Snowy Chester County

The farm where we rent our cottage is nestled in Chester County, just outside of Philadelphia. For the last few days we’ve had a beautiful little snow dusting and crispy, cold temperatures. Our snowfall accumulated roughly two inches, and officially brought winter to our neck of Pennsylvania.

Yesterday’s sunrise illuminated the many oak trees which have not yet released their leaves. This phenomenon, called “leaf marcescence,” is common among oaks (Quercus), beeches (Fagus), and a few other deciduous trees. (Remember you can click on pictures to enlarge). I hope to take a drive up toward Phoenixville some time this winter so I can bring you pictures at Arboreality – there are beautiful swaths of forests (and lovely planted sycamores in town), and the blush of the young beech trees is always a warming sight in the cold of winter.

Of course, I can’t resist an excuse to share another picture of the stone silo. As an artist, I am perpetually inspired by the intermixing of farm, forest, and fauna here at my Pennsylvania home. This stone silo is one of a handful of remnants of the original farming days which once defined Chester County and the greater Brandywine Valley region. The third image is one of my favorite romantic staples in these parts: the elegant, imposing Black walnut (Juglans nigra).

Today, much of this land is being converted to suburban housing. Fortunately, the local culture allows room for a genuine interest in conservation, as demonstrated by the Open Space Preservation Department of Chester County. Last winter I had the pleasure of interviewing the Director, Mr. Bill Gladden. Check out the interview here at Arboreality, and stop by the Open Space Preservation Department website to learn more about local efforts to retain forest and farmland in the area.

Coming up at Arboreality: Christmas trees, winter planting, and green holidays.

Looking to bring a few more trees to your blog? The Festival of the Trees is a monthly blog carnival featuring trees and forests from around the blogosphere. Stop by the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn how you can contribute your tree posts, or volunteer to host the festival right at your own blogging home! (An April volunteer is needed! April means Arbor Day for many in the US... what better time to host the Festival of the Trees?)

Raining Walnuts and Butternuts

Currently our days and nights are complimented by the harmonies of late season crickets and falling nuts. The Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) and Butternuts (Juglans cinerea) began losing their gold-turning leaves in September, and as they shed the last of them with their fruits, the beauty of their skeleton shines through for the cold seasons.

Nuts tend to fall in groups – probably when a squirrel runs by shaking a few loose – and land with a soft thud on the earth (or a clatter when they hit trucks and rooftops). Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a nut-picker for the season… perhaps next year!

Spring is Coming!

The breeze is warm tonight at sunset. This black walnut will be one of the last trees to put out leaves this spring, followed by the butternut.

I have a great collection of images to share with you this week showing the first signs of swelling buds on trees and flowering plants. I'm also going to do something about that header - thanks for your patience while Arboreality enjoys a little maintenance.

Half full

The moon is just past half full, and the vernal equinox is a mere two weeks away! I can't wait to learn what these trees look like with their leaves on.

Tomorrow, I'll have some fun things to share with you from my explorations this evening among the hedges.

Perspective

One thing I find that makes my tree photography more fun and interesting, is to offer you images of trees from unique perspectives. When I explore trees, I crouch down to see their roots, tip-toe to peek at their branches, and lean in to examine their bark. In my photography, I attempt to share my exploration of trees with you through my eyes (and my camera's, of course).

Yesterday I realized that one perspective I have not been able to enjoy or share is what it looks like to be up in a tree looking down. It’s something that few of us ever see ourselves, unless we are truly avid arborealists in the more general sense of the word. I’m not a professional tree climber, although I know some folks who are. I promise that whenever I finally get my chance to scale the trees, I’ll be certain to get some images to share with you from above.

Incidentally, these images were taken of another unknown tree located along the driveway. This one is adjacent to my neighbor’s home, and like so many of the trees around here, is too large to enjoy in just one shot. These are but a few glimpses of its grandeur. More to follow!

The silo and her trees

I’m not certain just why I love this silo so much. When I finally get out my watercolors, pencils, and charcoals, I think that the silo and her tree-neighbors will be among my first subjects.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Chasing the Sunrise

This morning we awoke to a dusting of snow flurries, and a clear crisp sunrise heralded by none other than Venus, the morning star herself.

I dashed out with my camera to try and get a few images for you while the rising sunlight still shone pink and gold on the trees. It's wonderful to watch the changing contrasts as the sun first touches the upper most branches, and works its way down the trunks.

Wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to dip your paintbrush in the sunlight, and paint with sunrise-pink?

New Friends

There are many beautiful trees around me, and this is among my favorites. I have no idea who she is, or what the half-rotted fruits are beneath her, but she is so elegant, and casts such a lovely morning shadow in the sunrise, that it’s hard not to be smitten!

My best guess is that she's a type of chestnut - or a very, very big crab apple. As the seasons change (and I find my tree-identification books) I’ll be able to tell you more about her. But for now, just enjoy the show!

Trees and stone

Around the property where I now live are numerous stone ruins from the remnants of barns, sheds, cottages, and in this image, a silo. Add the many over-growing trees sprouted around them and you have a painter’s paradise, a tribute to romantics everywhere.

This week I’ll be exploring the grounds a bit more, and bringing you images which show some of the beauty in the skeletons of the trees adorning these ruins as only winter shows them to us. They bear burrs and burls, cones and conks, with plenty of mystery and allure.

Exploring

Howdy! Today I thought I’d share a couple more images that I took the other day of the area surrounding my cottage. I’m located on what’s left of a farm (the surrounding acres were sold for development). In the center of the development there are me and two other cottages along with remnants of old barns, homes, silos and whatnot, along with woods and thickets as you see in these two images.

Obviously, we have a lot of fun ahead of us just exploring the yard and connecting pastures! For the most part, I have no idea what kinds of trees I’m looking at, but I’m eager to learn! The tree in the foreground of the first image has dropped some kind of fruit during the last season. The thickets, which we will also explore, seem laced with what I can only guess to be wild roses (given their amazingly painful thorns and tiny red rosehips).

The other wonderful benefit is the wildlife, of which there is much! We have deer living in here, and a multitude of beautiful, brilliant birds, some of which are a bright red! We heard a screech owl announce our arrival the first few nights (at least, I sure hope it was a screech owl), and there are more than enough fat grey squirrels to go around! We also have coyotes, which like to howl when the reactor alarm test sounds, and I’m waiting to see the raccoons. Don’t they have raccoons out here?

Finally, is anyone out there adept in the art of scat-identification? I need to get myself a book I think… I know what deer poop looks like (and evidently, my husky loves the stuff), but there are these much larger poops that I just haven’t seen before! Might we have bears in our midst?

There were always bears rumored around Seabeck, but sadly I never saw any live ones passing through. I’d always hoped that they’d found a nice, lush hold-up somewhere, but now that we’ve moved out, I hope they’ll feel welcome at our place. :)