Fresh Growth on Douglas Firs

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!

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.

Fungi Along the Forest Trails

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.

Evergreen Goodness: American Holly Among the Pennsylvania Hardwoods

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).

Frozen Forests at Ridley Creek State Park

I took some much needed time out this week to enjoy a small hike at Ridley Creek State Park. Ridley Creek State Park includes more than 2,606 acres of woodlands located in Delaware County near the West Chester Pike (Route 3).

Among the park’s many features is the Park Office and Gardens. From the DCNR park website:

"The park office is in the “Hunting Hill” mansion, built by the Jeffords family in 1914. The mansion was built around a 1789 Pennsylvania stone farmhouse that forms the core of the building and serves as the reception center."

Recently the Philadelphia area has seen bits of snow, ice, rain, and freezing rain, which meant that on this particular hike, most of my attention was spent trying to maintain my balance on icy trails. We will return soon on less icy days when I can carry my camera and bring you photos from the forest. In the spring I will also return to share images of the gardens. In the absence of pictures, I can tell you that the creek was roaring and full, and the trees were snuggly in their icy snow-blanket.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and would like to learn more about local trees and forests, be sure to visit Steven Chmielnicki at Artisan Trees. Steven is an ISA Certified Arborist of Artisan Tree & Treehouse, LLC. Recently Steven began organizing informal “tree walks” at parks in our area. He invites groups of people to join him in learning to identify local species. These tree walks are free and open to the public. I hope to join Steven in the future and share a little about his tree walks here at Arboreality.

To learn more or to join in future tree walks visit the Artisan Trees website.

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!

Black Walnut Snow Dance

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.

Winter Tree Planting Ideas

I realize we’re well past the winter solstice and holiday season, but many of you are still looking for information about tree planting for your live Christmas trees. Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, I still haven’t planted a tree for the season – the weather, soil, and timing just haven’t been right this year, so I’ll need to wait for the spring thaw. (Tomorrow is Groundhog Day in the US, so we’ll see what Punxsutawney Phil has to say about it!)

Live Christmas trees are an excellent way to celebrate the return of a new year. You can keep them indoors for 7-10 days, and then plant them as soon as the ground is ready (soft enough to dig). If you’re going to bring the tree indoors be sure to keep it cool and moist (but not soggy); watering with ice cubes works well. Take the tree back outside as soon as possible.

If it’s not the right time to plant your tree, just keep it somewhere outside where it gets a little light, but is protected from the wind. Protect the root ball by packing leaves or old hay bales around the base of the tree. (Placing the tree on the leeward side of the house helps too).

When you plant your tree, be sure to prepare the soil wider and deeper than the rootball will reach. Mix in compost to lighten and nurture the soil, and plant your tree just a little high in the hole so that as it settles, it doesn’t sink into the earth. (And remember: NO MULCH VOLCANOS).

The first year of your new tree’s life is critical: be sure to keep your tree regularly watered (but not waterlogged) through the dry months. Your young tree needs to establish a new root system before it can withstand drought on its own.

Fertilize and mulch your tree in the autumn when the water requirements are not as intense and your tree is focused on root development. This will help it grow strong healthy buds for the next spring, and remind you for another year of the return of the sun and warm season after the long, cold winter.

For other ideas about Christmas trees, check out my earlier articles:

Planting Live Christmas Trees for the Winter Solstice

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas (Garden Rant)

Deck the Trees with Strings of Berries

Winter Reds

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!

Dances with Trees (and Ants Too!)

Check out this preview of Biome on YouTube, Capacitor's newest dance video, shot in Costa Rica's Monteverdi rainforest.

Capacitor is a San Francisco-based dance troupe. Jodi Lomask and dancers accompanied Nalini Nadkarni to her field study sites in Costa Rica. Nalini Nadkarni is the author of Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees (June 2008).

Also, Nadkarni’s husband Jack Longino is an entomologist who has researched ants of the rainforest. Jack and colleagues recently conducted arthropod surveys in Chiapas Mexico and Guatemala. Check out his video Nucú for You Too!

And if that doesn't satisfy your video interests, check out the recent post at Arboreality, Nalini Nadkarni on Trees and Spirituality.

Debunking Popular Misconceptions About the Royal Empress Tree

Today's article is brought to you by Fast-Growing-Trees.com

In the past we've discussed the Royal Paulownia tree here at Arboreality, and some of the concerns about its growth habits. Here's an article by Fast-Growing-Trees.com to help gardeners make sound choices when planting this tree:

By: Fast Growing Trees Nursery

We have all heard stories about the “amazing” Royal Empress tree that can miraculously grow up to twenty feet in one season. A simple online search will lead you to hundreds of testimonials about this so-called “Supertree.”

Many believe, however, that the Royal Empress displays one major flaw. It is a common belief that the Empress is a highly invasive tree, dropping thousands of seed pods that will spread all over your yard – and your neighbor’s. Some landscapers and gardeners have shied away from the Empress for this very reason. “The Royal Tree”, they say, “is an environmental menace”.

But companies like Fast Growing Trees Nursery, which specializes in trees with rapid growth rates and both carries and highly recommends the Empress Tree, disagree.

Travis Zboch, Nursery Manager, sets the story straight. “The misconception that Empress Trees are invasive stems from that fact that most people have only had experience with wild Empress Trees. Most other nurseries carry these, and they are quite invasive. However, we carry genetically cloned Empress Trees. These trees are not grown from seed, and do not drop these invasive seed pods. If they did, they would be virtually sterile.”

Zboch also shares what makes the Empress such a big seller. “Not only are they a beautiful flowering tree, but they are also strong and resilient. They have a rich history, having originated in China, and have a real tradition behind them in that culture. It’s great that we are able to cultivate these trees without the invasive nature of their wild counterparts, because they really are an amazing tree, and should be viewed that way”.

For more information about the Royal Empress tree, please visit the Fast Growing Trees Nursery website, fast-growing-trees.com

© 2008 Fast Growing Trees Nursery

New Content is Sprouting at Arboreality

Tree blogging is a genuine love of mine, and I especially enjoy the opportunity to exercise my amateur photography upon such an excellent and ever-evolving subject.

This Christmas my folks contributed once again to Arboreality with the gift of a new lens for my Nikon D80: the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens. Now we shall boldly go where Arboreality has never been able to go before: high, high into the treetops! [For example, the nest in our first image - remember you can click on pictures to enlarge them.]

Suddenly it has all become to clear to me (no pun intended) as to how so many other bloggers can take pictures of birds: they have zoom lenses! No longer must I sneak within a few meters to obtain blurred images of indignant ornithoids: now I can stealthily snap their photograph without their knowledge! Ditto for deer, foxes, and other mobile lifeforms.

In addition to the sharper images at Arboreality, I will also be brining in content from other writers. Arboreality will invite its first guest bloggers this year, and will also be sharing articles from businesses who work in trees, plants, flowers, and gardening supplies. Our first book review of the Curious Gardener’s Almanac in November 2007 is the first of many to come; in fact, there are two books sitting on my desk, staring me down expectantly every morning.

Arboreality is one of three blogs I write in addition to Brainripples and AppleJade. Between these three blogs plus my (paying) work as an independent writer / editor, I find that I have an ever-waning amount of free-blogging time to wander the woods and wax philosophical. My hope is that by bringing new writers and businesses to the table at Arboreality, I will continue to bring you fresh ideas about trees and forests throughout the year - no matter how busy my work schedule becomes.

If you would like to contribute at Arboreality, please contact me via email at jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com with a brief query for consideration.

Also, for all my regular readers: please be sure to let me know if you ever have trouble loading Arboreality or its images. Thank you!

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!