Tree Planting

The Lee's Landscaping tree planting crew was busy in uptown Pigeon today. They replanted several trees that grow as a part of the streetscape. 

Pigeon's landscaping dates from 1992 which is the last time that the sidewalks and street were scooped out and totally replaced. That was the summer that I was working on opening my quilt shop, Pigeon River Mercantile & Wool Co, in the former dime store building on the west side of Main Street.

For much of that summer there was no street and no sidewalk as crews worked from wall to wall, replacing lighting systems, cement, and asphalt. The work began in July after Farmers' Festival and was completed by mid autumn. 

The Mercantile opened on Election Day on November of 1992 with new streets, new sidewalks, and a new quilt themed inventory in the refreshed old building. 

Some of the trees planted that year have not thrived, so it was good today to see the replacement trees being planted. 

Fall Mulch

The three ginkgo trees and the Stan Wheeler lilac all received a bag of pine bark mulch this weekend. The cold weather is setting in and there will be fewer and fewer days in the gardens at Cedar Bluff.

Pine bark mulch, a suggestion from gardening friend Gloria, breaks down into a lovely dark soil that adds nutrient. It is a little more expensive, but I am really seeing better perennial beds as a result.

The ginkgoes are barely tinged with yellow. Cold nights to come will change that fast. What surprised me when I looked at this image on a computer screen was the intense green of this fall. Here in Michigan, there has been a lot of fall rain. The trees and lawns and shrubs still have some of that wonderful northern summer green.

Tale of Two Canyons: Madera Canyon & Box Canyon

Just an hour's drive south of Tucson, the Santa Rita Mountains and Coronado National Forest provide the traveler with desert to mountain and back to desert landscapes. Paved roads lead back in to Madera Canyon where you can drive up the canyon as high as 5500 feet. Trails that lead up Mt. Wrightson start at the highest picnic and parking area.

Popular with birders and hikers and bicyclists, the area had a lot of visitors, some of them watching birds, for a midweek afternoon in March. Steady traffic on the roads kept us watching and hopping as we stopped to photograph the scenery.

Majestic Arizona sycamore trees are found throughout the canyons in the Santa Ritas. This giant tree, probably 3 feet in diameter, stood along the wash that runs down the canyon.

White bark and gnarled trunking patterns make these trees distinctive. They remind me of the wonderful trees on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, Michigan. The Michigan trees are American plane trees and are found in the eastern part of the United States.

The Arizona sycamore is from the same family, but is found in New Mexico, Arizona, and part of Mexico, primarily on the sky islands which are mountains that rise out of the southwestern desertlands.

Plane trees are also found in Great Britain where they are of the variety known as London plane trees.

After leaving Madera Canyon, we drove Forest Road 62 through Box Canyon, headed east for State Route 83. The road, improved but not paved, clings to the side of the canyon for a portion of the drive. Although there are no guard rails and some of the bends are pretty scary, Ed drove slowly but surely. Just when I was feeling like we were in a pretty remote part of the world, we met two bicyclists headed west and enjoying their afternoon exercise. They looked for all the world like sensible people who knew what they were doing, so I relaxed my grip on the overhead handle in the car and started watching the scenery.

Forest Road 62 meets up with Highway 83 after passing through ranching country, complete with grazing cattle, windmills, and lot of water tanks. We drove this route in the afternoon, finishing just before sunset when the low light casts a golden glow on the grass and the landscape lights up. At this point we met more traffic, mostly ranchers in pickups and people headed to their ranch homes for the night.

From the junction of FR 62 and Hwy. 83, we turned north. It was about an hour's drive back to the south side of Tucson where Hwy. 83 meets Interstate 10. We had started from Exit 63 on Hwy. 19 at Green Valley about 3 pm and were back in Tucson, having dinner by 7:30 pm. The route for our adventurous drive is marked in orange dots on the map below.

The Demise of the Christmas Tree

Our poor Christmas tree stood neglected and without water for over a month. The branches drooped and dried out. The bead strands slipped and slopped.

So today, finally, we took the tree down. There were seven strings of lights, dozens of red glass balls, eight bead strands, and a lot of individual ornaments on the tree.

The needles on a fir stay somewhat soft, even when dried out. This tree was so dry that the tips of the branches flipped off as we removed the beads and lights.

Ed has a nifty way of taking the tree out of the house. He cuts the lower third of the branches off, opens a window, and pulls the tree through the opening and out onto the terrace beyond. Then he carries it out to the woods where it will shelter the bunnies and birds for the rest of the winter.

Putting the tree up and decorating it takes us at least a day. Taking it down can be accomplished in two hours and around our house, this day is known as the demise of the Christmas tree day.

Artwork: White Barked Acacia

A clump of white barked acacia, reflected against a stone wall in the afternoon sun, was the subject of my very first ink wash drawing on Tuesday at my Pen & Ink class at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.

I rather like the results and think that ink wash might be an engaging new medium for me.

Big Tree

Lunch at The Atrium in Bay City was made even more special when we visited their really big indoor real Christmas tree. The tree touches the rafter structure in this expansive dining room. 

The Atrium is located on Water Street, right across from St Laurents Nut House, home of our favorite peanut butter, along the Saginaw River. 

Late October Ginkgo Report

The three trees in the ginkgo grove are yellowing but their leaves have not begun to drop. Since there finally was a killing frost last night (October 23 -- first killing frost of 2013 at Cedar Bluff) it is probably time to unzip the Treegator watering bags and put them away for the season.

I've been collecting hoses and getting them ready for winter storage in the basement. All of the squash are cured and stored on a plywood board, up and off the basement floor.  I picked a few eggplants today, probably the last of the season.

The fan shaped leaves form a lacy pattern against the straight branches of the trees. Green still tinges the base of the leaves as the chlorophyll fades from the leaves. There were a few moments of raindrops with icy tinges when I walked in the grove today. A cold rain would probably loosen the leaves in an hour or two.

Mad Squirrel Bombers

Liesl and John have several mad squirrel bombers living in their black walnut trees. The Squirrel Bombing Corps keeps the back yard clear of any intruders.

Walk under the walnut trees while Airman First Class Squirrel is busy carrying a nut and you will stand a good chance of being beaned in the head with yet another green shelled walnut. Walnuts tumble into the grass and lie on the driveway. John has been known to offer up to three dollars U. S. to anyone willing to pick up a five gallon pail of fresh walnuts. He empties his wallet frequently to certain boys named Max and Finn.

The Squirrel Corps is charged by natural selection and their innate squirellness with emptying all of the black walnuts from every treetop. Judging by the look of the trees last weekend, they have a long way to go.

Bombs away!

Ginkgo Update

The ginkgo trees at Cedar Bluff are showing a bit of their green gold color this week. I haven't filled the Treegators since last week since the rain gauge recorded almost two inches of rain in four days in early October. If there isn't much rain today, then I'll fill them one more time.

Joanne Sturm says that the ginkgo trees on their farm lose their leaves all at once, and that the leaves fall in a golden circle around the tree. How enchanting! I'm watching for the circles of gold around these trees.

Here's a close up shot of the leaves. Notice how pock marked they are from the hailstorm on August 1st. The leaves are small, but so are the trees. Someday my grandchildren will look up into the tall tops of these three trees and wonder about their grandparents and the ginkgo trees at Cedar Bluff.

By the way, I have to stop and think about how to spell "ginkgo" every time I type the word. Thank heaven for spell check!

Ginkgo Grove

Ginkgoes Along Grand River

Magnificent Ginkgo

After the Michigan State homecoming game on Saturday, Ed and I walked through the Beale Botanical Garden on our way back from Spartan Stadium to the parking ramp. We spotted this magnificent ginkgo tree in the garden area south of the Music Building. The trees on the Michigan State campus are an absolute treasure and it is a joy to see them on football weekends.

The late, cool spring in Michigan set so many plants back about two weeks. The ginkgo trees that we watch are mostly green yet. Their intense golden green is yet to come.

Ginkgoes have long, spiraling limbs. A major limb will have sprout-like side branches, unlike the long, forking branches of other trees. This tree looks like one of those spider fireworks with branches that pierce the sky.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Maple Chain

Max made a maple chain at his after school program today. He used fresh maple leaves and broke the stems off of the leaves.

Each stem became a fastener, like a paperclip, that fastened the top of one leaf to the bottom of another. We photographed part of the chain up close. Max's chain was over four feet long.

It was a very cool art project.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Ginkgo Grove

Ed and I have developed a fondness for ginkgo trees after seeing them on the site of the atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima in September 2008 while visiting Japan. With their fan shaped leaves and golden yellow fall color, the ginkgo trees have worked their way into our hearts.

So Ed had several trees planted at the farm and then at the lake. This image, taken last week, is of the ginkgo grove (well, three trees could constitute a grove) at the lake. Goldenrod in full bloom accents the lower right corner of the photo while dappled morning light highlights the green grass. And yes, that is a dead ash tree in the left background. Like many Michigan property owners, we will have lots of ash trees to remove as the emerald ash borer has taken a toll on the ash population.

We have been watering these trees all summer using the Treegator bags that our son-in-law recommended to us. "Just don't let your lawnmower and a Treegator meet," John told us as we realized that it would be easy to clip the vinyl bag of the Treegator with the blades of the mower. We've been careful haven't lost a gator to the mower (yet).

The Treegators hold about twenty gallons of water, have trickle drip holes around the bottom, and zip in place around each tree. It take about five minutes to fill one from the watering hose. We've given these trees water at least once a week this summer in the weeks when there has not been a heavy rain.

The second photo show three Treegators zipped together and standing around the lilac bush that the Wheelers gave us in memory of my Dad. I knew that the gators would press in on the lilac if I filled each bag to the top, so I only filled each one about a quarter of the way full.

The lilac and the ginkgoes occupy the Woodland Garden, a garden that is starting to take shape as a partly wild, partly cultivated spot on our lake property.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

American Elm

Tucked away on the campus of Michigan State University, well, sort of tucked away as much as a giant tree can be, this majestic American elm stands as a reminder of the elms that once lined the streets and byways of the Midwest states. 

Dutch elm disease took most of the elms in the 60's and 70's, so it was delightful to find this specimen on campus today. One wonders if some of the ash trees will survive the ravages of the emerald ash borer. I hope that here and there some ash trees will win the insect vs. tree battle. 

Copyright 2013

Wanda Hayes Eichler

 

Watercolor Bark

I was so taken with the textures and color of the American Planetree bark in yesterday's blog post that I tried a sketch of the bark in my art journal today.

I used gouache watercolors (Prussian blue, Naples yellow, spectrum red), a Pigma pen, and Caran d'Ache watercolor pencils (yellow ochre, greyish black, sepia, black).

The art experience was interrupted several times by experimentation in the kitchen with a sourdough bread recipe, so my concentration was broken.

The sketch is so-so. The bread was better.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Artsy Bark

I have always been an admirer of the great and wondrous trees on the campus at Michigan State. This close up of the scale-like bark of an American Planetree outside of Dem Hall has an artful quality.

Ed and I spent part of the afternoon on campus where we stopped by Dem Hall to see Peter and Clay. I had my first opportunity to walk through the galleries at the incredible Broad Museum, too. We needed a day to "get out of Dodge" and State is a good place to visit.

DROID photo -- cropped, enhanced

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Up High and Down Low

Ed and I spotted this mass of organic matter up high in a cotton wood tree near the lake house. We are always on the lookout for an eagle's nest, but figure that this is probably a squirrel's nest. Enlarged on a computer screen, this structure appears to be made of leaves.

Thanks to the optics and zoom function of a simple point-and-shoot camera, we can get a closer glimpse of this nest. That's the "up high" of this blog post.

Next, I took the same camera and set it for a close up function. I activated the self timer for 10 seconds, put the camera on the ground near a freshly made ant hill and pushed the shutter button.

Presto, Eduardo! Now we have an ant's view of homecoming. The camera's eye gives us a glimpse of nature again, only this time we are "down low."

The ant hills and the cottonwood trees line the highway near our lakehouse. Obviously, it does not take much to entertain me on a morning walk.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

May Blossoms

The ornamental cherry tree that Jim and Joanne Christner gave us when we built the lake house is stunning this year. I have been watching it this week, waiting for the buds to open.

Yesterday morning I stepped outside and sensed a blaze of color. Sure enough, it was the Christner tree, in full bloom, and making a deep pink statement in the spring landscape.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Old Birches

My Dad says that the mystery trees from Wednesday's blog post are birches. "Those trees have been there longer than the barn," he said as he reminisced about how old the barn on Mom's home farm could be.

Lately I've been watching in the Midwest for sycamores or Planetrees. There are large, old specimens of Planetrees on the campus at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. I learned to identify them last summer after seeing them in Oxford and Cambridge in the UK in spring. I realized that the trees in England resembled some trees at Michigan State. The connection was made and I added another tree to my "identified" list.

I didn't consider that the "mystery tree" on the farm in Wisconsin might be a birch because I'm used to seeing much smaller specimens with very white bark, often peeling, that are used as landscape accents on lawns. These guys on the farm are big, maybe 75-100 feet tall, and there are a lot of them in one grove, almost like they are protecting each other.

Could they have been young trees when my grandparents worked this farm as young people? Or are they older than that?  Did these trees see me as a child, walking along with the stone wagon, helping my grandparents pick stones after supper during one of those long northern summer evenings?

Now the next thing is to identify what kind of birch they could be. I'll be thinking lots of things -- my grandparents, the big trees, childhood days on the farm -- when I walk back to see and photograph them again this week.

NOTE: If you want to learn more about trees and their growth habits, read "The Trees In My Forest," by Bernd Heinrich. His book puts me in touch with tree characteristics that I had never thought about.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Mystery Tree

There is a beautiful grove of white barked trees that don't appear to be birches along the marsh at the back end of Mom and Dad's farm in Wisconsin. The creek that runs through the marsh is a part of the headwaters of the Milwaukee River, or so I've been told since childhood.

Buds on this tree look like pussy willow buds, fluffy and with a reddish scale-like covering.

The trees are tall and stately. At first I thought that they are cottonwoods but now I'm not sure. I spent a few minutes trolling the Internet for some help. Anybody out there got any ideas? Birch? Willow? Poplar? Sycamore?

Copyright 2013

Wanda Hayes Eichler

Buds on the Orange Tree

Winter has not been kind to the orange tree in our Arizona backyard, Too many nights of freezing temperatures caused it to lose over half of its leaves. Yellowed and leathery, they lay on the ground many a cold morning.

The last few weeks have been different, however. The nourishing sun and hot weather, coupled with strategically placed irrigation, brought new life to the little Arizona sweet orange dwarf tree.

Buds abound. If there is one, there must be a hundred. And, like so many of the trees in Michigan after last spring's hard freeze, this tree is developing another set of leaves. In the photo you can see a large leaf on the bottom left. That's an old leaf. Contrast it in size to the myriad new leaves surrounding the little popcorn looking buds.

Quite a tough cookie, this little tree is. Maybe, just maybe, it will produce some fruit this year.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler