Festival of the Trees 21 Orchards and Fruits Edition Now Online at Orchards Forever

This month’s Festival of the Trees 21 is a special fruit and orchard edition hosted by Peg at Orchards Forever. You’ll be sure to enjoy this delicious selection of unique and tasty blog posts. Peg’s thoughtful edition of the Festival of the Trees is well worth the read. Fortunately for us, today’s Festival begins on a Sunday. Enjoy a lazy stroll through the orchards!

To volunteer to host a future festival, and to submit blog posts to future festivals, visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

Freezing Rain in the Trees

Now, I realize that freezing rain is downright dangerous for driving… but it is SO GORGEOUS when it paints every needle and twig with icy crystals! Pictured here is a Pin Cherry (Prunus pennsylvatica), and an Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus), two of my dearest Pennsylvania friends. [Again, remember you can always click pictures to enlarge for a better view].

The Festival of the Trees 18 is Sprouting at Riverside Rambles

Larry Ayers of Riverside Rambles has spared no small effort in composing this month’s Festival of the Trees 18 - November Arborea. Watch it grow! There’s plenty to play with already online, and Larry is composing (composting?) the rest as we speak.

The Festival of the Trees is a monthly blog carnival featuring posts about trees and forests from blogs across the Internet. Check out the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn how to share your own submissions, or volunteer to host a future festival at your blog!

Autumn Rains

The Philadelphia area is being blessed with rains this week, and the Farmer’s Almanac suggests that we may have snow in our near future. Certainly the deer are aware of the coming cold: they’ve all donned their grey winter coats.

With the late summer, Philadelphia is still seeing lots of color in the trees. In fact, Jesse Milton of the Trees News blog has observed some excellent autumn color in Atlanta, Georgia. Soon Pennsylvania will be grey and brown all over, with small patches of pink and orange where the young beech trees still hold their leaves (a process called leaf marcescence – some oaks and other trees do this too).

Today’s images include two staples of the local winter bird diet: pin cherries (Prunus pennsylvatica), and multiflora rose hips (Rosa multiflora). As the cold sets in, these tiny fruits will be stripped from every branch by a variety of small birds. These small birds constitute much of our passing winter color (unfortunately birds, unlike trees, can fly away from my camera).

Until then, enjoy the show – Pin cherry trees are one of my Pennsylvania favorites.

Green Summer Pin Cherries

Anita Marie Moscoso recently commented that pumpkin plants in summer remind her of the autumn that is soon to come. Being a fellow autumnophile (and all-around-pumpkin lover), I know precisely what she means.

These pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) are another echo of the future: when the tired summer finally breathes her last, these cherries will sing the autumn into splendor with the first bright colors of the season. Also called the Fire cherry or Bird cherry tree, these small, colorful trees are among my favorite early Pennsylvania discoveries.

Blossoms on Pin Cherry Trees

The buds are just about to open on this pin cherry tree (Prunus pensylvanica) outside my kitchen.

What's that? You want more pin cherries?

I can’t help it – I just adore the pin cherries! They brought some of the first glimpses of autumn color this season, and they continue to brighten my days.

Here I was this morning, trying to comb through the overload of pictures I have to share with you, and what did I do? I took my camera out for my morning walk, and came back with another 150 images to work with! Sheesh.

I couldn’t decide what to share from the morning, so I figured I’d just give you some pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) for a Friday smile. All the lovely rain from last night gave us a beautiful misty morning - perfect for a walk in the woods.

Remember my thoughts on the “Pennsylvania Red” from when I first moved here? Autumn only reaffirms the natural expression of red in this land.

More to follow!