Fabulous Friday Philadelphia Snowfall

This morning we awoke to a beautiful snowfall which has given us about four inches in the last four hours (it’s 8am EST now). We took a quick walk to enjoy the boot-crunching-goodness of first-thing-in-the-morning snow. With little wind, the trees are well-coated; snow always accentuates the lovely shapes of trees. Today's top image is of the butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) over the driveway, an excellent tree and true friend, naturally photogenic in snow.

Just about everything looks good in snow, including our wood fence (built by The Fence Authority of Chester County, Pennsylvania). We’re thankful for our cedar fence (this is its first winter) which allows our husky Blackfoot to enjoy the yard as a good dog should. As you can see, the garden is also segmented, to keep our over-zealous husky out of the vegetables.

Now that it’s lighter outside I plan to go visit the local woods with my camera. More images to follow!

(Blackfoot's Washington buddy The Quilting Doberman posted some righteous pictures of the beautiful snow in the Cascades this January).

Warm Winter Sunset

Yesterday’s unseasonably warm sunrise was matched by the evening's delicious, colorful sunset. I’m not sure if it was the stormy weather, the eclipse, or my mood, but at yesterday's sunset the sky was positively glowing! My camera does not remotely do justice to the golden pink of the clouds and deep blue of the sky.

Blog Update: Arboreality is now listed at the Nature Blog Network. Be sure to check it out for listings of other great nature blogs!

Warm Winter Sunrise

It’s a warm, humid morning in Philadelphia (60 degrees Fahrenheit and rising). I’ve only been in Chester County, Pennsylvania for three winters, but each one has included some strange, unseasonably warm days often sandwiched between freezing days and big snows. Today the prediction is for rain and possibly thunder; by the speed of those low, lavender clouds – I suspect that we’re in for a wild new moon (accompanied by an equally electric solar eclipse). Time to plant!

Winter Woodshed

This winter we built a woodshed under the pine trees at our cottage in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Our design includes two segments of 8 feet square each: one for wood, and the other for the splitter.

When practical, we like to find opportunities to cut trees and split our own firewood from the rounds. This year we purchased our wood from the local Bradley Tree Experts as usual, and now we have someplace dry to keep it (rather than tarping the wood on the driveway).

The great thing about using wood heat for your home is that it warms you several times over. You warm yourself up stoking the fire. You warm yourself up every time you haul in a load of wood. You warm yourself up sawing, rolling, loading, unloading, splitting, hauling, and stacking wood. Managing the fire is part of how I keep active in the winter with the garden sleeping under snow.

Inside the fire is cozy, and with the cost of oil these days it’s actually a more affordable way to heat the home.

Outside, my guess is that the squirrels have all put down payments on the prime real estate, and are having an excellent weekend moving in to the coziest corners of the shed. I’ve already discovered walnuts in the stack!

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?)

The Last of the Autumn Color

These images were taken at the beginning of November, when our autumn color was reaching its peak. We’ve had a long, beautiful color show this season, and Thanksgiving’s cold, wind, and now rain has managed to remove all but the last of the leaves.

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.

November Forest

October was kind to Philadelphia this year. We enjoyed late summer heat, which means that I was still harvesting red tomatoes until just a few weeks ago. It also means that many trees are still holding their leaves in swaths of pink and gold – great news for us tree lovers!

And there’s more good news for us tree lovers:

First, the Festival of the Trees came twice this month, courtesy of Salix Tree at WindyWillow. Go forth to enjoy the Trees of Halloween – if you dare! Then take a leisurely stroll through the Trees and Fruit of Autumn. Delicious.

Second, forest biologist Nalini Nadkarni is putting the finishing touches on her most recent book, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees, due out in Spring 2008 from the University of California Press. I have had the honor of working as her assistant in preparing this book, and I am very excited to share more with you in coming months.

For now - enjoy the pictures!

Trees and Pumpkins

Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, the colors of autumn are in full swing. We are having a warm October, which means my garden is still ripening red tomatoes, and the pumpkins have their second wind: new flowers and fruits appear every day.

We’ve pulled about 30+ pumpkins off our plants this season. Early in September we began decorating around the farm with pumpkins: under trees, on doorsteps, atop and beneath fenceposts, and leaning against sheds. Our hope is that a handful of seeds survive the mid-winter raid by the squirrels, providing us with another year of pumpkins for next season.

These two are beneath the Eastern white pine next to the house – I’ll let you know next spring whether they manage to resprout!

The Light Through the Trees at Sunrise

Tomatoes with Trees

These tomatoes were planted by my neighbor and are hanging on the Black walnut tree downfield from the cottage. He seems a little disappointed in their performance, but I assured him that they look great regardless.

Personally, I think he’s skimping on the water - these plants aren't close to the houses, so they don't receive as much attention. Has anyone else had experience growing tomatoes from hanging buckets? It’s always seemed like such a great space saver, but I have yet to try it myself!

Northeaster Paints the Forests White

Yesterday brought us one hell of a storm in Philadelphia which continues to bellow this afternoon with wind, thunder, and lightning. Classified as a Northeaster (or “Nor’easter” as they say), this storm brings cold air from the northeast, and is a typical winter system in these parts. Power outages have been persistent. The rain has been awesome!

Our spring Nor’easter managed to paint the world white overnight, and saturate the earth with the waters that make this area one of the most fertile, non-irrigated farming regions in the world. This morning all the fields are covered in about 3-5 inches of free standing snow, water, and ice. When we pulled an aluminum stake out of the ground, the soil actually made a pop-sucking sound, and water flowed out!

As you can see in some of these images, the reason that the trunks shine so white is because anything with a surface was painted white from the direction of the prevailing wind. Here at the farm, that appears to be West-Northwest. (I believe this is the result of the rotation of this weather system). Don't you just love the blush of red blossoms and green sprouts on the tree branches and rose canes?

Considering what the rain, snow, and ice did to my daily trail (what looks like a river in the above image), I can only imagine what some of the flooding is like around the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Today everything is wet, squishy, and cold, and absolutely beautiful. I’m glad we got to see one more snow – Pennsylvania is absolutely at her best when dressed in snow.

For those of you who have lived in both evergreen and deciduous forests, have you noticed how the hardwoods' voices have a deeper, lower rumble in the wind (especially in winter), while the softwoods' voices have more clatter and roar in the windstorms? Tropical forests have different voices too - it's a wider, longer sound with an echo to it (if that makes any sense whatsoever).

Walking Stick in the Garden

Corylus avellana 'Contorta', also known as "Harry Lauder's walking stick" or Corkscrew Hazel, from my friend's garden here at the farm. Picture taken March 9th (before I got sick). I'll try and give you an update soon to see what happens when the buds open!

Fresh Snow in Philadelphia

The farm and its surrounding forests are donning a fresh blanket of snow today. Right now, we just have a dusting that allows the gold of dead grasses and blush of red rosecanes shine through in the snow. We may get up to three inches, but I won’t be holding my breath. ;) Don't you just love the way snow highlights every curve on those trees?

Full Moon Sunrise

Frozen

Last Wednesday I watched the sun rise and the moon set over the frozen fields. Our ground froze completely for the first time last Tuesday night after several nights of semi-frozen earth. The world was so frosted that it looked as though it had snowed (and I certainly hope that it will in coming days).

Most of the trees have finally released the last of their leaves, with a few exceptions, and the evergreens are taking center stage. Tomorrow I’ll show you how great those evergreens look in morning sunlight!

Autumn Afternoon

The autumn is getting ahead of me. So many beautiful trees turning their leaves combined with my recent excursions have left me with a serious arboreal backlog (no pun intended). I am not want for material in our tree blogging!

For now, how about a little peek at things in my neck of the woods from this afternoon?

The top image is our Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) of the family Magnoliaceae. Also called the Tulip Poplar and the Tuliptree, this tree calls out during any season, and demands to be noticed. It grows big, fast, and beautiful.

Our second image is the sassafras, of course! Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) of the family Lauraceae, is among my favorites here on the East Coast. I love how the colors are as variable as the leaf-lobes.

I just can’t decide what I want to share next! Any requests?

Rain on Pin Cherries

As I mentioned last week, I have loads to share with you as the trees prepare for their big show!

For now, enjoy this shot of pin cherries from last Friday during some of that beautiful, gorgeous, delicious rain we had.

More Mulberry Mysteries

I think that I am more confused now than when I started! The more time and effort I spend trying to identify and differentiate the mulberry trees, the more discombobulated I become! At this point I am not confident as to which mulberry is which, and whether there is any difference between them at all!

I am relatively confident that we are at least dealing with either red, black, or hybrid mulberries. Apart from that, I cannot say anything with any great certainty. However, my reading indicates that misidentification among mulberries is common, so I suppose that makes me feel a little better!

Whatever species it might be, this mulberry tree grows down field near the old silo. All the berries are now gone (these images are from June). The deer really like this tree, and usually take about 10-20 minutes under it in the mornings and the evenings.

After spooking the ones which you can (sort of) see in second image, I crept up and took my turn under the tree. Looking out from that shady, peaceful spot, I think I can see why they like it so much!

I have not given up my attempts to identify these trees, but the prospects are not promising. I am open to any suggestions you might have to offer on the subject! Next up will be another mulberry tree growing near by with some slightly different features!

Sunrise at the Farm

More on mulberries soon folks!