THE TREES GO ROUND AND ROUND

February 24th 2013

On March 14th 2010 I published a post called 'Take One Tree'. It it's a sycamore and I've been following its progress ever since - though 'progress' probably isn't the right word because it never seems to do anything. Even the ivy which was cut away last year is re-growing this. There's a Hart's Tongue Fern that never moves. There's an Arum maculatum that dies down and come back. There are celandines which used to flower with exuberance but have become a bit tatty and drab over the last few years. The ditch at the foot of the bank is a bit more silted than it was. And that's about it! It's not a very leafy tree and the leaves it does produce are very high up. But, still, I follow!

Then there's the clump of elderberry trees.

March 14th 2013

I began following them in December 2008 when I was still using the camera on my phone. I even gave them a blog of their own. (The Elderberry Log Blog been much neglected. Perhaps I should revive it.) At first,  I followed a particular whirl in the wood of one of the trees. This turned out to be a mistake because when the leaves had grew round it, it became impossible to photograph. It time, bits flaked away. So I switched to a crooked branch. (You can see the crook clearly in a post from August 2012 called 'Who Stole My Leaf'.) And now a bit of the crook has broken away so it's a crook no longer.

At first, I thought it had gone completely but 'our' shoots are still there, simply a little higher because, with less weight on it, the branch has sprung higher.

March 14th 2013

And now that it's March, our eyes begin to turn towards the hawthorn and blackthorn trees. Of the blackthorns, I've been specially noticing some young trees. On this one, you can still see the shriveled remains of last year's sloes.

And all the time there's gorse.

March 14th 2013

.

Soft green buds.

March 14th 2013

And startling bursts of gold.

The years go round. They stay the same. They flake away. Things live. Things die. And live again.

Click HERE for previous Sycamore Tree Following posts.

I'm Following a Tree

Are You?

A Growing List!

Some people follow a tree for a year, some for longer.

There's a list of tree-following bloggers under a tab below the picture at the top of the page.

Over the next little bit, I'll be revising it and visiting tree-following bloggers to find out if they are still following their tree . . . or have stopped . . . or have moved on to a new one.

Meanwhile . . .

Joy at The Little House in the No-so-big Woods is setting off this year with a cedar elm. Her first post is Be careful, tree: there's someone following you!

(How's that for a title!)

and

Laura (who used to blog at Patio Patch) is following a London Laburnum on her new blog, Tell Tale Therapy.

Do you have a tree following post? If so, let me know, and, despite my profound inefficiency and erratic blogging technique - I'll endeavor to remember to put a link here!

Tweet

FOLLOWED TREES AND INCIDENTAL INSECTS

How's your tree following?

SWOLLEN-THIGHED BEETLE
(Oedemera (Oedemera) nobilis)

When I chose my clump of elderberry trees I decided to follow a particular leaf bud on one of them. 'This,' I thought 'will be interesting'.

At first, it was. But once the leaf had opened, it got stuck where it was. Everything else grew. I keep returning to the tree to photographing the non-growing leaf - but the results are hardly riveting. I've been back to take pictures of the flowers - then they were cut off by the council as it came by on its annual trim back. Most of the blossom was shaken off when they did it so there are spikes where the flowers were and very few berries.

Fortunately, there are others close nearby so I'll add what happens to them in my extended tree.

It's a cross over moment. Berries are forming but there are flowers still. They are neither as profuse nor as big as in other years (there have been seasons when the trees and bushes look as if they are spinning big, white plates) . . . and on them . . . here! above . . . A Swollen-thighed Beetle. And just look at its thighs too! I didn't name it. I'd have called it 'The Beetle With Massive Thighs' for it isn't ill. Its legs aren't swollen because it hasn't been taking enough exercise. This is its natural state. And isn't it beautiful? I think he's a he and his presence diverted me from my elderberry intentions.

Already we were coming to the end of National Insect Week and I had already taken a few pictures of insects that morning and the day before so I hurried home and . . . began to find out (with the help of iSpot) what they are.

On blackberry flowers (where the fruits are already forming)

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

And sharing a (Spear?) thistle;

on the right, a Garden Bumble bee

(Bombus hortorum)








and, on the left, a Common Carder bee
(Bombus (Thoracombus) pascuorum)

Single roses in the hedgerow

are host to Shield Bugs mating
(Palomena prasina)

or waiting (?) in the sunshine, on hips already forming

a Lagria Hirta (which, I think, is also called a 'Darkling Beetle', beautiful name, no?).

As for the tree following? Can't let go of the Sycamore. Some of the ivy has been stripped from it or cut - but, here it is still, being magnificent!

I expect I should have posted this a week ago. Never mind - here's a Happy Insect Week; after all, insects are here every week.

Tweet

HOW COULD I ABANDON A SYCAMORE?

This is the elder, I'm following . . .

. . . but how could I abandon last year's tree? I've been following it for several years.

So I went back for a catch-up visit.

Near enough, everything's the same with the sycamore. But that, in its way, is inspiring. It's probably one of the things we look for in a mature tree. Its solidity. It's bound-to-be-there-ness.

And that is true of this.

Its trunks will hardly dwindle. Even if the tree were to die - they'd still be there.

The path beyond might have changed - but it hasn't!

Here it is now . . .

and . . .

here it was in February 2011.

In this picture, the tree itself is in the right of the frame. In the 2012 photo (above) we are a little further along. But give it a couple of seconds and you'll get your bearing.

The Asplenium scolopendrium (Hart's Tongue Fern) is still below it, a few feet down the bank. It looked a bit tired last year, but it's come through the winter refreshed.

Can't all be easy sailing for the sycamore. One of its twigs has fallen - but it has many to spare!

And, between its toes, our old friend from last year (and the year before!) the Arum maculatum - fresh and new and green and . . . yes! still there!

Arum Maculatum
 is also known as 'Lords and Ladies'
and 'Jack in the Pulpit'. 

This was what it looked like for the post of February 7th 2011. Further ahead than it is at present - which surprised me. (You can see the whole post about the tree as it was last February HERE.)

I'm a tree follower - what about you?

BLOGS FOLLOWING TREES

Patio Patch - Wych Elm - Ulmus glabra‘Camperdownii’

Welsh Hills Again - Horse Chestnut

Garden’s Eye View

Windy Willow

The Blackberry Garden

Moongazy Girl - is also following a Horse Chestnut - click HERE for her first tree-following post.

Gardening Ways - First Post in a Series about Gary's chosen tree - a magnificent plane at Compton Verney in Warwickshire.

Small Matters

Tree Care Tips

Gill Heavens of On the Edge Gardening has posted an Introduction to the trees she will be following this year at  - Lime (Tilia x europaea) and Copper Beech (Fagus sylvatica “Atropurpurea”)

Arigna Gardener - Twisted Willow - Introduction 

Hyde Daily Photo - The Tree Un-named - Two Posts . . .
. . . The Bottom of a Tree and The Top of a Tree (with the middle HERE!)
Down by the Sea

Let me know if you would like your blog added to the list - either by leaving a note in comments or email me at looseandleafy@googlemail.com

Ditto, let me know whenever you post about ‘your tree’ and I'll put an updated link to it here.

And

Remember - you can also keep in touch with other tree-bloggers by signing up with

Treeblogging.com     

Tweet

THE TREE AT THE END OF APRIL

There's something odd about the tree I am following. Ditto the ground around it. The leaves are late and many of the flowers beside it had their heads eaten off or withered before they had a chance to flower. I expect, at the end of the year, I'll go through photos and do a sort of 'retrospective' post to show how things haven't happened. In the meantime, before we get completely out of season, here's a glimpse of what was happening on 25th April.

Looking up into the tree.

As you see from this (and from the next photo) there are many more leaves on the sycamores beyond 'our' one, in both directions.

Fortunately, the clump of bluebells was worth waiting for.

But, right against the roots, where the lesser celandines didn't flower - the Arum Maculatum (Lords and Ladies, Jack in the Pulpit) isn't faring well.

It's all very odd.

But it would be nice to finish with something cheerful so . . .

A couple of miles away, a field where ponies live - buttercups.

.

THE TREE YEAR

FROM SMALL SYCAMORE SEEDS . . .

Not a lot of change at the tree. The lesser celandines between its toes have been nibbled to their stalks. At the foot of the bank, the dip is dry. When rain comes it will be soggy. Sometimes it's a sluggish small stream. The patches of green down there are celandine leaves - not enough to impress though. Meanwhile, the bluebells on the left of the picture (hope they are bluebells! - time will tell) are bulking up.

March 8th 2011

February 9th 2011 - in colour!

The sky has changed. Not all the time - but when I took the latest pictures (8th March 2011) it was blue.

This is the view of the bank opposite, from beside the tree. The sky might be blue but the light is cold. (The shadow on the path is of the next tree along, not the one we are observing. It too is a sycamore.)

At my feet, a clump of moss; a marker so I know where to stand next time.

And on the moss, a sycamore seed. Already it has a root boring into the earth. With this anchored, it begins to wrench its head from the wing.

The parent trees remain leafless while their offspring need light for first shoots.

My breath is taken.

This post is for THE TREE YEAR, 2011

THE WOODLAND TREE WITH PLANTS AT ITS FEET

I sometimes wonder if I am the most boring person I know. Each year, I look at the same trees, the same patches of mud, the same plants, the same twigs - precisely the same twigs if they are still there which, sometimes, they aren’t.

Each year, I announce grandly that I will follow one of these familiar things right through the season, only to find they are chopped down, trodden on or done in by the weather.

Last year, I chose a tree and took photos of the plants around it. The year before, the whole area, had been plastered with Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) in the spring. I was expecting to show you the ground as it turned yellow with bright, starry flowers. No. There was drought and the bank stayed brown and dull right through the summer and not in the least bit interesting to document because hardly anything changed. There certainly wasn’t an outburst of yellow flowers.

I went back today.

Considering the amount of rain we have had recently, the ground was surprisingly firm - so, maybe this will be another non-celandine season. Undaunted - and at the risk of you confirming that I am the most boring person on the internet . . . I’ve re-photoed the tree and the plants immediately around it. At the very least (I hope!) the tree will grow leaves!

Here, then, is the context; a bank beside a path which has been built along an old railway line. The tree is second on the left.

This one.

A sycamore with bare branches.

Ivy on the trunk.

Bluebells near it.

Arum maculatum tucked between its toes.

These are on the opposite bank but show how the plant unfurls. As the season goes by they will produce pale curving flowers (like unrolling pages) (one each) and, by autumn, these will have been replaced by pillars of bright red berries sticking up through their middles.

And the jolly old Lesser Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria).

Flower plants, flower!

This post is for Festival of the Trees Number 57.

Festival of the Trees
Number 57

TAKE ONE TREE

The celandines are late this year; at least, it seems that way to me. In the weeks running up to 26th March 2009, I was without a camera and I remember bewailing to myself that I couldn't take photos of celandines in flower. By the time I was up and running again, they had gone. (By 'celandines' I mean Ranunculus ficaria - and by 'late' I mean 'later than last year' which may simply mean that last year they were early!)

And now my camera has gone to be mended. Such is life!

So . . . on my way to deliver it back to the shop where I bought it, I took photos of a tree and what is growing on and round it. I know I was promising more fungi - but there has been much disruption in the woods recently and the branches it was growing on were upturned and moved around. Even the lump of wood with the whiteish, slug-like fungus which had burst out of a black shell is gone.

Some trees have been felled too. I'm hoping that, at the very least, the tree I have chosen for this post will still be there by the time my camera comes back! Then we'll see if the celandines are flowering.

(Message to people who look at my photos on Pictures Just Pictures each day - I have stacked up a couple of weeks' worth of photos which I'll use to cover this blip.)

So, here is the tree ( a sycamore, I think) up on a steep bank with a stream (which is sometimes a muddy ditch) at its foot. (It's the second from the left. This picture was taken a couple of weeks before the others on this post.)

It has several trunks rising from its base, each very high.

Ivy grew on it but its stems have been severed before the tree is overwhelmed.

But it will return. You can't keep a good ivy down and it's on its way up already.

The tree itself has similarly re-generative desires. Its middle has been thinned but its middle may want to grow again!

At its foot is a patch of Arum maculatum. (That's the one with heart shaped leaves. The 'maculatum' bit means spotted. See the inky patches?) There's an Asplenium behind it. (Tall, pointed leaves with crimped edges.)

Moving to the left, there are celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) between the roots of the tree. There are usually huge patches up and down the banks too. There seem to be fewer this year. Last year it was almost a cliff of yellow when they flowered.)

Left again and at the lower foot of the tree - another Asplenium.

A tree. Plants.

When my camera comes back - I'll see how they've grown. (Our new family!)

P.S. The first picture was taken on 25th February 2010. All the others were taken on 8th March 2010.