Festival of the Trees 43 Now Online at Xenogere

Welcome the New Year with a stroll through the Celebration Tree Grove!

The Festival of the Trees 43: The Celebration Tree Grove is now online at Xenogere, courtesy of our January 2010 host Jason Hogle.

Forests are made for wandering! Take plenty of time to explore Jason's delicious collection of links to tree blog posts, photos, and more.

The Festival of the Trees 44 will be hosted once again by Ash at the treeblog on February 1, 2010.

To participate:

1) Blog about trees

2) Email a link to: mail[at]treeblog[dot]co[dot]uk

3) Wait for February 1st to read, share, and enjoy!

Would you like to host The Festival of the Trees? We are always seeking volunteers for future Festivals. Visit The Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn how to submit, volunteer, and help us spread the word.

Best wishes to us all for a green 2010!

Santa Barbara Flora

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.

Book Review: The Curious Gardener’s Almanac

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom, by Niall Edworthy

The book for today’s review was provided by: Perigee Books, Penguin Group (USA)

At Arboreality I like to share the joy of discovery by bringing you glimpses of the trees and plants in my corner of the world. Niall Edworthy echoes this spirit with his new book, The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom.

In his introduction, Edworthy attempts to wrap his arms around this book and explain the “what” and the “why” to little avail. Perhaps I can lend him a hand: this book is itself a garden.

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is essentially a book of happenstance. As in a garden, you wander the pages and find yourself distracted by flowers of thought here, nuts of wisdom there, and all the while cognizant of the dark earth that engenders such a wealth of gardening wisdom.

Rather than chapters of how-to’s and when’s, Edworthy’s pages are filled with bits of poems, quotations, advice, facts, proverbs, and parables. Edworthy is not a condescending gardening guru, but like so many of us, he is a man with a basic curiosity about his garden, learning literally from the ground up.

As a self-taught gardener, I giggled with recognition when he explained the most unfortunate fate of his onions: rotted to death when left out to dry… in the rain. Those of us who did not grow up with gardens typically lack the innate wisdom of how to manage a thriving garden. What Edworthy shares with us is that not only is this wisdom not lost upon us, but that we can all find a spot of green on our thumbs if we just keep shoving it into the dirt.

Creating a garden is never an instant transformation – nor should it be. In Edworthy’s introduction he confesses, “The first year in the vegetable patch was a perfect disaster—I just scattered a variety of seeds over it, expecting it to turn into the Garden of Eden by the end of summer, like it does on the TV.”

Therein lies the deepest wisdom of all: gardening is never a process to be finished. It is an ongoing process of learning and growth of which we gardeners, proficient and novice, are a part. Edworthy’s book includes accessible advice on gardening in each season. I found it refreshing that he includes information both contemporary (like why you don’t need to water your lawn), and traditional (like companion planting and uses for herbs).

This book is like a happy little backyard garden: tangible, unassuming, nourishing, and meaningful. The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is not a reference book—it is a book of discovery. Flip through its pages, and what you’ll find is a chorus of shovels and rakes, plucking at the earth to see what comes up.

Trees and Pumpkins

Here in Eastern Pennsylvania, the colors of autumn are in full swing. We are having a warm October, which means my garden is still ripening red tomatoes, and the pumpkins have their second wind: new flowers and fruits appear every day.

We’ve pulled about 30+ pumpkins off our plants this season. Early in September we began decorating around the farm with pumpkins: under trees, on doorsteps, atop and beneath fenceposts, and leaning against sheds. Our hope is that a handful of seeds survive the mid-winter raid by the squirrels, providing us with another year of pumpkins for next season.

These two are beneath the Eastern white pine next to the house – I’ll let you know next spring whether they manage to resprout!

Tomatoes with Trees

These tomatoes were planted by my neighbor and are hanging on the Black walnut tree downfield from the cottage. He seems a little disappointed in their performance, but I assured him that they look great regardless.

Personally, I think he’s skimping on the water - these plants aren't close to the houses, so they don't receive as much attention. Has anyone else had experience growing tomatoes from hanging buckets? It’s always seemed like such a great space saver, but I have yet to try it myself!

The Festival of the Trees 12 - Meditations

Greetings and welcome to the Festival of the Trees 12 - Meditations.

Many of us blog about trees or forests because of the personal connections we make with them in our day-to-day. Amid the bombastic cries in the media of “Go Green” and “Stop Global Warming,” it can be easy to overlook the power of our individual relationships with trees to help change the way we (as a species) interact with the Earth. When we blog about trees in our respective regions, we share a sort of ongoing, global meditation on the green and growing world.

Our cover image for Festival of the Trees 12: Meditations is “The Tree” from the Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert. For those who are unfamiliar, tarot is a tool which uses systems of symbols, images, archetypes, and other “alphabets” on a deck of cards to explore a given topic.

Tarot decks usually contain a sequence of 22 “majors”: a common set of standard cards, each rather like characters in a story. The Tree (Joanna’s version of The Hanged Man) is card number 12 in the tarot.

For our Festival of the Trees 12, I encourage you to take a moment to mediate on The Tree from the Gaian Tarot. What do you see? As we wander today’s collection, consider our simple, personal connections with trees and forests outside of environmental politics, policies, and as-yet-unsolved problems.

Hanami – Cherry Tree Blossom Viewing

Hanami, meaning “flower viewing,” is a Japanese custom of viewing cherry blossoms. People come out in the springtime to enjoy a sort of floral meditation as the cherry tree blossoms (sakura) open around Japan (and many other regions in the northern hemisphere).

It’s not difficult to understand why the deceptively simple act of flower viewing can warrant holidays and festivals around the world: cherry tree blossoms are beautiful. Bloggers I found who shared their Hanami experiences this spring seemed no less enthusiastic, as evidenced by their inability to post “just a few” pictures of the blooms.

Jason Truesdell of Pursuing My Passions has a two part series featuring "Hanami in Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. Be sure to check out both Part 1 and Part 2. Nate and Ruth of Korea! Oh yah, you betchya share Spring in Korea: Yellow sand, beautiful flowers and high emotions.

In 1912, Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan gifted the city of Washington D.C., United States with 3,000 cherry trees as “a memorial of national friendship between the United States and Japan and a celebration of the continued close relationship between the people of the two countries.”

Ryan of Northfield Center, Ohio who writes the American Peak blog, visited Washington D.C. while in hiatus in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Back Yards Around the World

This month I wanted to take advantage of the world wide web to help connect us with different places around the world, and the trees that live there.

Candice Dillhoff of Leavenworth, Washington, USA lives in the Eastern Cascade Mountains of North America. At her Wee Cottage Art Studio blog she shares the sensational view of her home this spring. Pablo at Roundrock Journal is reporting some sort of Blackhaw blooming in the Missouri Ozarks, USA.

In the Eastern Ontario Highlands of Canada, Cate (Kerrdelune) of Beyond the Fields We Know shares New Leaves, and Sumac in Spring. History Mike of Toledo, Ohio, USA reflects On the Brilliance of Spring Colors. And Karen of Rurality reveals the secret life of roots in North Central Alabama, USA.

Trees and forests have marvelous powers of regeneration, and Silver Valley of Kellogg, Idaho, USA is experiencing its second chance. Silver Valley Girl shares one of her Silver Valley Stories with a promising ending. Meanwhile, back in the holler Cady May in Hartsville, Tennessee, USA shares Random Acts of Recovery of an Oak Tree.

GreenmanTim is still Walking the Berkshires (and Litchfield Hills) of the Housatonic Valley in northwest Connecticut, USA. If you haven’t read the good news elsewhere, be sure to visit GreenmanTim reporting on ElmWatch: Restoring the American Elm.

A genuine tree lover if there ever was one, Salix Tree of the Windy Willow blog from Ireland shares tree blossoms and Tinkerbelle’s Tree. Bitterroot of Bitterroot and Bergamot opens a window to Wisconsin, USA with Tree on a Cliff and Ephemeral beauty. And Claudia Lüthi of Lima, Peru blogging at though trees grow so high... shares the thousand aspects of trees for this month's Festival.

I'm an American, so I suppose it’s natural that I’ll find a lot of links in the US. However, I was fortunate this month to be found by several bloggers in Portugal, who demonstrate their country's true love of the arboreal.

At Dias com árvores, Manuela DL Ramos of Porto, Portugal reflects on trees with “Every breath you take.” And Pedro Nuno Teixeira Santos who writes A Sombra Verde from Covilhã, Serra da Estrela, Portugal, shares Sozinho (Viagens II) for this month’s festival. A Sombra Verde welcomes its readers with the following:

"A culture is no better than its woods" Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973).

You’ll notice that my list is still limited to just a few places around the world – if your region wasn’t mentioned, be sure to tell us about your local trees (and tree blog posts) in the comments below! (And of course, send your links in for next month's festival).

Art and Poetry

Originally I created the Brainripples blog to keep tree discussions separate from discussions on writing and art. Today I am enjoying an excuse to blend the two by sharing some of the artistic meditations I found online. Trees and artists go together like peanut butter and strawberry preserves!

Connie Tom of A Painting for You! posted A Walk Through the Woods IV. Ester Wilson of Daily Drawings has been especially inspired by trees lately. Be sure to explore each of her offerings: doodles and paint, moleskine trees, painting ideas, and her collaboration project with James of Oil Covered Hands.

Take A Walk Through Durham Township, Pennsylvania with Kathleen Connally to see The First Grass of Spring, and then stroll over to join Joe Felso of Ruminations as he ponders the Spring Crown.

At The Clarity of Night, Jason Evans stays true to his reputation for making his readers stop and reflect with his creative writing piece Rings, and his thoughts on the Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina).

Deborah Barlow of Slow Muse shares What is Unfolding ("Beginners" by Denise Levertov), and the eloquent Bernita Harris of An Innocent A-Blog helps inspire some mystery for the Festival with A Tree's Ghost.

Melanie of Pink Lemon Twist provides us with a unique incorporation of tree forms in art with her Hanami stole. I was intrigued not only by the delicate design so true to the cherry blossom form, but by the symbolism incorporated into the weave itself.

At Idle Minutes, Don West shares a Tree Study. In his comments, Don identifies the true root of the Art and Poetry segment of our Meditations: artists across media are inevitably inspired by trees, and it all starts with careful looking and patient listening.

Wit, Whimsy, and Whatnot

It was my goal to keep this month's festival light-hearted, and I’d like to finish up with a garden salad of musings and other meditations on trees and forests.

I must have been on a common wavelength with Maureen at Timothy’s Shop Talk who shared some meditations on trees with a helping hand from Hermann Hesse.

Vicky Sawyer Herrala writing TGAW has some disturbing evidence of hungry trees!

Jorge Daniel Neves writing Jardinando sem parar from Lisbon, Portugal shares the enthusiasm for the Festival de árvores sobre, árvores em cimento by providing a continuation of “trees in the concrete” theme of the Festival of the Trees 11 at Flatbush Gardener.

Karen Shanley, an Author Mom with Dogs, tells us all about her Old Friend, and Maggie at Maggieno's Journal paints images with words in One More for the Road, Day Two: Big Trees and Thursday in the Rain Forest. Meanwhile, Cady May is searching for patterns (again) back in the holler.

And if you need to turn your perspective on its head, try climbing up a tree and looking down on the world with Dobster at the Travel Blog. Dobster shares a climb with the Gloucester and Bi-centennial trees of Pemberton, Western Australia.

If you haven’t been following the treeblog, Ash has some seedling updates, and shows us the equally impressive Plane Tree of Hippocrates.

In the Land of Little Rain, Maureen Shaughnessy shares with us again the trees she has known and loved.

As you wander your corner of the world this weekend, be sure to take a moment to look up, listen for the wind, and meditate on those trees which you have known and loved.

* * *

Next month’s Festival of the Trees 13 will be hosted by Wren of Wrenaissance Reflections on July 1, 2007. Send submissions to treefest [at] wrenaissance [dot] com by June 29.

Want to be alerted of upcoming Festivals of the Trees? Visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog or click here to sign up for email notification with Feedblitz.

You can also visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn more about submissions, festivals past and present, and how to volunteer to host future issues of the Festival of the Trees at your blog.

Thank you to all of today’s contributors, and to Pablo and Dave for keeping the Festival of the Trees alive.

Special thanks to Joanna Powell Colbert for the use of her image The Tree from the Gaian Tarot for the cover image, and to Kirsten Annette Dillhoff for the use of her photography in today's Festival of the Trees.

Artists and authors retain their original copyrights for all images and blog posts included in today’s Festival of the Trees 12: Meditations.

Photo credits, top to bottom:

The Tree, © 2007 Joanna Powell Colbert

Rhododendron blossoms, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

White pine branch, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Birch canopy, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

Olympic Mountains, Seabeck, WA, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Banana Slug, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

Trilliums, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Lichens, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Mosses, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Mystery beech, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Larch, © 2007 J. L. Blackwater

Magnolia, © 2007 Kirsten Annette Dillhoff

* * *

For all the posts we've shared today, there were dozens more that I simply had to let go (for my sanity's sake). Remember to spread the word about tree blogs, submit to future Festivals of the Trees, and keep on blogging!

**06/04/07 editor's note: Thanks to all our readers today as I have updated the Festival of the Trees to include all the images planned for this issue. I appreciate your patience. Thanks again - JLB

The Land of the Fae

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

Moss Gardens at the Bloedel Reserve

While visiting Washington, I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful, verdant Bloedel Reserve. Pictured here is one luscious corner of the moss gardens – if it had been raining, I’d bet the mosses would have been even more vibrant!

[If you want to see even more lovely moss, check out the first image in this post at Via Negativa.]

Fesitval of the Trees 11 Now Online at Flatbush Gardener

The Festival of the Trees 11 “Trees in the Concrete” is now online courtesy of this month’s host, Xris of Flatbush Gardener. I guarantee you hours of blissful procrastination – Xris has a real garden full of links for you to explore.

Next month, the Festival of the Trees returns to Arboreality for its 12th edition. Send your submissions to jadeblackwater [at] brainripples [dot] com, or use the Blog Carnival submission tool. Submissions are due by May 29th.

For more information about the Festival of the Trees, or to learn how to become a host, visit the Festival of the Trees coordinating blog.

[Pictured above is just one of the many treasures I brought back from the Washington forests. More ahead!]

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

If you’re looking for ways to jump on the bandwagon and help balance out our relationship with the Earth, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our Earth Day at Aboreality: Go Green series. More to come this week!

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!

Scilla Shows Signs of Spring

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

Walking Stick in the Garden

Corylus avellana 'Contorta', also known as "Harry Lauder's walking stick" or Corkscrew Hazel, from my friend's garden here at the farm. Picture taken March 9th (before I got sick). I'll try and give you an update soon to see what happens when the buds open!

Guest blog at Garden Rant: Christmas Trees

I have been invited back to guest blog again at Garden Rant and share some thoughts on Christmas trees.

You’ve read my thoughts from earlier this week on live Christmas tree planting, now you can see what I have to say about cut trees too in my article I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas.

Thank you again to Amy Stewart, Michele Owens, and Susan Harris for inviting me to share my thoughts with their readers. Rant on ladies!

What's ahead at Arboreality:

Yesterday I spent my afternoon exploring local preserves and interviewing Bill Gladden, Director of the Department of Open Space Preservation in Chester County. Next week I’ll be sharing what I learned, with plenty of pictures too!

Festival of the Trees 6 – Taking Root and Bearing Fruit

Welcome to the Festival of the Trees 6!

I have emerged from a dense forest of tree blogging to share some of my favorite discoveries. Would that I could have included them all! Thank you to Dave Bonta for his support in preparing this festival.

Blogging about trees and forests at Arboreality provides me with the unique opportunity to share my daily discoveries among the trees. When I started out, I intended to use Arboreality as a vehicle both to share information, and to help me improve my plant identification skills.

The true surprises for me actually come from reading other blogs about trees and plants. Has anyone else noticed how amazing it is to watch forests and gardens grow and change in unison across the world? I love seeing how a certain tree or flower will blossom in my neck of the woods, only to emerge a week later in another region. Even more fun is to see how dramatically different wildlands and gardens can look in different regions of the earth.

Over at Brainripples, reader Ester Wilson recently responded to a question about creativity with the following: “I’m sure that everything in the world has potential to pull out creativity within people. It may just depend on how much you’re willing to let it come out, how willing you are to be fascinated by the world.”

I hope that this month’s Festival of the Trees encourages you all to renew your willingness to be fascinated by the world, and to be touched by the trees.

[Photo above: Autumn Leaves, courtesy of Renata Vincoletto]

Turning Seasons

Many of us in the northern hemisphere have been enjoying the color show with the passage of Autumn, and it’s my pleasure to share some of the many signs of the seasons I found online in full color.

For the curious, Caroline at Earth Friendly Gardening shares with us the mysteries of how and why leaves turn color in the autumn. Petunia’s Gardener enjoys the benefits of the big leaf maple and the ornamental cherry trees in mulching.

Lené of Counting Petals is Giving Thanks, Pam of Nature Woman was awed by sparkling trees, surprise rainbows, and busy birds, and Mary Ellen at Poetry, Art, & the Fotoz of my life shares the many colors of Sacramento.

Amba at Ambivablog tells us about her maple tree as it awes them with its annual color show, while Roger at Words & Pictures shares his Sweet chestnut and Ginkgo, still full of life at the turn of the season.

With autumn coming to a close, KerrdeLune of Beyond the Fields We Know peers through the looking glass at seasons past. Petunia’s Gardener sees the first snows of the Pacific Northwest coat her late season apples. Sandra of here in Korea shares the annual wrapping of ornamentals in straw, to protect the trees through the coming winter, while Cindy at Woodsong shows us the Snow Bunting birds gracing the trees like fluffy ornaments. Speaking of tree ornamentation, Lorrianne of Hoarded Ordinaries gives us proof that deciduous trees can get into the Christmas spirit!

For those who are not quite as excited as I am for the autumn and winter, take a trip down under to see what Alice at A Growing Delight is enjoying in Australia, including her recent visit to a Canberra Nature Park at Gungahlin Hill.


UK National Tree Week

This month’s Festival of the Trees 6 coincides with the UK National Tree Week, established by the UK Tree Council in 1975. Vicky at Green Girls Global tells us about some of the celebrations and events of Nottingham in honor of National Tree Week.

Many of our UK bloggers share their activities celebrating trees for National Tree Week. Morgan shares her “ode to trees,” Deirdre shares her tree planting experience, and Ross at the SEO blog tells us how ANYONE online can help to support tree planting in the UK for National Tree week simply by registering with Litegreen.com.


Treemania in Urbania

In addition to celebrations like National Tree Week in the UK, the National Arbor Day in the US was first conceived by pioneers J. Sterling and Caroline Morton after their arrival in Nebraska. Their idea evolved into what is now a holiday celebrated at different dates in countries, states, and cities around the world.

Hanna of This Garden is Illegal tells us a little about her Tree City, USA, a program sponsored by the National Arbor Day foundation.

In Georgia, Jesse of Tree News spreads the good word about a city that has its priorities straight – and has spared no effort to preserve a huge, old Pecan tree in the face of urban development.

Even with our most valiant efforts and most noble intentions, some trees have to come down. Dave at Via Negativa tells us the history and conclusions of the Gilead trees near his father’s home.

And then, there are those trees that we might WANT to take down, but just can’t find the heart to remove. Before I moved from Washington to Pennsylvania, I had no concept of the invasive presence of the beautiful Norway maple. Body Soul and Spirit shares how torn we can be when trying to share space with these hearty trees when she advises us to just Say NO! to Norway Maples. Kasmira discusses a similar conflict when she shares what she thinks of Norway spruce.

[Photo above: Sumac Branch, courtesy of Maureen Shaughnessy]

Reflections and Meditations

At the heart of this month’s Festival of the Trees are the more subtle and inquisitive connections we make with trees.

Michelle at Living Stress-Free shares with us the tree-standing stances she’s learned, and a beautiful tree-meditation.

Bev at Burning Silo shares a exciting four part series exploring the coastal redwoods. You can enjoy Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four of the redwood series while slipping quietly into your own verdant reverie.

Many of us either owned or played in treehouses (ok, some of us probably still do), and Lois at Nina’s Treehouse shares a whimsical, poetic story about an old lemon tree, and the coming together of all ages in the shade of its fragrant branches.

Over at Ginkgo Dreams, Kelly brings us daily ginkgo-bites, and my favorites are always the Photo Wednesdays! Check out her latest, Ginkgos in Turin, Italy.

Mother Angel offers an early painting that wraps love, youth, and trees into a single, sensual image. Salix Tree is tickled with arborsculpture, and Marja-Leena Rathje shares the unique xylothek (wooden library).

Reaching deeper into the abstract, Crack Skull Bob shares his own interpretation of the dendritic form in his post A Tree is a Graph. Larry of Riverside Rambles shows us the Little Hyphal Trees of the amazing and important mychorriza.

[Photo above: Thuja plicata (Western red cedar), courtesy of Daniel Mosquin]

Explorations

Most of us enjoy the thrill of exploration and discovery in our local gardens and forests. Xris of Flatbush Gardener visited the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and returned with a plethora of pictures. GreenmanTim is Walking the Berkshires and finding all manner of new and strange trees of the Namibian desert.

Regular readers at Arboreality know that I love a good mystery tree, which is exactly what Pablo of the Roundrock Journal is puzzling in his neck of the Missouri woods. And here at Arboreality, I’ve been sharing bits and pieces of my recent trip to the Poconos, including my stay in the Forests of Chateau Mumu.

Salix Tree shares her favorite tree, an oak in Phoenix Park near Dublin, and Yellowstone Wolf uses picture and poetry to share her paper wasp nest discovery.

If you’re looking to recapture a sense of wonderment, Isabella, Age 9 will take you there with her post A New Home at causa nostrae laetitiae. Still firmly rooted in his sense of delight, Larry at botanizing shows us the Light on the forest floor.

For those who require a unique perspective to help shake up their point of view, Dave at Via Negativa and Jason at The Clarity of Night share with us a bird’s eye view from tree stands.

Jason has the project for you if you prefer introspection to exploration: this month he’s shared a peek into the old growth hemlock surrounding the fruit of his labor, his new log cabin.


The Enduring, the Recalcitrant, and the Misbehaving

Trees are troublemakers too! I’d say most of us have a tale (or two) about the tree that just wouldn’t follow orders. Of course, the most admirable of this bunch are the trees that have refused to yield the passage of time with anything less than continued growth and grandeur.

Patrick at Ramblings of a naturalist tells us about the Veteran oak in the High Weald, and Jeremy of the voltage gate shares part of the venerable history of the Eastern Hemlock trees.

Methuselah and the bristlecone pine trees are among the oldest living trees on earth, but that doesn’t mean they have half the clout of the mighty baobab trees (also called Upside down trees, or Monkey bread trees). Baobabs, native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar, are important sources of food, water, and medicine. Terry at Pencil Shavings shares a wonderful drawing of the amazing baobab, and if you want to see the magnificence of the real deal, visit Ursi’s blog and the Champion Trees.

Of course, not all the greats can last forever. Sonia at Leaves of Grass says goodbye to an old arboreal friend, and Karen of Rurality must reluctantly let go of the beautiful but misbehaving Hickory tree. Conan the Historian connects us with the New York Times article, which tells us that the Chestnut tree at Anne Frank's sanctuary must finally come down.

While the old trees fall, the young rise up into the light. Over in Brittany, Stuart and Gabrielle are experimenting with permaculture, and enjoying their latest discovery: a medlar tree and its pear-like fruits. And in Mountain Time, Trailhead is at once torn and bemused with the defiant and energetic evergreens who insist on reclaiming every inch of earth, right up to the house foundation.

* * *

Join us for the Festival of the Trees 7, to be hosted at The Voltage Gate. Submissions deadline is December 30, 2006. Send all submissions (including post title and URL) to Jeremy by email: thevoltagegate [at] gmail [dot] com. Be sure to put "Festival of the Trees" in the subject line. For additional information about the Festival of the Trees, check out the coordinating blog.

Images with credits retain their copyrights with the original authors. All other images in today’s Festival are from the Arboreality files, copyright © 2006 Jade L. Blackwater.

May the wonder of trees, forests, and gardens continue to inspire us all!

Until next month!