Why I Oughta...

By last September, they were leaf'd out and looking good .  Before the frost arrived, I decided to dig them into the landscape and let them try to overwinter outside .  I covered them with mulch and surrounded them with chicken wire to keep the rabbits out.   Well...much to my surprise, these have come back.  In that September post, I talked about how there were ten Kentucky Coffee tree seedlings and one small Maple tree seedling .  I dug these up and moved them to our raised bed by the patio.  Here, below, is what they look like after a long winter's nap: By my count, there are nine (maybe ten) KCT seedlings and that one Maple that have made it.  Pretty good.   #7 on 2022 to-do list was (in part) to continue to work the seedlings . Next up on my list is to try to germinate these Honey Locust seeds .  

On my 2022 to-do list there's a couple of items that have what I'm calling 'crossover appeal'; meaning that there's some intersection between the activities of one item that pay off a second item.  In particular, I'm looking at #7 and #10.  #7 on the list talks about "working trees three ways" - that include planting, measuring and seedlings.  #10 in the list talks about my desire to press ahead with some 'seasonal projects' that includes collecting tree seed pods and attempting to propagate them into seedlings.  Last year, I came across some Kentucky Coffee Tree seed pods at one of the kid's practices.  After bringing them home, soaking them and getting them started , I ended up with some seedlings.  At the end of the season, I decided to dig the seedling tray into the ground in an attempt to overwinter them .  As of today, they haven't leaf'd out just yet and so I've just left them be in the ground.  I'll dislodge the tra...

I was doing some weeding in one of our backyard beds, and came across this small tree seedling that you can see in the photo below.  It is about 10" tall and has oval, pinnate leaves.  Looking around at my neighbor's yard, I know they have locust trees.  A bunch of them.  They flower in Spring and have lots of leaves on them.  But, I'm not sure if they're Black or Honey locusts.   Both are native to Illinois, but the Black Locust - sometimes called "Chicago Blues" is now considered invasive ( The Morton Arboretum has it listed as "not recommended" ).   One other key trait of the Black Locust trees are they they carry thorns - especially when young.  Right now, this little seedling has no thorns, so I'm going to leave it alone.  If I see thorns develop, I'll lop this one off and remove it.