Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Excuse Me, While I View The Sky


I have been staring at the sky for days.

Sure, I've been scouting for rain, hoping for rain and even chanting for rain, but what caught my eye are the trees. They tower above the house and frame the sky.


What a gift to have a beautiful and healthy tree canopy!   When we bought  this house the trees came as a gift, the icing on a cupcake. They cool the house all summer and in the winter they step aside to let warm sun brighten the cool days.

Oaks (Quercus), Hackberry (Celtis), Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana), and

more than a few Shag Bark Hickories (Carya ovata) dominate the sky. Each would like to reach 80 foot tall. My goal is to let them.


Gail


25 comments:

  1. Hey everyone,

    I am so excited to be able to hang out with my son this weekend...I'll see you all on Monday! Have a wonderful weekend in your gardens, with your loved ones or doing whatever brings you joy!

    Gail

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  2. I hope you got more rain than we did today! 0.02 inches is what my gauge read. Of course it was a perfect overcast day for projects!

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  3. Your trees are georgeous. I miss all the trees we lost to Katrina but some of the younger ones are really starting to grow tall so it is not as bare this year as it was a couple of years ago.

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  4. Trees are real gift - they protect us from sun in the hot days. And because the days will be more and more hot due to global warming, anyone who doesnt have them should plant some from the sunny side :)

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  5. Trees are truly a gift and you have a good bunch!

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  6. Gail ~ Your trees are beautiful. It's nice you have such a variety. We are also surrounded by trees which really keeps the house cool in the summer, but they are all Maples (very messy!).
    Have a great visit and weekend. I'll be gone a week so I will catch up when I get back.
    ~Cindy

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  7. Did you know there is a group of bloggers that post sky photos every Friday? Skywatch I think they call themselves. It's fun to go around and see everyone's sky pictures.

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
    Marnie

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  8. Lovely trees, and I understand why you love them. We have a huge old ash that lives near us and gives us shade. We love him. (or her)

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  9. Your trees are lovely, Gail, and so nice of you to remind us to notice ours. They do often get forgotten in our haste to make plants and bulbs and shrubs bloom and they are such a wonderful backdrop. I'm gonna go outside and talk to mine right now!

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  10. I'm surrounded by large trees also. They create a restful ambiance. Because of the shade I can get out in the garden more often.

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  11. Our next door neighbor cut down a bunch of trees then complained about his electric bill going up over $200 dollars the next summer! Duh, you took away the shade dude! We live on a street with the name “Woods” in it so we all have trees, lots of trees! When he cut his down everyone on the street were upset. Some people sent him nasty Anonymous letters complaining. I was not involved with the letters but I was upset, especially since they live next to us and left them laying on the ground for about 6 months after cutting them down! They are also the first house on our street which sets the tone for the entire street. He left some trees but they are rotting and keep falling on our fence... argggg

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  12. You do have a nice assortment of mature trees. I agree that they are invaluable for lots of reasons. Mine are just getting big enough to provide some shade so I am appreciating them more and more for that and the wildlife they've brought to my yard. I hope you get some rain. I have been chanting (to no avail) too.

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  13. Gail,
    Your trees are a wonderful treasure creating shade and cover when it's most needed.

    Those photos look much like some photos I've taken here over the roof tops. I couldn't be without trees now that we've had our oak tree canopy all these years. I'm convinced I couldn't garden without them. They provide a great balance of filtered sunlight for my tropicalesque garden.

    Love the blue skies you captured too. Have a wonderful weekend visiting your son!
    Meems @Hoe&Shovel

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  14. Pretty! Don't you just love this weather? Well, not the humidity. But today (Friday), there's such a nice breeze. Enjoy your weekend with your son!

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  15. Hi Gail. Do enjoy your weekend. Have fun.
    Your trees are lovely. I have a large oak tree in my back yard that provides shade for the whole yard most of the time. I don't know what I'd do without it. I do know this house would be a lot hotter. This shade allows me to garden more than I could without it. Not to mention the oxygen it gives off. I really like my back yard/garden.

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  16. Gail, trees are so important for so many reasons. They provide shelter for birds, help clean the air, etc. But most of all they they bring us such joy. Love your trees and I hope they all reach 80'!

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  17. Hi Gail,
    Here's wishing you a great weekend with your son! I wish I could get out of town more often, because I sometimes feel we're just locked into our own little corner of the universe ...

    But as you know, we have lots of trees (not all favorites, but still ...) around us. I know co-workers who have moved into McMansion land talk about planting trees at their places because there are none in their McSubdivisions. You could give me one of those houses outright, and I'd prefer to stay where we are. Our house may be old, but it's got trees galore in the neighborhood.

    I just wish we could trade our maples for the wonderful old gingkos (both males) across the street! At least we have a great view of them, and you've probably seen them in some of my tree photos ...

    I have to do work today *sigh* but Sunday will be nice and I'll get out go after weeds and get some photos ....

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  18. Hi Gail, I know you are having a fabulous time with your offspring, so wonderful. Your trees are inspiring and your neck must be stiff from looking up so much. I was just noticing how the trees we planted here have grown to be nice specimens, especially the row of river birches. We have one semi mature clump maple near the house and the hold stand of pines along one edge. Every other tree we planted ourselves as small things. It gives one a sense of accomplishment to be able to see them grow so large, even though we only set them, the earth did the rest.

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  19. Oh to have mature Oaks & Shagbark Hickories! I'm stuck with mature trashy trees, but I grew up in an area that had been a Burr Oak savanna. I love the smell of the freshly fallen leaves, the look & feel of the furrowed bark and the funky caps of the acorns. Your trees provide a beautiful frame for your sky, even if it is more blue than you'd like it to be.

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  20. Hi Gail, what a pleasure it is living among trees. You've got a wonderful variety of natives!

    I've never lived anywhere there weren't a lot of trees, can't imagine ever moving into a new subdivision with no mature trees.

    NPR's "All Things Considered" had a neat discussion back in June about how trees use their leaves to keep cool, cooling us in the process. You can read the article and/or listen to the 4-minute exerpt at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91392910 .

    We have a large Bradford Pear in our front yard, but most of it is full sun. There's usually about a ten-degree difference in temperature on most hot, sunny summer days between the front and back yards at our house because of the heavy tree canopy in back. I've always thought it was only because of the shade. It makes even more sense now after learning more about how trees cool the air around them.

    So far you've got some wonderful weather here in Chicago this weekend! I hope you're getting a chance to get outside and enjoy it. Enjoy the rest of your visit with your son, and have a safe trip back home.

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  21. Gail, your trees are beautiful! As you say, trees are a gift to any garden - and to the world, of course!

    Before this exceptionally hot summer, we had planned to take a couple of trees down in our garden, but now we have changed our minds. You simply cant't get too much shade on hot summer days.
    /Katarina

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  22. Gail, I believe that staring into the sky for a few minutes is a great way to relieve stress, but you probably knew that already:)
    There is something comforting about trees; I've always said I don't think I could live in a house without any trees. You are very lucky to have found a home with so many mature trees.

    One of my goals this summer is to identify all the trees on our property; I didn't realize how difficult it would be!

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  23. If we ever move back to Arizona, I'm going to miss the trees--I like to lie flat on my back on the ground and look eighty feet up into the top of a pine or a poplar. We're planting new ones where the hurricane took the old ones down--fortunately there are plenty left in the front. I hope you've had a wonderful weekend with your son, Gail--

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  24. Dear gardenblogging friends,

    I am glad so many of you enjoyed the tree shots and stopped to say hello and wish me a good weekend. You are the best. We had a wonderful time in Chicago with our son and his gf. Beautiful weather made walking so much fun...There is way more to do there than one can possibly accomplish in a weekend but we tried and I will regale you with tales of the city in a new post or two!

    Gail

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  25. Some of my fondest memories involve trees: walking in a German pine forest with my dad; taking a nap years ago with my two-year-old son (pregnant again!) in a hammock strung between two sturdy maples; hiking countless times over the years with my husband on trails through the Shawnee Forest. Thanks, Gail, for reminding me!

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson