Smell the flowers

[altivo]

It was a cool but sunny day and I had some time to walk around and see what is going on in our little piece of land. We knew we had two dead oak trees in our woodlot this spring, each probably 50 feet tall. I'm not pleased at the prospect of letting them fall on their own, but even less pleased at the possibility of having to pay to have them taken down in close quarters to all those other trees, so we'll probably let them be for now. The woodpeckers love dead trees, anyway.

But... when I went out to get the mail just after getting home from work, I realized that a large oak in the front lawn is probably also dying. It's even taller and more massive, though at least far enough from the house that it won't hit anything but other trees if it starts dropping branches. There are still new leaves sprouting on it but they are few and only on some branches. Ugh. It would probably cost thousands of dollars to have that removed professionally.

I suspect at least two of these deaths are the aftermath of the serious drought we had two summers back. One of the trees has been ill for years though, probably with a fungus under the bark.

Now the good news. Two apple trees that we thought were dead are still sprouting. One is leafing out all over, just late to do so. The other is sprouting new branches and leaves from the lower trunk, well above the graft, though the upper branches do appear to have died over the winter. Another apple, a prairie spy given to us by friends some years ago, has managed to bloom this spring for the first time. Just a few flowers on two or three branches, but it's a start.

Lilacs are still blooming and fragrant, but won't last much longer alas. Wild cherry was hurried along by the hot weather a few days ago, and now the tiny white petals are falling all over the place. Too bad, because I enjoy the fragrance and it never lasts long enough. Our neighbor on the east planted a long row of bridal veil eight years ago, probably planning for it to grow up into a hedge that would hide our pastures, since they don't look like her golf course manicured lawn. I'm not terribly fond of bridal veil, but it is now a dense hedge about six feet tall that keeps us from having to look at her mowing her grass three or four times a week. It's all in bloom right now and the white flowers are pretty, but I don't care for the scent as much as I do other things. Blueberry blossoms are open, and so are the Russian olive, which has an almost unnoticeable tiny yellow flower, but produces millions of them with a spicy, cinnamon-like fragrance. The black walnut tree is laden with green pollen-bearing male flowers. I'm not sure what the female blossoms look like and I need to find out.

The spring bulbs are all past now, but bleeding heart and wild trillium are in bloom, and we should have iris within a few days. The blackberry blossoms are starting to show just a hint of white, and a little warm weather will bring them out. They have a wonderful scent too.

Honeysuckle is open all over, in many colors, and I can't go outdoors without smelling it. It's really a sort of invasive weed, but the hummingbirds like it and it does smell nice.

Oh, and rhubarb is coming along nicely. Strawberries are in the market now. Time for pies.

Comments

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*snoozes in the leafy apple tree*

All the stuff around me is green all year round, though the people on the corner have a lovely maple :) Its Red leaves always look so nice in Autumn.

The Mango tree is green all year around.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I thought everything around you was all brown and yellow from not enough rain.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Well the ground definitely is :)

[zenicurean.livejournal.com]

I'm envious of the rhubarb. Back when I was a little kid, we had some growing on the farm. That stuff is awesome. Now I can't find it anywhere.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That seems odd. I thought people had transported rhubarb just about everywhere in the world. It certainly isn't native here, but I believe French settlers often get the credit for bringing it. You find it growing in places where there used to be a house 75 or more years ago but hasn't been one left for a long time, still growing happily.

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

It sounds so beautiful out there. And naturally, you are knowledgable about all the botanical life.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Naturally? Nah, I wasn't born with it, I just learned what I know (which isn't a lot) over many years of study.

You're right that it's beautiful, most of the year, really. Except for the noise. When we moved here eight years ago it was quiet except for birds and the occasional farm animal sound. Now it's constant man-made junk noise: lawnmowers, televisions, radios, motorcycles, and people shouting. That's true even after dark, and even though the distance between houses is very large compared to city or suburbs. I've concluded that most people have become more and more deaf over the years. They shout constantly. They never imagine that making a lot of noise would bother anyone. I need to be in the middle of the wilderness.

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

I love the scent of honeysuckle and lilac. Your very blessed in the
smell department where your at. ^_^

As for the Oaks, couldn't you DIY? Thats lots of firewood if nothing
else.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Would that it were as simple as that. These are trees that stand over twice the height of our barns. They measure easily seven or eight feet around at the base. Not something you just casually cut through and yell "Timberrr!"

They won't fall clear either, and nothing is more dangerous than an 80 foot tree trunk leaning against another tree, poised to topple in any direction when the wind hits right or a branch gives way. They didn't call those "widow makers" for nothing. I should get some photos that let you appreciate what I'm talking about. The ones out in the woodlot will probably come down a branch at a time, hopefully not when one of us is standing under them. The one in the front of the house worries me, though. It's among the tallest on our property, which has well over a hundred large trees on it. If left alone it will probably come down a branch here, a branch there over several years, but it's going to look very frightening and ugly by then. Once it weakens enough, a good wind will push it down and chances are it will land against another tree, creating a severe hazard. In the forest, that's all natural and I'd let it be. But I live under it.

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

Point taken. @.@