Back in the Land of Evergreens (and Alders)

Greetings from the Emerald City! I am settling in to the Pacific Northwest after enjoying a most excellent roadtrip from Philadelphia to Seattle. I will resume blogging in June with a post frequency of 1 – 2 times per week on each blog: AppleJade, Arboreality, and Brainripples.

At Arboreality we will be exploring the woods of Western Washington and other localities within reasonable driving distance.

At AppleJade we will be discussing healthy, happy lifestyle through attitude, gardening, cooking, and simple, green living.

At Brainripples we will be sharing methods of creative exploration, successful approaches to working independently, and unique perspectives from featured artists.

You will also find me blogging at the Pennwriters Area 6 HQ, a new blog created as a resource for writers living in and around southeastern Pennsylvania. I will be blogging with other Pennwriters about local news, events, information, and of course – writers!

If you are a writer in the Puget Sound Area (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Kitsap Peninsula, Bellingham) and would like to join my newly forming Pennwriters Seattle Critique Groups, please contact me for more information.

Finally, I look forward to sharing thoughts and of course images of local forests from the Cascades and the Olympics. I will also be enjoying the opportunity to garden in two different locations, which means plenty of veggies, herbs, and flowers to share with you.

PS - Today's image is of the trunks of Red Alder trees nestled in the Kitsap forests.

Arboreality Returns in June

I am returning to Seattle this May, and Arboreality will be on vacation until June 1, 2008 while I pack and travel.

Arboreality extends a gracious thank you to Mike of 10,000 Birds for volunteering to host the Festival of the Trees next month on such short notice. Be sure to send in your submissions this April featuring trees, forests, and wood.

Once I am settled in Seattle I’ll be able to share images from my return trip across the US. We’ll return to the evergreen forests of my home-state with a fresh pair of eyes. Until then, enjoy the blooming spring or the glorious autumn (depending upon your location), and feel free to reminisce through the Pennsylvania hardwoods when we explored the Poconos, and my dear home right here at the farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

See you in June!

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.

The Festival of the Trees 20 online at Ginkgo Dreams

The Festival of the Trees 20 is online at Ginkgo Dreams courtesy of this month’s host Kelly Schmitt Youngberg. Kelly has prepared a truly unique collection, and her festival has a graceful, meditative quality – much like the ginkgo tree. This collection is not to be missed – so off you go, into the woods!

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

Festival of the Trees 19 is Online at Hoarded Ordinaries

The Festival of the Trees 19 (our first FotT for 2008) is now online at Hoarded Ordinaries, courtesy of Lorianne. She shares a dense, rich forest of links, thoughts, and reflections. Starting us off with a look at trees of the past, Lorianne also presents “Picture perfect trees,” “Festive trees,” “Poetic trees,” and even “Mythic trees”!

If you’re still in a New Year’s haze, take a moment to see the trees for the forest, and explore the plethora of tree and forest blogging that Lorianne has collected like so many acorns to share with us at this month's festival.

To submit for next month’s festival, or to volunteer to host the Festival of the Trees at your blog, be sure to visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

Have a great, green 2008!

Festival of the Trees 13: Putting Down Roots is Now Online at Wrenaissance Reflections

The Festival of the Trees 13:Putting Down Roots is now online compliments of our host Wren at Wrenaissance Reflections. Thanks Wren for all your hard work – it’s a beautiful festival! Happy Birthday to the Festival of the Trees! You’re one year old! Wren starts us off with the following thought:

“Trees are inextricably linked to places, perhaps because it takes them so long to reach maturity and majesty. When we become very attached to a place, we liken ourselves to the trees, and say that we have put down roots.”

Today’s images are of a butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) growing next to my cottage. I’ve blogged about this tree before at Arboreality; this tree is one of my favorites at the farm, and as I slowly grow roots in my new home, it is becoming one of those familiar friends that quietly pattern themselves to our daily routines like coffee and sunrises. Hop over to Wrenaissance Reflections to see what other trees people relate to, and share your own!

If you would like to contribute to next month’s festival, direct your requests to Dave, bontasaurus [at] yahoo [dot] com, or Pablo, editor [at] roundrockjournal [dot] com. You can also use the Blog Carnival submission form – it’s fast and easy!

The Festival of the Trees is always looking for new hosts. If you would like to host an upcoming Festival of the Trees, please visit the Volunteer to Host page at the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog, or contact Pablo and Dave at the email addresses above.

Need a reminder when new festivals are published? Sign up for email notifications for the Festival of the Trees through Feedblitz.

Over the weekend we explored around the Susquehanna River, and I’ve returned with a handful of pictures to share. Hop over to Brainripples for a sneak peek with today’s Monday Morning Muse.

The Festival of the Trees 12 - Meditations

Greetings and welcome to the Festival of the Trees 12 - Meditations.

Many of us blog about trees or forests because of the personal connections we make with them in our day-to-day. Amid the bombastic cries in the media of “Go Green” and “Stop Global Warming,” it can be easy to overlook the power of our individual relationships with trees to help change the way we (as a species) interact with the Earth. When we blog about trees in our respective regions, we share a sort of ongoing, global meditation on the green and growing world.

Our cover image for Festival of the Trees 12: Meditations is “The Tree” from the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert. For those who are unfamiliar, tarot is a tool which uses systems of symbols, images, archetypes, and other “alphabets” on a deck of cards to explore a given topic.

Tarot decks usually contain a sequence of 22 “majors”: a common set of standard cards, each rather like characters in a story. The Tree (Joanna’s version of The Hanged Man) is card number 12 in the tarot.

For our Festival of the Trees 12, I encourage you to take a moment to mediate on The Tree from the Gaian Tarot. What do you see? As we wander today’s collection, consider our simple, personal connections with trees and forests outside of environmental politics, policies, and as-yet-unsolved problems.

Hanami – Cherry Tree Blossom Viewing

Hanami, meaning “flower viewing,” is a Japanese custom of viewing cherry blossoms. People come out in the springtime to enjoy a sort of floral meditation as the cherry tree blossoms (sakura) open around Japan (and many other regions in the northern hemisphere).

It’s not difficult to understand why the deceptively simple act of flower viewing can warrant holidays and festivals around the world: cherry tree blossoms are beautiful. Bloggers I found who shared their Hanami experiences this spring seemed no less enthusiastic, as evidenced by their inability to post “just a few” pictures of the blooms.

Jason Truesdell of Pursuing My Passions has a two part series featuring "Hanami in Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. Be sure to check out both Part 1 and Part 2. Nate and Ruth of Korea! Oh yah, you betchya share Spring in Korea: Yellow sand, beautiful flowers and high emotions.

In 1912, Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan gifted the city of Washington D.C., United States with 3,000 cherry trees as “a memorial of national friendship between the United States and Japan and a celebration of the continued close relationship between the people of the two countries.”

Ryan of Northfield Center, Ohio who writes the American Peak blog, visited Washington D.C. while in hiatus in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Back Yards Around the World

This month I wanted to take advantage of the world wide web to help connect us with different places around the world, and the trees that live there.

Candice Dillhoff of Leavenworth, Washington, USA lives in the Eastern Cascade Mountains of North America. At her Wee Cottage Art Studio blog she shares the sensational view of her home this spring. Pablo at Roundrock Journal is reporting some sort of Blackhaw blooming in the Missouri Ozarks, USA.

In the Eastern Ontario Highlands of Canada, Cate (Kerrdelune) of Beyond the Fields We Know shares New Leaves, and Sumac in Spring. History Mike of Toledo, Ohio, USA reflects On the Brilliance of Spring Colors. And Karen of Rurality reveals the secret life of roots in North Central Alabama, USA.

Trees and forests have marvelous powers of regeneration, and Silver Valley of Kellogg, Idaho, USA is experiencing its second chance. Silver Valley Girl shares one of her Silver Valley Stories with a promising ending. Meanwhile, back in the holler Cady May in Hartsville, Tennessee, USA shares Random Acts of Recovery of an Oak Tree.

GreenmanTim is still Walking the Berkshires (and Litchfield Hills) of the Housatonic Valley in northwest Connecticut, USA. If you haven’t read the good news elsewhere, be sure to visit GreenmanTim reporting on ElmWatch: Restoring the American Elm.

A genuine tree lover if there ever was one, Salix Tree of the Windy Willow blog from Ireland shares tree blossoms and Tinkerbelle’s Tree. Bitterroot of Bitterroot and Bergamot opens a window to Wisconsin, USA with Tree on a Cliff and Ephemeral beauty. And Claudia Lüthi of Lima, Peru blogging at though trees grow so high... shares the thousand aspects of trees for this month's Festival.

I'm an American, so I suppose it’s natural that I’ll find a lot of links in the US. However, I was fortunate this month to be found by several bloggers in Portugal, who demonstrate their country's true love of the arboreal.

At Dias com árvores, Manuela DL Ramos of Porto, Portugal reflects on trees with “Every breath you take.” And Pedro Nuno Teixeira Santos who writes A Sombra Verde from Covilhã, Serra da Estrela, Portugal, shares Sozinho (Viagens II) for this month’s festival. A Sombra Verde welcomes its readers with the following:

"A culture is no better than its woods" Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973).

You’ll notice that my list is still limited to just a few places around the world – if your region wasn’t mentioned, be sure to tell us about your local trees (and tree blog posts) in the comments below! (And of course, send your links in for next month's festival).

Art and Poetry

Originally I created the Brainripples blog to keep tree discussions separate from discussions on writing and art. Today I am enjoying an excuse to blend the two by sharing some of the artistic meditations I found online. Trees and artists go together like peanut butter and strawberry preserves!

Connie Tom of A Painting for You! posted A Walk Through the Woods IV. Ester Wilson of Daily Drawings has been especially inspired by trees lately. Be sure to explore each of her offerings: doodles and paint, moleskine trees, painting ideas, and her collaboration project with James of Oil Covered Hands.

Take A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania with Kathleen Connally to see The First Grass of Spring, and then stroll over to join Joe Felso of Ruminations as he ponders the Spring Crown.

At The Clarity of Night, Jason Evans stays true to his reputation for making his readers stop and reflect with his creative writing piece Rings, and his thoughts on the Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina).

Deborah Barlow of Slow Muse shares What is Unfolding ("Beginners" by Denise Levertov), and the eloquent Bernita Harris of An Innocent A-Blog helps inspire some mystery for the Festival with A Tree's Ghost.

Melanie of Pink Lemon Twist provides us with a unique incorporation of tree forms in art with her Hanami stole. I was intrigued not only by the delicate design so true to the cherry blossom form, but by the symbolism incorporated into the weave itself.

At Idle Minutes, Don West shares a Tree Study. In his comments, Don identifies the true root of the Art and Poetry segment of our Meditations: artists across media are inevitably inspired by trees, and it all starts with careful looking and patient listening.

Wit, Whimsy, and Whatnot

It was my goal to keep this month's festival light-hearted, and I’d like to finish up with a garden salad of musings and other meditations on trees and forests.

I must have been on a common wavelength with Maureen at Timothy’s Shop Talk who shared some meditations on trees with a helping hand from Hermann Hesse.

Vicky Sawyer Herrala writing TGAW has some disturbing evidence of hungry trees!

Jorge Daniel Neves writing Jardinando sem parar from Lisbon, Portugal shares the enthusiasm for the Festival de árvores sobre, árvores em cimento by providing a continuation of “trees in the concrete” theme of the Festival of the Trees 11 at Flatbush Gardener.

Karen Shanley, an Author Mom with Dogs, tells us all about her Old Friend, and Maggie at Maggieno's Journal paints images with words in One More for the Road, Day Two: Big Trees and Thursday in the Rain Forest. Meanwhile, Cady May is searching for patterns (again) back in the holler.

And if you need to turn your perspective on its head, try climbing up a tree and looking down on the world with Dobster at the Travel Blog. Dobster shares a climb with the Gloucester and Bi-centennial trees of Pemberton, Western Australia.

If you haven’t been following the treeblog, Ash has some seedling updates, and shows us the equally impressive Plane Tree of Hippocrates.

In the Land of Little Rain, Maureen Shaughnessy shares with us again the trees she has known and loved.

As you wander your corner of the world this weekend, be sure to take a moment to look up, listen for the wind, and meditate on those trees which you have known and loved.

* * *

Next month’s Festival of the Trees 13 will be hosted by Wren of Wrenaissance Reflections on July 1, 2007. Send submissions to treefest [at] wrenaissance [dot] com by June 29.

Want to be alerted of upcoming Festivals of the Trees? Visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog or click here to sign up for email notification with Feedblitz.

You can also visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn more about submissions, festivals past and present, and how to volunteer to host future issues of the Festival of the Trees at your blog.

Thank you to all of today’s contributors, and to Pablo and Dave for keeping the Festival of the Trees alive.

Special thanks to Joanna Powell Colbert for the use of her image The Tree from the Gaian Tarot for the cover image, and to Kirsten Annette Dillhoff for the use of her photography in today's Festival of the Trees.

Artists and authors retain their original copyrights for all images and blog posts included in today’s Festival of the Trees 12: Meditations.

Photo credits, top to bottom:

The Tree, © 2007 Joanna Powell Colbert

Rhododendron blossoms, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

White pine branch, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Birch canopy, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

Olympic Mountains, Seabeck, WA, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Banana Slug, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

Trilliums, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Lichens, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Mosses, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Mystery beech, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Larch, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Magnolia, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

* * *

For all the posts we've shared today, there were dozens more that I simply had to let go (for my sanity's sake). Remember to spread the word about tree blogs, submit to future Festivals of the Trees, and keep on blogging!

**06/04/07 editor's note: Thanks to all our readers today as I have updated the Festival of the Trees to include all the images planned for this issue. I appreciate your patience. Thanks again - JLB

Fesitval of the Trees 11 Now Online at Flatbush Gardener

The Festival of the Trees 11 “Trees in the Concrete” is now online courtesy of this month’s host, Xris of Flatbush Gardener. I guarantee you hours of blissful procrastination – Xris has a real garden full of links for you to explore.

Next month, the Festival of the Trees returns to Arboreality for its 12th edition. Send your submissions to jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com, or use the Blog Carnival submission tool. Submissions are due by May 29th.

For more information about the Festival of the Trees, or to learn how to become a host, visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

[Pictured above is just one of the many treasures I brought back from the Washington forests. More ahead!]

The Thinking Tree

Sylvia of Classical Bookworm (and Sister Earth) has graciously tagged Arboreality with the Thinking Blogger Award.

Thank you Sylvia! For those who enjoy Arboreality regularly, we also owe another debt of thanks to Sylvia for being the first to bring the Festival of the Trees to our neck of the woods!

I admit that I am a tad remiss (having been out sick), so please allow me to make up for it now by tagging five blogs with the Thinking Blogger Award that really make me think!


Anita Marie Moscoso, Owl Creek Bridge
I regularly enjoy Anita Marie's musings of the macabre at Owl Creek Bridge. Hop over, turn up the wick on the oil lamp, pull your blanket around your shoulders, and enjoy. Errr... perhaps you may want to leave the lights on!


Flea, One Good Thing
A good friend of mine sent me to this blog a couple years ago. Flea and I may not have much in common in our day-to-day, but she is one hell of a writer, and I am never disappointed when I visit her blog. Flea shares her thoughts, stories, family, writing, and more at One Good Thing.


Pablo, Roundrock Journal
I can't remember whether I first visited Roundrock Journal before or after I joined in the Festival of the Trees, but I do know that I always wish I had more time to stay and read. Pablo shares discoveries online from his neck of the Missouri woods.


Kerrdelune, Beyond the Fields We Know
It's funny, but I've found myself wandering Beyond the Fields We Know via many paths through the blogging woods. I inevitably lose myself in Cate's reflections on daily rituals, monthly moons, and the wonders outside her window.


Bloglily
It was her thoughts on writing and literature that first drew me in to Bloglily's musings, but I think it's her tone that brings me back. Bloglily shares her thoughts on literature, life, and all sorts of little projects.

Phew. Do you have any idea how hard it was to pick just five?!

What’s that you say? This post has nothing to do with trees or forests? Think again. If you want to stretch you brain just a fraction, take a moment and envision the ever-expanding branches of a stout, wide-crowned tree of “thinker blogs,” which is growing this very minute, rooted in our very own musings!

If you were tagged with the Thinking Blogger Award and you want to participate by tagging others, be sure to stop by The Thinking Blog (where this meme originated) for more info. Here are the easy rules:


1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative

silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

* * *

And if you didn't get enough new material here, check out the sidebars at Arboreality and Brainripples, and wander!

The Cleanest Line – Patagonia Blog

If you like the outdoor gear gurus at Patagonia as much as I do, you’re going to dig their new blog.

Check out “The Cleanest Line,” which, according to their front page, is a ‘Weblog for the employees, friends and customers of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia.’

At The Cleanest Line you’ll find news and information about current environmental issues, products and gear, and outdoor activities across the rainbow. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

PS - Just had to give you another picture of that beautiful Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) in bloom!

PPS - I'm updating some of last spring's posts with tags (labels), so those of you that use readers will see some of those push through - I hope you don't mind.

And for those of you who noticed that pesky Garlic mustard (Xris), I'll be sharing more later in the season about some of the invasive species that positively love my yard.

New Natural Lands Trust blog

If you’ve ever browsed the Conservation and Preservation blogs listed in Arboreality’s sidebar, you’ve likely ventured around the various Natural Lands Trust blogs that featured news from conservation efforts around my area.

The Natural Lands Trust has now created one, central blog featuring news from preserves around the area. Be sure to stop by to see what folks are doing for the trees, forests, and wildlife in my neck of the woods!

If you'd like to read more about what's going on in Southeast Pennsylvania, check out our previous discussion with Bill Gladden about Open Space Preservation in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Festival of the Trees: Reminder

There’s still plenty of time to send in your submissions for the upcoming Festival of the Trees 9, to be hosted by Kelly Schmitt Youngberg at Ginkgo Dreams.

Send your tree, forest, and wood related blog posts, be they silly, philosophical, scientific, or whimsical, to: kelly [at] ginkgodreams [dot] com

To learn more about the Festival of the Trees, or to enjoy some of the previous festivals, visit the Festival of the Trees Coordinating blog.

Also, if you would like to be a host for a future issue of the Festival of the Trees, be sure to visit the Volunteer to Host page at the Festival of the Trees Coordinating blog to learn more!

Nature Preserve Blogs

After sharing what I learned about the Open Space Preservation Department in Chester County, Pennsylvania, I heard from Oliver Bass, Senior Director of Development and Communications with Natural Lands Trust.

Natural Lands Trust manages numerous preserves around Pennsylvania, including Sadsbury Woods Preserve and Stroud Preserve of Chester County. Apparently, several of those preserves also maintain blogs with news and information! You can now find links to them both at the Natural Lands Trust blogs page, and in the Arboreality sidebar under Conservation and Preservation Blogs. Be sure to check them out!

What are your favorite green blogs? What blogs do you look to for news about the environment, trees and forests, conservation, land preservation, nature, and other earth news and information?

If you're still looking for blogs with environmental information, be sure to play around in the Arboreality sidebar - there's lots to explore in that little forest.

More on Christmas Trees

To continue our current discussions on Christmas trees, I thought I’d share a couple more things which have crossed my path:

First, Bill Gladden forwarded the following from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture weekly newsletter, Inside PDA:

***

"Did You Know?

PA ranks first in the nation with 2,000 Christmas tree farms and ranks 4th nationally in cut trees with 1.7 million and 4th in acres of production at 45,000. Christmas trees contribute $13.9 million to the state's economy."

***

And Trailhead has a discussion on more of the agricultural aspects of Christmas tree farming (including a not-to-be-missed video captured by Mr. T of the harvest in progress) in her post, O Fir Tree Dark. Check it out!

Also, remember that there is still time to submit your entries to the Festival of the Trees 7, to be hosted by Jeremy at The Voltage Gate. Submissions deadline is December 30, 2006. Send all submissions (including post title and URL) to Jeremy by email: thevoltagegate [at] gmail [dot] com. Be sure to put "Festival of the Trees" in the subject line.

Want to join in the fun? If you like trees, you may enjoy becoming a host for a future issue of the Festival of the Trees. To learn more, check out the Festival of the trees coordinating blog and the Volunteer to Host page.

Guest blog at Garden Rant: Christmas Trees

I have been invited back to guest blog again at Garden Rant and share some thoughts on Christmas trees.

You’ve read my thoughts from earlier this week on live Christmas tree planting, now you can see what I have to say about cut trees too in my article I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas.

Thank you again to Amy Stewart, Michele Owens, and Susan Harris for inviting me to share my thoughts with their readers. Rant on ladies!

What's ahead at Arboreality:

Yesterday I spent my afternoon exploring local preserves and interviewing Bill Gladden, Director of the Department of Open Space Preservation in Chester County. Next week I’ll be sharing what I learned, with plenty of pictures too!

Festival of the Trees 6 – Taking Root and Bearing Fruit

Welcome to the Festival of the Trees 6!

I have emerged from a dense forest of tree blogging to share some of my favorite discoveries. Would that I could have included them all! Thank you to Dave Bonta for his support in preparing this festival.

Blogging about trees and forests at Arboreality provides me with the unique opportunity to share my daily discoveries among the trees. When I started out, I intended to use Arboreality as a vehicle both to share information, and to help me improve my plant identification skills.

The true surprises for me actually come from reading other blogs about trees and plants. Has anyone else noticed how amazing it is to watch forests and gardens grow and change in unison across the world? I love seeing how a certain tree or flower will blossom in my neck of the woods, only to emerge a week later in another region. Even more fun is to see how dramatically different wildlands and gardens can look in different regions of the earth.

Over at Brainripples, reader Ester Wilson recently responded to a question about creativity with the following: “I’m sure that everything in the world has potential to pull out creativity within people. It may just depend on how much you’re willing to let it come out, how willing you are to be fascinated by the world.”

I hope that this month’s Festival of the Trees encourages you all to renew your willingness to be fascinated by the world, and to be touched by the trees.

[Photo above: Autumn Leaves, courtesy of Renata Vincoletto]

Turning Seasons

Many of us in the northern hemisphere have been enjoying the color show with the passage of Autumn, and it’s my pleasure to share some of the many signs of the seasons I found online in full color.

For the curious, Caroline at Earth Friendly Gardening shares with us the mysteries of how and why leaves turn color in the autumn. Petunia’s Gardener enjoys the benefits of the big leaf maple and the ornamental cherry trees in mulching.

Lené of Counting Petals is Giving Thanks, Pam of Nature Woman was awed by sparkling trees, surprise rainbows, and busy birds, and Mary Ellen at Poetry, Art, & the Fotoz of my life shares the many colors of Sacramento.

Amba at Ambivablog tells us about her maple tree as it awes them with its annual color show, while Roger at Words & Pictures shares his Sweet chestnut and Ginkgo, still full of life at the turn of the season.

With autumn coming to a close, KerrdeLune of Beyond the Fields We Know peers through the looking glass at seasons past. Petunia’s Gardener sees the first snows of the Pacific Northwest coat her late season apples. Sandra of here in Korea shares the annual wrapping of ornamentals in straw, to protect the trees through the coming winter, while Cindy at Woodsong shows us the Snow Bunting birds gracing the trees like fluffy ornaments. Speaking of tree ornamentation, Lorrianne of Hoarded Ordinaries gives us proof that deciduous trees can get into the Christmas spirit!

For those who are not quite as excited as I am for the autumn and winter, take a trip down under to see what Alice at A Growing Delight is enjoying in Australia, including her recent visit to a Canberra Nature Park at Gungahlin Hill.


UK National Tree Week

This month’s Festival of the Trees 6 coincides with the UK National Tree Week, established by the UK Tree Council in 1975. Vicky at Green Girls Global tells us about some of the celebrations and events of Nottingham in honor of National Tree Week.

Many of our UK bloggers share their activities celebrating trees for National Tree Week. Morgan shares her “ode to trees,” Deirdre shares her tree planting experience, and Ross at the SEO blog tells us how ANYONE online can help to support tree planting in the UK for National Tree week simply by registering with Litegreen.com.


Treemania in Urbania

In addition to celebrations like National Tree Week in the UK, the National Arbor Day in the US was first conceived by pioneers J. Sterling and Caroline Morton after their arrival in Nebraska. Their idea evolved into what is now a holiday celebrated at different dates in countries, states, and cities around the world.

Hanna of This Garden is Illegal tells us a little about her Tree City, USA, a program sponsored by the National Arbor Day foundation.

In Georgia, Jesse of Tree News spreads the good word about a city that has its priorities straight – and has spared no effort to preserve a huge, old Pecan tree in the face of urban development.

Even with our most valiant efforts and most noble intentions, some trees have to come down. Dave at Via Negativa tells us the history and conclusions of the Gilead trees near his father’s home.

And then, there are those trees that we might WANT to take down, but just can’t find the heart to remove. Before I moved from Washington to Pennsylvania, I had no concept of the invasive presence of the beautiful Norway maple. Body Soul and Spirit shares how torn we can be when trying to share space with these hearty trees when she advises us to just Say NO! to Norway Maples. Kasmira discusses a similar conflict when she shares what she thinks of Norway spruce.

[Photo above: Sumac Branch, courtesy of Maureen Shaughnessy]

Reflections and Meditations

At the heart of this month’s Festival of the Trees are the more subtle and inquisitive connections we make with trees.

Michelle at Living Stress-Free shares with us the tree-standing stances she’s learned, and a beautiful tree-meditation.

Bev at Burning Silo shares a exciting four part series exploring the coastal redwoods. You can enjoy Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four of the redwood series while slipping quietly into your own verdant reverie.

Many of us either owned or played in treehouses (ok, some of us probably still do), and Lois at Nina’s Treehouse shares a whimsical, poetic story about an old lemon tree, and the coming together of all ages in the shade of its fragrant branches.

Over at Ginkgo Dreams, Kelly brings us daily ginkgo-bites, and my favorites are always the Photo Wednesdays! Check out her latest, Ginkgos in Turin, Italy.

Mother Angel offers an early painting that wraps love, youth, and trees into a single, sensual image. Salix Tree is tickled with arborsculpture, and Marja-Leena Rathje shares the unique xylothek (wooden library).

Reaching deeper into the abstract, Crack Skull Bob shares his own interpretation of the dendritic form in his post A Tree is a Graph. Larry of Riverside Rambles shows us the Little Hyphal Trees of the amazing and important mychorriza.

[Photo above: Thuja plicata (Western red cedar), courtesy of Daniel Mosquin]

Explorations

Most of us enjoy the thrill of exploration and discovery in our local gardens and forests. Xris of Flatbush Gardener visited the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and returned with a plethora of pictures. GreenmanTim is Walking the Berkshires and finding all manner of new and strange trees of the Namibian desert.

Regular readers at Arboreality know that I love a good mystery tree, which is exactly what Pablo of the Roundrock Journal is puzzling in his neck of the Missouri woods. And here at Arboreality