 25. Spring was way ahead of schedule last year and alarmingly so. This year's tree have hardly a bud on them---a good indication that we may not have the horrible apple harvest we had last year with the incredibly horrible prices we had. I would like to see spring come soon, but, unlike previous years, I'm really glad that spring is back on its old schedule. I'll wait patiently for the spring.

Misty Threesome

Three trees seem to stand alone but the truth of the scene---more beauty than can be imagined is hidden by the mist.

Beaver Graffiti

Someone should really tell the beavers at the state park to go easier on the trees!

Tiny Plants

A bit of plant life living off a tree trunk glowed in the forest. Tiny, full of water bubbles, this plant sparkled with a brilliant sea foam green glow.

All You'll Ever Need is Here

Trees need not walk the earth

For beauty or for bread;

Beauty will come to them

Where they stand.

Here among the children of the sap

Is no pride of ancestry:

A birch may wear no less the morning

Than an oak.

Here are no heirlooms

Save those of loveliness,

In which each tree

Is kingly in its heritage of grace.

Here is but beauty’s wisdom

In which all trees are wise.

Trees need not walk the earth

For beauty or for bread;

Beauty will come to them

In the rainbow—

The sunlight—

And the lilac-haunted rain;

And bread will come to them

As beauty came:

In the rainbow—

In the sunlight—

In the rain.

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

by David Rosenthal

Reaching Roots

The roots of this tree are used to being in the water. But they are well prepared for dryer conditions too, together they stretch for the water in lean times such as this winter is turning out to be.

Sick Trees

I'm still researching what's happening to this tree that has black spots in the bark all over its trunk.

But the research has put a fright in me---apparently there are just as many things, if not more, that threaten our trees as threaten humans. And we humans help spread the pests and disease at an alarming rate; albeit unwittingly. Firewood for fireplaces and campfires should not be moved except under the utmost caution.

It would be nice to have a national alert system where people could go to see what kind of pests and disease are attacking in their area and what they can do to help.

Forest Way

The sun filtering down through the bare trees of November. The view is spectacular; don't you think?

Full of Holes

Now that the leaves are off the trees I have spotted once again one of the most interesting trees in the Indiana Dunes. It's a tree full of holes in rows.

The answer may be in another blog I follow or then again, it may not. The mystery continues but whether bird or insect or both are to blame, you would have to agree that this tree surely is a conversation piece?

Wounds of the Tree

Many trees lost limbs during a recent wind storm. This pine tree is oozing with sap. I made the mistake of touching the sticky stuff. Two hours later my fingers were still sticking together---maybe there's a stronger kind of Sticky Note there somewhere.  

Bundle of Burgundy

This time of year you can almost watch the leaves turn colors---gold, purple, red, burgundy...beautiful. 

October Flames

Cool temperatures have provided October landscapes with leaves of red---the top of the trees look as if they've been set afire.  

Dancing Among the Blossomed Trees

THE BIRDS their love-notes warble
Among the blossomed trees;
The flowers are sighing forth their sweets
To wooing honey-bees;
The glad brook o’er a pebbly floor
Goes dancing on its way,—
But not a thing is so like spring
As happy Alice Ray.


Alice Ray by Sarah Josepha Hale

Indiana Banana Blooming again

The Pawpaw, a tree native to Indiana, are in bloom. The lovely dark red flowers will turn into papaya shaped fruit that have a delicious taste somewhat like a banana creme pie.

Heavenly!

Catkins

These catkins are past the "kitty tail" stage that give catkins their name. They are beautiful, still, like decorations on a Christmas tree.

The Biggest Flowering Plants

Trees have some of the most beautiful flowers---this one reminds me of a bridal bouquet.

The Wind through the Willows

Little rain this year means that all the tree pollen is floating around in the air.

This willow out in the marsh is doing its share and is yellow with pollen. It was buzzing with early season bees.

Spring is in the Air

February, 51F, and trees decorated in red buds---hints of spring were all over yesterday during a hike in the marsh. And the birds!

But more about the birds in days to come...  

The Trail in Black and White

A seeming tangle of branches opens up into a glowing winter forest path of branch and shadow.