Posts

Showing posts with the label cones

Columnar Scotch Pine Spring Candle Growth - May 2023

Image
In large April, I planted a small, columnar Scotch Pine tree along the south fence about 1/3rd of the way back.   It was a tree that appears to be field-grown and was sold in a burlap ball that I left in-place.  I used a pair of scissors and cut the burlap that was wrapped/tied around the trunk so the 'top' was sort-of open.  But, I left the burlap in place and planted it that way.  I know there's opinions on which way to go with burlap, but with these small trees, I've found that they come with a big clay clump around their roots and it is best to just leave it as-is to reduce transplant stress. The tree - just one month or so old (in our yard) is already doing some interesting growth/show.  It is putting out quite a few 'candles' on the tips .  Below are a few photos showing these orange and brown and green candles.   In the photo above, you can see the cones of the Scotch Pine forming at the base of the candle. According to this post from the Seattle Japanes

First Bald Cypress Fruit - September 2022

Image
Four years.  That's how long it took for our Bald Cypress tree to go from a thin, wispy nursery pot tree to a mature-enough tree to bear fruit.  I bought this small tree at the orange Big Box Nursery back in September of 2018 .  I planted it in the IB2DWs section and followed Ralph Snodsmith's advice by giving it a " Five Dollar Hole " and hoped for the best.  By Fall of 2020 (two years after planting), we were seeing plenty of needle growth .  Same with a year later (September 2021) when the tree seemed to have 'leaped' up .   Just earlier this month, I captured the caliper dimension (6" from root flare) at 3.47" .  Up from 1.21" in February of 2020 .   This tree is CLEARLY at the head of the class in terms of all of the plantings we've made of small trees.  It is growing tall and wide .  And is likely getting ready for the first real limb'ing up of the tree as it begins to encroach on driveways.  (remember...it is located IB2DWs after

Columnar Tree Dreaming: Japanese Larch 'Paper Lanterns'

Image
More dreaming about trees going on here on the blog today.  Yesterday, I posted about the columnar American Sweetgum called Slender Silhouette .  The whole [tree dreaming] series can be found at the very bottom of this post.  If you're not interested in following along with me in documenting some of the trees that I've come across this Winter that are worth sharing, you can just move along here.  But, today I'm posting about something interesting:  a new (to me) deciduous conifer.  I have a few deciduous conifers on our property including a Dawn Redwood and Bald Cypress that are both small trees.  Turns out, the largest portion of deciduous conifers appear to be larch trees.  From this post on The Spruce : Most of the deciduous conifers belong to the genus Larix and are commonly known as larch trees . These trees have short needles in clusters that run along the branches, with flowers sprinkled throughout. The flowers transform into cones. Larch trees are appealing