New Moon Monday, of Saplings and Skylines

Greetings everyone! Today’s new moon brings us a welcome fresh start, appropriately on a Monday. Here is a picture of the swelling tips of a couple young saplings located along the driveway to our cottage.

When studying forest ecology at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, I learned a little about identifying deciduous trees and plants in the winter using clues other than leaves and flowers. Among these clues are things like the pattern of bud growth (e.g. alternating or opposite), lenticels (if present, vertical or horizontal orientation), bud shape and size, leaf scars, branch tip die back, winter fruiting, and other elements of growth habit more easily seen in the winter.

The only challenge is that like all other indicators of tree species, these methods are only helpful insofar as you know what you’re looking for. In this case, I haven’t got a clue as to just who these young trees are… but I do know that they are ready for springtime!