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?)

Sculptures of Trees and Stone

Xris at Flatbush Gardener is hosting the upcoming Festival of the Trees, and has proposed the theme of “trees in the concrete,” all puns intended and otherwise, to help spark the creative.

This seemed like a perfect opportunity to share a walk through the Topiary Garden at Longwood Gardens.

Toward the end of last summer (2006), after my own encounter with blog ennui, I began to explore my local area to shake things up. Pennsylvania is still new to me, and Longwood Gardens was a great find. I took hundreds of pictures (and will be returning in May for spring blossoms).

The Topiary Garden was a first for me. I may have seen pictures of topiary before, and seen a few nice coppices here and there, but I’ve never been in a full-scale, Alice-in-Wonderland-esque topiary garden – and boy was this one cool.

Animals, geometric shapes, flowers, and gorgeous stonework truly set this space apart from the rest of the gardens. It was impossible not to have fun in there!

The topiary are crafted from yew trees: Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata) and English yews (Taxus baccata), which bear lovely red fruit.

According to the Longwood Gardens website,

"Gardeners shear these topiaries every July and August, and it takes years to develop the desired forms. The garden today includes more than 50 specimens in 20 different shapes."

When we came upon the Topiary Garden, we’d already spent the day walking all around the gardens, and it was just about to rain. Big, purple-grey clouds gathered as we were greeted by deeply colorful roses, and a low stone wall.

The topiary may look rigid – but when you get up close, they’re actually incredibly springy! All the branches love to play and dance, so you can get up close and make the shapes wobble and wiggle and wave with the slightest touch of hand. The gardeners are true artists – you don’t see many exposed cuts -- just nice, smooth needles carpeting all sorts of amazing shapes!

When we finally exited the Topiary Garden, we were met with the fire-eyed Chinese Foo guard dogs, and a warm afternoon rain. Despite its meticulous manicure, this garden is amazingly vibrant and friendly!