Until July 2017, documenting the seasons of coastal Dorset. I'm a complete amateur so don't trust I'm always right. If ever you see I'm wrong - whether with identifications or in anything else - do say! Meanwhile . . . I've now moved to Halifax in West Yorkshire. Click on the link below to collect the new URL. Don't forget to follow there!

Monday 7 April 2014

TREE FOLLOWING - THE APRIL BOX IS HERE!


Tree (perhaps Windmill Palm?) with white building and blue sky.
Poole, Dorset, November 14th 2013
It should be exciting. We have been introduced to nearly all the trees and now's the time to find out what's been happening since last we met. Many will have changed. A month is a long time when it comes to leaves and buds and the melt of snow. Some will still be waiting for the starter's whistle. In other parts of the world, autumn is heading in. (We would specially welcome tree-followers from the southern hemisphere to broaden the atmosphere of the Tree Following project.)

If you aren't already following a tree
it's not too late to
You can read more about it on the Loose and Leafy Tree Following Page.
If you are on the list
PLEASE CHECK THE DETAILS
Your blog, your name, your tree, where you are.
If you have moved your blog to another site
Please let me know.
(A couple have gone missing!)

MORE TO DO AND PLACES TO GO.
(You can skip this bit if you like and go straight to the Link Box
at the foot of the post.)

Trunks of sycamores without leaves on bank with ferns and ivy.
Sycamores - February 11th 2014
If you are in England, you might like also to take part in The Woodland Trust's 'Track a Tree' project.

If you'd like to know more about your kind of tree - take a look at the A-Z of trees in the left hand column of this Royal Forestry Society page.

If you are uncertain of the name for the tree you are following, Bomengids may be the site for you. (You can choose whether to browse in Dutch or English.) Neither the Royal Forestry site nor Bomengids are about trees of the world - simply of the countries they are based in. The same trees sometimes grow elsewhere too but if you are able to recommend a tree-identifying site specific to your own climate zone, let me know and I'll give a link from Loose and Leafy.

For Tree Followers in the UK and Ireland - iSpot is good in helping with IDs for trees, plants, insects, birds.
For Tree Followers elsewhere there's a Global version too.

New hawthorn leaves on branch with lichen.
Hawthorn, March 13th 2014

About the link box.
Please add the URL to your tree-following post rather than for your blog. (You can generally find this by clicking the post title. Copy and paste what comes up in the bar at the top of your screen.)
If you'd like to leave a comment, please do. It's good to hear from you. But if the Loose and Leafy blog settings mean you can't or don't want to - that's fine.

Please note - the Link Box is playing jokes and keeps changing the information about when it closed. I reckon we'll choose to find this mildly amusing rather than wildly irritating.
Late addition - Carole at LaFosse missed the deadline because her internet connection failed
 - Tree Following - April
and
from Winkos
Now Where Did That Tree Go?

* * *
When a link box closes, the links to posts move to a new page.

45 comments:

Alison Levey said...

I've added my link, I was surprised at how much growth my tree has put on in the last four weeks, though why I'm surprised I'm not sure, it is Spring after all!

Anonymous said...

My tree's gone PING too - and Lucy, your tree is a real beauty (are you sure it's not an Ent?)

VP said...

Mine has yet to go PING, but that's not surprising seeing it's an ash ;)

Anonymous said...

I 'll be doing my tree following post sometime this week . When done I'll then add the link to the list. Flighty xx

Crafty Green Poet said...

I've blogged about my tree every week and will try to put up all the links here. I've never noticed the gorgeous little female larch flowers before, so that's my first discovery!

Donna said...

Great resources Lucy. I have decided on my main tree to follow and I linked in with the first post. I will update my newer trees as well throughout the season...

Anonymous said...

Still looking bare is my oak, although others of the same species are starting to come into their green clothing. Will update next month x

Green Lizard said...

My tree is rather bare. But it's becoming home to more creatures.

Susan said...

My tree has been neglected. This year will be one of restoring and waiting to see what happens. I'm looking forward to an afternoon of reading the other posts.

Sue in Suffolk said...

Have just found your blog about tree following and linked in, but didn't realise only my name was going to appear so it looks a bit odd, sorry.Will be following our pink flowered Horse Chestnut and will start tomorrow.

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Thanks for hosting, Lucy! "Freda" is looking great! You picked a tree with fascinating bark, too. This is fun.

Lyn said...

Oh but which tree to choose? I think I know and will pop out later to take a photo. I am determined to join this month......
Xxx

Anonymous said...

Am enjoying this project very much Lucy and with so many other tree followers it makes for interesting reading. Thank you for providing all the info links - fortunately my tree was labelled. No pet name for it unlike your Freda - interesting cones and some lovely shots of her textures

Amanda Scott said...

Just joined in with my newly planted hawthorn - am loving reading about everyone else's trees!

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

My hawthorn is suddenly covered in a bright green haze of new growth, a wonderful sight! Post is up - thank you for this, great fun, am off to read up on the other trees...

The Orchard Year said...

Bit late with my post this time, sorry must keep up! If this warm spell continues it'll be in full blossom before next month so might have to add some extra posts. The tree is in North Cambridgeshire actually only a mile or two from the Norfolk border.

pat@siteandinsight.com said...

Lots of green envy when I read all the comments about trees pinging and greening up and about to bloom. Not yet for my little contorted hazel. But soon, I hope.

Anna said...

My tree has pinged too Lucy when I wasn't looking. Isn't this time of year so exciting! Will investigate your interesting looking links later today. Thanks for hosting.

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

My tree has not pinged although its sister a hundred yards away has. I am really enjoying both my own following and catching up with others.

Anonymous said...

I've just published my Tree following - April 2014 post and added the link. I will enjoy looking at other followers posts over the next few days. Flighty xx

Anonymous said...

Absolutely loving this tree following! I have posted my link and now look forward to relaxing while I catch up with everyone else's trees...
All the best :)

sharp green pencil said...

The chestnuts are now racing away here and I am having trouble keeping up. Some are just beginning to flower. I find I am noticing much more about all sorts of other trees now. Its a fascinating project Lucy! Thankyou

Gardener Gary said...

Back following my Cedar of Lebanon, and in at 47 on this weeks chart! Do drop by and comment - I'd love to see/hear of a Cedar near you! Thanks Lucy for keeping up the tree following tradition :-)

Hollis said...

Cottonwood report: Still dormant so we measured it, a challenge!

Hollis said...

Just finished going through all the posts for April (so far) -- great reading and photos! "Thanks" to the tree-followers and especially Lucy.

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

I was out this morning at 7 am trying to get a photo at sunrise of my tree ... alas the clouds appeared before I got outside. I'm so late Lucy with the tree following but really really want to join in.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy - I've just been out to visit my little Common Alder sapling on a lovely sunny afternoon. The leaves are unfurling, and there are lots of purple flowers around it (Ground Ivy - I think) - so it's all looking rather Spring-like and pretty. I've enjoyed your updates about Freda. Lucy (bit confusing being another Lucy - sorry!)

Unknown said...

Hi Lucy, just added my link for April and about to start reading everyone else's posts.

Caro said...

Hi Lucy, I was SO determined to make the Linky this month that I've posted about my trees before quite finishing the post … then the Linky said it would close in 20 hours (ie 15th April), oh dear, I'm so confused! Will definitely be more organised next month and get in earlier! Off to finish my post then read a few others!

Anonymous said...

Hello Lucy - Sorry! I've been away and last night, when I would have been able to scrape in by your deadline, I had no internet connection at all. Not an unusual occurrence in very rural France which has a capricious relationship with technology but very irritating when it happens. Here is my link... would you be able to include it for me? http://lafosse.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/tree-following-april/
Many thanks - I'm off to catch up on the posts of some of the more timely participants now!
Best wishes, Carole @ La Fosse, Normandy, France

Anonymous said...

Doh! too late :) Sorry http://winkos.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/now-where-did-that-tree-go/

Caroline Gill said...

Thank you, Lucy, so much for adding me in to the April TF gathering! Thank you, too, for the sites you mention above which I will check out. What a lovely photo of the Hawthorn ... how fast things are changing all of a sudden!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Dear Everyone. I'm being slow to reply - as ever. But there is so much to pull me outside and away from my laptop. After months of rain, a few sunny days are a special pleasure - though yesterday it rained again; this time gently and in a spring-like way. Hurray. Plants are already making a new burst of green and growth. It's funny how they can shoot up so suddenly. Glad I don't grow this much over night!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Papaver. I agree. One can be taken aback by how much things can grow, even though we know that's what's supposed to happen in spring. But trees can be like watched kettles. They don't do anything . . . they don't do anything . . . then, all of a sudden, they are covered in leaves or blossom.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Beangenie. You may be right about my tree being an Ent. Though I can't decide whether 'Freda' is a sufficiently dignified name for a giant being. Maybe I'll wake up one morning and see it has followed me home and is looking in through my bedroom window. Aaaaaagh!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello VP. Wondering if, two weeks later, your ash is at last pinging. You know that saying about oak and ash, soak and splash? I think it's a way of saying that whatever happens it's bound to rain!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Flighty. I expect your willow is much further advanced now than when you posted. The spring race is on!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Juliet. I keep wishing I'd chosen a tree with branches closer to the ground so I could see just that kind of detail. Instead, I thought I'd like a challenge. Ha! Still, other years I've had more accessible trees. The elderberry shoot I followed was at nose level.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Donna. I'm glad you find the resources interesting. For all that this is a nature blog, I don't know very much and have to do a lot of investigating before I write my posts. It makes sense to pass on the links I find as I do so.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Countryside Tales. There are lots of Holm Oaks round where I live but not many what I think of as 'proper' oaks. I wish there were.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Green Lizard. The creatures are an important part of observing a tree. Apart from spiders, I've not seen any on mine - not yet even birds!

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Susan. I hope you enjoyed reading the other Tree Following posts. There are lots, aren't there. And full of variety.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hi, Sue. Next time you'll be genned up and know what you'd like to put in the link box. If you find it isn't what you want, you can always delete and re-enter the info. differently.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Hello Plant Postings. I'm hoping I'll find some interesting spiders when the weather gets brighter and I can see more easily into the bark's fissures and cracks. (Though when I say 'interesting' I don't mean 'rare' - just it will be interesting to find them.)

Anonymous said...

Did I miss it again or am I just silly and can't work out the box? Sorry :)
http://winkos.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/its-tree-time/