Norway Spruce, and Other Evergreen Trees

We don’t see nearly enough evergreens here at Arboreality since I left Washington State. Today, I thought I’d share one of the more prominent evergreens here at the farm: the Norway spruce (Picea abies).

You might remember me sharing the Norway spruces with you last winter, when I fell in love with their beautiful cones! We have a few enormous Norway spruces growing around here, which, along with the Eastern white pines, are some of the primary evergreens at the farm.

With all the deciduous trees losing leaves, the conifers get to take their turn in the spotlight. There are other evergreens around here which I have yet to identify... I'll have to make that a winter project!

And then, of course, there’s our up-and-coming Christmas tree from last year, the Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis). I can’t wait to find out what we’re going to plant this year. I have my heart set on an Eastern hemlock, but we’re mostly limited by what live, healthy evergreens we can find at the garden shop at Christmas time.

What are your favorite evergreens? Ooooh… it’s so hard to pick just one!

Sunset on Treetops

I actually snapped this one last night as the sun was setting, but went off to have fun and didn’t get around to posting. Last night brought one gorgeous sunset I tell ya, as evidenced by the golden treetops.

Trees of the Main House

I love the Star Magnolia Tree post so much that I almost resisted posting today. But onward we must go!

These images were taken up by the main house: the largest structure still standing on the farm, and home to our landlords. Around the main house are numerous beautiful trees and plenty of diverse shrubbery sprouting beneath them.

The tree and hedge in the first image stand facing what I have learned was our landlady’s father’s playhouse – complete with fireplace and chimney! You can see the playhouse in one of my first images showing the early-blooming winter aconite. The playhouse's door and much of the surrounding area looks like a page out of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (incidentally one of my all-time favorite books).

Currently this former playhouse is used for storage, but it has so much potential! Like everything else around here, the playhouse and the main house each have their own mystery, their own history, and their own abundance of trees and plants for us to explore.

By the by, recognize the cone of the Norway Spruce?

Ranunculus, Ridiculous

First off, SpiderGirl was right about the ranunculus. The little yellow flowers which I call buttercups (as SpiderGirl pointed out, a type of ranunculus) are in fact, winter aconite (ranunculaceae, Eranthis). My landlady was kind enough to let me in on the secret of their exact common name (and kind enough to offer that I could dig some up and bring it over to my cottage!) Rock on!

Second… I’m in love with a spruce cone.

It’s ridiculous. It’s disturbing. It’s leaning towards dendrophilia!

Ok, it’s nothing untoward… nothing obscene...

Here’s the story: Monday, I was walking my month’s rent check to our landlady and landlord, when one of the great evergreens in their driveway gave me a gift: a cone!

I think you’ll agree that it’s just gorgeous… I picked up two, but I like this one the best – especially because it has a little twig of needles still attached. While I’m not certain of the species, after looking online I believe that this is likely a Norway Spruce. Interestingly, it appears to have already tossed its seeds out of the cone. I can see the groves under the platelets where they should be, but they are all empty.

Anyways, I’ve simply fallen in love with this beautiful cone. I love the feel of its shiny platelets, its uniform radial symmetry, its delicate fragrance, and its pretty little twig. I’ve been carrying this cone around for two days now. It’s been sitting on my desk next to my laptop when I write, and following me around the house while I work.

Is there an 800 number I can call to get help for this sort of thing? :)

Have you ever brought cones into the house (or kept them on the dashboard of your truck) and watched as they opened and closed their platelets? I don’t mean rapidly like fish gills, but slowly over time?

Later today, or perhaps tomorrow, I'll be sharing some more images from the stone ruins. Last night I took some great pictures showing how the trees have taken over what was once a large farm house.