Stars and the Trees This Season

If the legend is true, the stars are connected with the Christmas tree tradition as we know it today from centuries ago in Germany. Though people of all kinds had long used trees or parts of trees this time of year to decorate or celebrate a deity or the solstice, it's German theologian Martin Luther who is credited with first bringing the tree in the home to decorate with lights. The story goes that he was out for a walk one evening and struck by the beauty of the stars shining amidst the conifers and reproduced this natural sight indoors by bringing in a tree strung up with lighted candles.

(The Sweetgum on the other hand just wears the stars as leaves.)

Self-Decorating Trees (Sweetgum)

The self-decorating tree is much like the self-cleaning oven is what I'm thinking. What's not to love about the idea?

Following a Favorite, 2011



From top left: Sweetgum leaves emerging mid-April, buds in March, leaf color late September, dried fallen fruit in winter

Some encounters with Sweetgums,2011. The year isn't over. Follow your favorites because you can't learn everything about plants in a year, but the chances are good that you will see a lot if you remember to pay attention to the ones you love.

A Walk with Susan at The New York Botanical Garden

Salvia discolor, The New York Botanical Garden

It's like my oldest friend Christine always says, "wherever you go, there you are", an expression that can mean many things, one being that you cannot escape who you are no matter where you may run or how hard you try. I went to The New York Botanical Garden with Susan yesterday to learn about volunteering for their Citizen Science Tree Phenology program in the native forest after reading a post about the program on NYBG's blog Plant Talk. (Having an excuse to pay attention to the changes of plants throughout the seasons was an appealing idea and since we are doing this anyway, a spreadsheet might make us feel official in some way.) Of course, we got to the garden early so we could wander around in a botanical stupor.

Since wherever I go, therefore I am, I was drawn to the things and plants that capture my attention. So here, three things from yesterday's walk in one of New York City's most magnificent settings for learning about plants: Above, the beautiful Salvia discolor with its mix of contrasting light and dark colors and a visiting pollinator. The more you know about Salvias, the more you fall in love with these genus of plants, (well, at least for me this is true) and if there's something I love for sure, it is a late bloomer. Below, the leaf of a Sweetgum or Liquidambar styracifula, if one must use the proper botanical name. (I prefer this species' common name, if only because I don't have to google the spelling.) If I am my own citizen scientist and can mark the phenology of my own seasons, I can remember this day as the one where I saw my first red Sweetgum leaf of fall. Now I can go out and look for all the other colors this native tree will display this season.

And last, but certainly not least, the mix of the look of the wild with the cultivated, in a section of the new Azalea garden that aims to imitate a high elevation Appalachian bald through the mass planting of grasses and wildflowers.

While it is true that you will be yourself no matter where you are, it is also true that certain places and pursuits will bring you closer to the parts of yourself that you want to nurture. I owe a lot of the joy in my life (my current obsession with plants and gardening) to Joe and his insistance on us filling out an application for a community garden plot ten miles away from our home in Brooklyn. Building our first garden together four years ago and watching in fascination as our vegetables grew opened my eyes finally to the intricate world of the plants and pollinators outside around me. And getting to know that world more fully in these last few years by paying slow attention has made all the difference as I carry myself around to the places I need to go.

What's Leafing Out

The Sweetgum around the corner. I did manage to catch it with the leaves just opening. I wonder how many springs in the rest of my life I can manage to do that. It happens every year, but I bet I'll probably miss it more times than not, so I'm happy I remembered to take the alternate route home from work and look for it this evening. And below what I thought was the Red Maple from the community garden down at Floyd Bennett, although at this point, the leaves seem finely dissected and look more like a Silver Maple. Hhhm.

Under a Sweetgum in Early Spring

Sweetgum buds opening early spring, Brooklyn

If I remember to take the same path on my way home from work, maybe I'll catch the buds of the Sweetgum (a New York City street tree) above in all their stages of opening. They're just starting out now in the last week of March. Snow is in the forecast for Brooklyn this week, but it still looks like spring outside and up in the trees.

Beneath a Sweetgum in Winter

I'm not sure whether I fell in love with the Sweetgum for its amazing fall color or simply because it's so easy to identify with its distinctive pretty star-shaped leaves and spiky fruit. But it's a favorite and native to boot. Above, the dried fruit, which should be empty of seeds now in the snow, and below the remains of its star-shaped leaf as seen on a winter's walk in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.

Cycling and ID'ing in Prospect Park

One of my favorites. Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, near the hill by zoo.





















A witchhazel, Hamemelis, not sure of species, near zoo fence and sweetgum. I know there's some Hammemelis virginiana on the other side of the road. I saw it blooming last November.





















Liriodendrum tulipifera, Tulip Tree. This one is on the west loop. I saw it blooming this year on May 10. There are a number of beautiful ones in the park.
















Eastern Redbud, Cercis canadensis, top of hill above lawn. There are a few scattered throughout the park.

Also seen: Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides near bottom of loop near pond. Various Yellowoods, Cladrastis kentukea which were in bloom here on May 15. Horsechestnut at bottom of loop, Oxydendrum aroboreum on east end behind the lawn they play soccer on and Kwanzan cherries at Grand Army Plaza Entrance. I think there's a Cryptomeria japonica here at the entrance too. At least that's what it looked like to me. I guess sometimes cycling is about horticulture. It was last night.