Forest, Overcast

Here in the Pacific Northwest we enjoy many days with overcast skies. Cloudy, grey, and gorgeous, overcast days are my favorites second only to rainy days, or maybe snowy days.

I live just a hop across the Hood Canal, east of the Olympic Peninsula. Our local forests may not be quite as luscious as the Hoh Rainforest out near the Pacific Ocean, but we nonetheless enjoy the many benefits of hugging the Olympic foothills. We receive morning Hood Canal mist in summer, rogue snowstorms rolling off the mountains in winter, and righteous rainfalls throughout the seasons which transform all surfaces into a sort of omnitransversant riverscape.

Last week we had a lovely visit from a spring snowstorm which unloaded five inches of snow in five hours. If I hadn’t been so busy having fun and attending to the usual shoveling and wood prep, I would have grabbed some pictures to share.



Instead I offer these images from this evening’s overcast skies. Notice the Black cottonwood quietly leafing out in yellow-green (close-ups to follow). It’s been a bright day in western Washington – too bright for shade-lovers like me. I give thanks to the clouds that rolled in at sunset. Tonight’s clouds allow us to glimpse a cross-section of the local colors I cherish: silver-grey, chalk-white, black-evergreen, periwinkle, gold, dusty lavender and rose.


Our blushing flower guest today is Purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum), a member of the mint family which is introduced in this region. According to Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast (one of the best books ever), the name "dead-nettle" refers to its quality of not stinging like other nettles. I encourage Purple dead-nettle and Self-Heal (Prunella vulgaris), both members of the Lamiaceae family, to grow along pathways, driveways, and places where nothing else wants to grow.

I’d say it’s among favorite flowers, but then I’d be leaving out hundreds of others, many whose names I do not yet know (and some whom I probably have not yet met). This evening I invite you to carefully inspect the ground: look at sidewalk cracks, park paths, and “weeds” in the lawn. Take notice of the tiny flowers, some smaller than the nail on your pinky finger. These flowers serve an important purpose (more than one, I might argue), and if you listen quietly, you might hear it.

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Festival of the Trees updates:

The Festival of the Trees 46 is now online at Vanessa's Trees and Shrubs Blog on About.com. Enjoy her fruitful collection of trees both humorous and serious all month long.

Jasmine will host The Festival of the Trees 47 at the Nature’s Whispers blog in celebration of May Day.

• Deadline for submissions is April 28th.
• Participation is easy: blog about trees, send us the link, spread the word!
• Email submissions to: dream.lizard [at] googlemail [dot] com — or use The Festival of the Trees contact form at the coordinating blog.

Personal Encounters with the Pacific Rhododendron

Every chance I find, I wander into my backyard woods in Kitsap to reconnect with my many floral friends. The Pacific Rhododendron (also known as the Coast or Coastal Rhododendron) is one of my favorites.

Wild rhododendrons have many moods. In the spring Pacific Rhododendrons cautiously extend new leaves and fresh flowers, blossoming in May or June. The brightness of clear-cuts keep rhododendrons squat and bushy, but in the shade of the forest they reach long, elegant arms in search of light.

The late heat of the summer will cause the lowest leaves to droop and yellow in time for autumn rains. Finally, a steady, cold winter freeze will motivate the rhodies to pull their leaves low to the trunk as the snow slides off.

I struggled to choose which images to share today, and finally settled for three of the more personal, close encounters I captured on a recent walk. Here you see fresh, young leaves not yet dark and leathery, as well as the final throws of spring blossoms hiding under the shade of Red Cedars and Western Hemlocks.

Arboreality will be featuring more from the evergreen forests in coming months. We're going to take a meditative tack for a while.

Emergence Among the Trees

The forests are still sleeping in Eastern Pennsylvania, but these photos from Ridley Creek State Park last month show the quiet emergence of ferns and other flora. I couldn't resist sharing photos of Snowdrops and Winter Aconite from my own garden taken earlier in March. Coming up at Arboreality: the first signs of swelling tree buds.

Winter Reds

The Land of the Fae

(This is definitely a picture you want to click to enlarge.)

I Love Dandelions!

I grow dandelions in my gardens, with my vegetables and flowers, and in my cold frame. I don't care what you call them, I think they're beautiful (and delicious)!

Scilla Shows Signs of Spring

Scilla flowers (Scilla siberica), brought to my gardens from Europe by the owner’s mother many years ago.

Le Printemps est Arrivé!

Spring has definitely arrived, but I smell snow in the air this morning!

No No Zoto

Well, my photo hosting at Zoto is no more, so please bear with me – our forested header and icons will return shortly!

As you can see, Spring is not far off here outside Philadelphia!

Friday Daisies

Those who know me know that daisies and dandelions and flowers of their ilk are among my favorites.

This purple beauty is new to me – I discovered it in the open flower fields at Longwood Gardens, and identified it this week via the blog Beyond the Fields We Know as the Michelmas daisy or Purple aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii or Aster novi-belgii).

Over at Pollen Nation, the Daily Flower for September 27th is the dandelion. Hop over to learn more about this beautiful, sunny wonder!

Flowers in the Wind

Busy today... more tomorrow from Longwood Gardens, including flowers like those seen here from the fields.

In the mean time, if you're looking for something interesting about forests, hop over to Caroline's blog Earth Friendly Gardening for her latest post about a new report on the "value" of in-tact forests.

Where to begin?

I have so many amazing things to share from the trees that just I couldn’t decide where to start this morning.

Enjoy the flowers for now, more to follow soon!

More on wildflowers

I just had to share more of the flowers. The purple ones are still unidentified, although Jenn gave us some great suggestions yesterday, and also revealed the identity of the yellow flowers for us. I thought some pictures showing the leaves of the other two might help us in our quest for identification.

UPDATE: Jenn was right on track with the family for the white flowers. I found their identity from the website of the same horticulturalist (Bob Zuberbuhler) who helped us with the lesser celandines. The white flowers are Horse-nettle, and they are indeed making these crazy little green "tomatoes." I'll get a picture of those for you soon! Still stumped on the purple ones... the flowers look thistle-y, but the leaves just don't match!

The blue flower you see next to the house is sort of a kindred spirit of mine. There are a few different morning glories growing around here – white ones, pink-and-white striped ones, and these blue ones. The blue ones are only open in the mornings, and on overcast days. As soon as that sun breaks loose, they curl up into these whithered-looking purple clumps, and it looks like they aren’t even there!

Now, I know that the sun does some very important things for the Earth and her inhabitants, but I really think I could live in a place where it was permanently cloudy, grey, and rainy, and be perfectly happy.

And yes – those “weeds” comprise my “flower bed.” Hey – I like the local flora! Besides, you have no idea how educational it has been to just let the birds and the wind determine what’s growing next to my house. Virtually all these little herbaceous plants are new to me, and even if I start to plant bulbs and other flowers this autumn, I intend to allow the natives to persist right along with them. Oh yes - and I must go pirate some of that bee balm soon!

Coming up: emergent fungus, butterflies and caterpillars, and the stockpile of the red squirrel (or, the ballad of the Red Headed Stranger).

Mystery flowers strike again!

Next week we have not one but two different mulberries to explore. What is their true identity? Ha! We may never know; but explore them we shall.

Today, I just could not resist sharing this unique, beautiful flower which sprang up almost over night in my little flower bed. I have not clue as to what this is, and I cannot find it growing anywhere else.

It appears to have emerged from a towering mass of white morning glories (yes, I know that they are “weeds” and I have them happily growing along with my carefully cultivated dandelions, thank you!).

You can see how it’s opened up over the last few days in these three shots. Each successive layer adds another uni-petal to the spindle of flowerets. I believe that those palmate-looking leaves are what belongs to this plant, but I am completely at a loss as to its identity.

I’ve got to get me an herbaceous identification book to compliment my tree identification books! Suggestions and theories are all welcome. Have a great weekend everyone! Hug a tree. :)

Update: Mystery solved - what we have here is cleome! Thanks Xris for your help! (For details, see the comments).

Sunrise at the Farm

More on mulberries soon folks!

Bee Balm, Beech, and Berries

Monday I ventured out to pop some things into the mailbox, when I was sidetracked by the black raspberries growing along the driveway (like the ones you see in the June solstice post). I had collected a handful when I realized that the awesome rain we’ve been having had ripened more than a mere sprinkling of berries; after running all the way back to the cottage for some bowls, I returned to the driveway and began picking.

As I made my way in around the gardens of the mainhouse, I found many amazing things in bloom. There are several of the Japanese snowbells growing near the playhouse, and I realized that someone must have brought a transplant to my cottage years ago. I also found many surprises in the brush beneath the trees as I berry-picked my way through the gardens. Flowers from many previous generations are still raising a hand here and there among the wild brush and from underneath the trees.

Nothing could have prepared me, however, for the righteous show of red that the bee balm flowers possess. There I was, minding my own business, picking and wandering, when these beautiful red flowers practically jumped out from under the beech tree. After staring breathless for a moment, I remembered my camera and brought some images back to share with you. This is the first time I’ve ever seen bee balm; once they’re done flowering, you can bet I’ll be over with a shovel and a will to transplant!

As I turned around to survey the beech tree, I saw that her fine leaves have matured from their pale green youth into a deep leathery green. You can see how this wonderful rain makes the leaves glisten. I’m still trying to get used to 80-degree weather with rain, but it makes for some wonderful gardening! I managed to get a healthy three or four cups of those tiny berries, and I have the half-eaten pie to prove it!

White flowering mystery tree

By popular request (and because I’m dying to know), we’re going to take a closer look at the mystery tree featured in Dad’s Father’s Day post on June 18, 2006.

This tree planted in front of my cottage is about my height, bringing it to an estimated 1.5 meters tall. Having only lived here for six months, I have no idea how long this tree has been in this spot. This makes it hard for me to gauge as to whether it is a young tree, or a small-growing species.

Leaves are no greater than maybe four or five centimeters in length, the flowers are about two centimeters in diameter (max). These leaves grow alternating along the branch, with almost-smooth edges. The edges appear to have very non-distinctive, slight “teeth” that stretch length-wise along the sides, but are difficult to see in these images.

It’s really too bad that the flowers didn’t stick around very long, because they were just so lovely! The flowers hang underneath the branches in pairs of two, as you can see clearly in the unopened buds of the final image. Just a few small, round, green “fruits” are now swelling where the flowers once bloomed, but aren’t distinctive enough to give me any clues about this tree’s identity.

All thoughts and suggestions are welcome as usual, and in the meantime, file this one under Tree, Mystery.

Solstice Greetings!

Happy Summer Solstice to everyone in the northern hemisphere, and Happy Winter Solstice to all in the southern hemisphere!

Think think think

This tree beside the cottage has a wonderful voice. It always tells you when the rain is coming, and loves to chatter. This tree also loves to listen. Beneath it, the neighbors have planted the roses with other flowers and ferns, creating a quiet little thinking spot.