Tendrils

Category: Shrubs

  • A Walk to Westover

    A Walk to Westover

    Sunday morning found me walking to the Westover Farmer’s Market, through Mother Nature’s slant on things in an urban environment. An environment a bit different than I have become accustomed to. Some of the trees, shrubs, flowers, familiar – from my childhood. The Japanese Red Maple brought back memories of a tree that my parents…

  • Pi or Blueberries

    This pan will do the job of representing two words: pi and pie. Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, and this pan is a circle. A Pie is usually a sweet, baked good which often is cooked up in a pan such as this. Many people look to me as a pie…

  • Winterberry

    I am in my element now. It is winter. I like to say, whatever season is happening at the moment – it is my favorite, but truth be told, winter is really my favorite. At least for the next few months! I love the stark landscape, very little color (with the exception of black, gray, white, and browns),…

  • Witch Hazel

    Witch Hazel

      The autumn bloomer. American witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. Blooming to catch the last of the lovely purple asters. The asters have been blooming for many weeks now, adding an unexpected color to the color scheme of fall. Their bloom time overlaps, just a bit but I’m getting distracted. I want to tell you about American witch…

  • Spicebush

    As the woods are shutting down this fall, there is fruit to be had. Fruit for many birds and small mammals. Fruit for the adventuresome human as well. These are the berries (also known as drupes) of Spicebush, Lindera benzoin. Berries that turn a brilliant scarlet in September, when the leaves are still a lovely contrast. A…

  • Juniper Berries

        A pioneer tree or bush, depending on your thoughts, and its growing conditions, Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, is often one of the first to move into a field that has been cleared.   Eastern Red Cedars are actually Junipers. They play an important role in the lives of a long list of insects, birds…

  • American Mistletoe

    The leaves in the forest, for the most part, all have fallen, yet every now and then there is a tree that has an odd, large clump of leaves.  At first glance it appears to be a squirrel’s nest.  Upon further investigation, small, leathery, emerald green leaves are revealed.  This is the stuff of many…

  • Diamonds Of Ice!

      As I snuggled in my bed last night, I was prepared for nothing special in the weather this morning. Yesterday‘s forecast had been for snow, sleet and freezing rain.   Mother Nature skipped the snow part, and went straight to sleet, and it kept going, all day long. The temperature remained steady at 27…

  • A Whole New World

    Life At A Different Level I was greeted by a whole new world yesterday, as I hiked up the mountain. I’d been down in Florida and not able to check on things up here for more than a week. When I left, autumn was on the downswing. Now, I am greeted by what looks like…

  • A Day Of Chestnut Trees And Berries

    Yes!  American Chestnut Trees! I was pleased this morning to be able to tell a dear friend that the trees he thought might be American Chestnuts, Castanea dentata, were indeed, the not often found species. Yay! This is good. I had mixed feelings though, because at the same time, I had to tell him that his trees would definitely…