Festival of the Trees Interview at The Nature Blog Network

Stop by The Nature Blog Network for an interview discussing The Festival of the Trees blog carnival with Pablo, Dave Bonta, and me. Learn about how The Festival of the Trees got its start, and how you can participate in future issues.

Many thanks to our interviewer Wren and the rest of the team at The Nature Blog Network for inviting us to share our passion, and for helping to share the community of nature bloggers with the world wide web.

To read past issues, volunteer to host, and learn more about The Festival of the Trees, we invite you to visit The Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

Learn more about Wren's work at her blog Wrenaissance Reflections.

Festival of the Trees Returns to Via Negativa

I'm pleased to share that I have been invited to join Paul and Dave as a coordinator for The Festival of the Trees.

Most of you know how much I love this project, and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute even more - all for the love of trees.

This month we return to Via Negativa where Festival of the Trees co-founder Dave Bonta will once again host your blog posts, podcasts, vlogs, photographs, and other tree-and-forest-related creations.

Here are a few words from Dave to help inspire you:

You remember the Once-ler, right? The bummed-out old narrator in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, who gives the boy the last remaining truffula-tree seed at the end of the book? I’ve been feeling a lot like that lately. Probably many of us do, watching the world’s forests burn or succumb en masse to new insect pests, new diseases, and stronger and more frequent storms. Will the kids “care a whole awful lot”? Will they care at all?

The next edition of The Festival of the Trees will return to my blog Via Negativa for the fourth time, and while I’m not suggesting themed submissions — all tree-related blog posts are welcome — I do expect that my gloomy, yet still desperately hopeful outlook on the future of trees and forests will color my presentation. A lot of forest activists like to cast themselves as the Lorax: “I speak for the trees!” But I’ve never presumed to do that myself. For one thing, the trees are quite capable of speaking for themselves, if we were only inclined to listen. And also, like the Once-ler, I have no illusions about my own culpability in the desperate state of the global environment.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

You don't have to be a nature blogger to participate in The Festival of the Trees. Create a story, poem, article, photograph, or any other tree creation, post it online, and send us the link. It's that simple!

You can also send us links of other tree-related goodies that you find online. It doesn't have to be your own.

Email links to: bontasaurus [at] yahoo [dot] com – or use the Contact form.

Deadline: November 29, 2009

Important! Put “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line of your email.

Have fun!

Sunrise Rhododendron

Spring Lilacs

Spring is gaining momentum, and there is much to share from the forest. While I sort through my photos, please enjoy this glimpse at the emerging lilac which I planted so many moons ago.

Love Affair with the Santa Barbara Moreton Bay Fig Tree

And then I saw you, silhouetted on the sidewalk.

Like a thousand eyes watching, no part of me left unseen.

Limb by limb, shoulder by shoulder, learning you petal by petal.

Snake-like and certain, our tongues smell earth, breeze, ocean mist.

A fence may stand between us, but I still feel your electricity;

gaze on your sweet under-places luminous with sunrise.

I reach up as you reach up, bend back and breathe in;

shimmy in the warmth of new day and clap, extend a fresh leaf on each bright finger.

I take pictures of your curves so I can stare at you alone, smooth my finger along forbidden branches; sigh.

Your infinite patience dwarfs me. I leave you smaller than I began.

Quietly I admire your persistent fruitfulness, your marriage of mathematics and magic.

We listen closely together to hear above the highway, small moments flicker as shadow follows shadow.

I want to sit back to trunk with you; exhale, close my eyes and wait for understanding.

* * *

© 2008 Jade Leone Blackwater

For The Festival of the Trees 28: Art and Arboreality

October 1, 2008.

The Festival of the Trees is a monthly blog carnival hosted at a different blog each month. The theme for the Festival of the Trees 28 is "Art and Arboreality", which will be published on Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

I'm still accepting a few late entries, so if you would like to participate just follow these three easy steps:

1. Let a tree inspire you today.



2. Share your creation at your blog.



3. Email me your submission: jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com.

PS - Special preference given to all you fortunate folks seeing those beautiful autumn colors!!! Won't some kind, northerly blogger send me a sumptuous sugar maple in autumn color?

Red Alder Cones

Red Alder cones like these are sprinkled all around my garden from last autumn. It’s no wonder these trees are growing like weeds among the garden herbs! In the upper-right you see one of the flowered male catkins draped and spent upon the branch.

We have many lovely Red Alders growing around the house, and a healthy young stand maturing on the western portion of the property. The young stand is home to our “blackberry circle” where many young ferns, foxgloves, and up-and-coming evergreens are patiently emerging in the small light gaps.

The Art of Looking (and Wandering)

It’s taken me some time to find my groove now that I’m back in the Pacific Northwest. Wandering through the forest helps me to remember the useful arts of looking, listening, and waiting. Inspiration, clarity, and understanding require a fair portion of patience and “receptiveness” to the unexpected.

The next time you have a chance to stroll through a park, garden, or forest, remember to slow your pace a bit and look, or listen, or simply breathe. If you cannot seem to find anything new, try a change of perspective: crane your neck upwards, squat down on your heels, lay on your belly, or simply turn around and look back on the path you’ve just traveled.

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.

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 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.

Rainbow Sassafras

Last Autumn timing and weather prevented me from capturing the sassafras colors for Arboreality. This year – I was determined! Several little sassafras (Sassafras albidum) trees are tucked in the shadow of the stone silo here at the farm. Their colors did not disappoint.

Happy Solstice!

Mulberry Tree Mystery Chronicles, continued

These images are from two different mulberry tree specimens, and I believe them to be two different species as well. The fruits are starting to mature, and when the lighting is better I’ll share some of those!

For those just joining us, we have a bit of a year-old-mystery on our hands concerning the various mulberry trees growing around the farm where I live outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Last month Sam gave us some great identification tips in the comments:

sam said...

"To distinguish Mulberrys:

Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) Leaves are densely hairy, and the fruit is round.

White Mulberry (Morus alba) Aggressive tree but shade intolerant, leaves are usually glossy above and the margins have rounded teeth. Ripe fruits tend to be lighter (think pink to purple) than M. rubra or M. nigra, though this is not always the case.

Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) Uncommon, but shade tolerant and prefers moist sites. Can grow to a fairly large size. The leaves are usually rough on top, margins have pointed teeth, and are not as glossy as M.
alba.

Black Mulberry (Morus nigra) similar to M. rubra, it is the shortest of the lot, often with a twisted, leaning trunk. The best clue is strongly cordate (heart shaped) leaf bases."

I’m confident that sooner or later, we’ll get this all sorted out.

If you’re a mulberry expert, give us your two cents!

Horse Chestnut Tree in Spring

At last, a few clear images of the Horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) of the Aquifoliaceae family. Horse chestnuts are popular around Seattle, and this one has been growing in my parent’s yard for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, I missed the blossoms during my visit to Seattle – and horse chestnuts have some really beautiful flowers!

If you haven’t had a chance, be sure to scroll down and wander the Festival of the Trees 12 – Meditations.

Note: Blogger/Blogspot has been having a number of issues associated with uploading images and publishing in recent days. Please let me know if you have any difficulty reading or commenting at Arboreality. Thank you!

Morning Mulberry Trees

Some of you long-time Arborealists may recall the “mulberry mysteries” of last year.

To summarize for our new readers, during my first year in southeastern Pennsylvania I have learned that there are at least four varieties of mulberry trees growing domestically and semi-wild throughout the surrounding area. Furthermore, it is entirely possible that there are unique cultivars from cross-pollination, and that these varieties may be indistinguishable from common species (at least at first glance).

The four varieties I’ve read about include Red mulberry (Morus rubra), White mulberry (Morus alba), Black mulberry (Morus nigra), and Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera). They each have some distinguishing characteristics, but overall I have had limited success with telling them apart. According to The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region; Elbert L. Little, there are roughly 1400 species in the mulberry family (Moraceae) world-wide; in Eastern North America we can find five native and three naturalized species.

I can see common attributes among certain mulberries, so I know there are a few distinct varieties here at the farm. Characteristics include growth habit, over-all shape, leaf shape and texture, and preferred growing location. Still, there’s nothing definitive for me to point to which makes me confident with identification (not yet, that is).

Today’s images are of a particular species which is common around the farm (this one grows just outside the cottage, so I see it each morning). I believe this variety to be either the Black or the White mulberry.

If you have an opinion on this mulberry’s identity, or tips and tricks from your experience with identifying mulberries in your neighborhood, please do share! In the mean time, I will continue with the mulberry mystery chronicles. Sooner or later, we will find an answer.

Side note: the mulberry family Moraceae also includes the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera).

Festival of the Trees 6, Last Day for Submissions

Good morning! Today is the last day available for you to submit your entries for the Festival of the Trees 6.

To learn more, check out the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog, or write me with any questions.

Send submissions to me at: jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com

Have a good one!

PS - Sorry I've been so slow in responding to comments the last few days! It's a busy time of year (for everyone I'm sure), but I just want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to everyone who visits, comments, and enjoys Arboreality!!!

Sweet Gum Tree, Before the Storm

The Sweetgum tree (also called Redgum or Sapgum) gets its name from the gummy resinous substance beneath the bark which, during pioneer days, was stripped from the trunk and used medicinally, or as a chewing gum.

Before the major wind and rain came through the Northeast last week, this Sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) was in full color. Now all that remains are the prickly green fruit balls.

Another Tree Blog: Tree News

Looking for more news about trees?

Tree News is a blog about trees in the Atlanta area, authored by arborist Jesse Milton. Jesse is a Certified Consulting Arborist, and you can learn more about his knowledge and services at his business site One Bark.

Just check out his latest post about the Giant Pecan Tree! How cool is THAT?

Reflections of Trees

Today’s image is from our travels on Halloween while staying in the Poconos. The beech trees are among the last trees in the Pocono area to hold and release their auburn leaves.

The week just got away from me! I still want so much to share all the fun things I saw in the Poconos, but you know how it goes after vacation...

Monday I’ll tell you about where we stayed, followed by some highlights of the parks we visited, the lakes and rivers we fished, and the trees and forests that kept us company along the way.

Red Maples

Red maple (Acer rubrum) in fall colors for Geraldine!

The first two images are from a tree at the Washington Crossing park on the Pennsylvania side.

The third image you see was taken back in September 2005 in Washington State: sunrise on parking lot B at The Evergreen State College. This is a picture of what some Greeners know lovingly as the “dancing maple.” You can’t miss her.

Some of you long-time arborealists might even remember seeing a few of the “Sunrise on Parking Lot B” series back at the beginning of Arboreality in October 2005.

If you’re looking for more fall colors, you might enjoy some of the archives from last autumn in Washington State. We have oak from the post office in Renton, Big leaf maples, and one of my personal favorites: Japanese maples.