Black Locust

The local Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia) trees are blooming and when I walk near one of these trees, the perfume in the air is very strong.... sort of jasmine and vanilla and honey mixture, lovely.  Bees love these blossoms, and honey from black locusts has a distinctive flavour.  The flowers don't last long, but they are edible, and the trusty internet is full of forager recipes for salads and stir-fries and cookies and muffins. I haven' tried cooking the flowers, but I admit to chomping on a few when I thought nobody was looking. Mmmm nice and sweet!

Magnolia

It seems to be a bumper year for magnolia blossom around here. There are trees on every street absolutely loaded with the blossoms, all variations of purple and pink and white. They don't last long.

This yellow magnolia grows beside the pond near my house. It had no blossoms last spring as an early ice storm killed the flower buds. But this year it's making up for the loss. 

Note: That heron beside the pond looks intriguing but sorry, it isn't real, it's made of metal. But a real heron arrives most evenings and walks around the water's edge hunting for dinner.

Drama in the Sky

 
The morning sky a couple of weeks ago. The whole world outside seemed to glow with a golden light. I dashed out onto the deck with my camera. Within a couple of minutes the sun had risen just a little bit more, the clouds had rearranged themselves, and the sky was grey for the rest of the day.

Morning Light

 
The sky this morning, as I sipped the first cup of coffee of the day. The weather was very cold last week.... -16C at night.... but much milder now. A little bit of snow on the ground, just enough to cover the squirrel superhighway that runs along the top of the fence.

Blowin' in the Wind

The view from my window.  This is definitely a very noisy way to tidy up the leaves, but it doesn't take long with two people at it.  The leaves are all gone now, taken away in a big truck, and deposited in a giant compost pile.  There are still a few hangers-on on the trees, hopefully enough to provide some winter homes for insects and small animals.

Going, Going, Gone!

 

This little maple tree is going to sleep for a while.  Stay cosy through the winter months, little tree.  See you in the spring with a fresh coat of pale green. 

Ginkgo Trees

The golden yellow trees lining the entrance to the local theatre and convention hall are ginkgo biloba trees.

A living fossil, the Ginkgo biloba tree provides a living connection to the age of dinosaurs. It's also known as the maidenhair tree, and is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia.  The leaves are unique, fan shaped with veins radiating out into the leaf blade.  

Trees are divided between male and female.  Male plants produce small pollen cones. Female plants produce two ovules that develop into fruit like structures containing seeds.  These fruits contain butanoic acid and smell foul like rancid butter or vomit.... yuck!

Kicking up the Leaves....

 I'm following a trail around the local reservoir. This trail was well used a few years ago, but for some reason the local council closed it... safety reasons I suppose.  But it's still being used although I only met one family and one runner on my way though.

Looks like there is an eager beaver planning some homebuilding in the neighbourhood.

I went as far as the bridge before I turned back, I'll finish the trail next time.  The bridge has been there at least 20 years, maybe longer, I am amazed that it has lasted this long, through all those harsh Canadian winters. (Actually the winters don't seem to be as harsh any more .... climate change???)

The Baby Tree

 My new neighbour planted a baby red maple tree in the spring.  I've watched as the little tree sprouted new pale green leaves as the temperatures got warmer, then maturing to a darker green as the summer arrived. And now, after a couple of cold nights..... scarlet foliage that glows in the autumn sunshine.

And another view of the little tree through my living room window. Winter is coming!

On the road....

 

The road to the Cheltenham Badlands.

Super catalpa tree.

This is the biggest catalpa I have seen.
 

Common Name	Northern catalpa, catalpa, hardy catalpa, cigar tree
Botanical Name	Catalpa speciosa
Family	Bignoniaceae
Plant Type	Deciduous tree
Mature Size	40-70 ft. high, 20-50 ft. wide
Sun Exposure	Full, partial
Soil Type	Moist, well-drained
Soil pH	Acidic to neutral (5.5-7.0)
Bloom Time	Late spring/Early summer
Flower Color	White
Hardiness Zones	4-8 (USDA
Native Area	North America (U.S. Midwest)

Mr. Armstrong again

Back in 2015, a young tree was planted in front of my house. It was an Armstrong Maple, and was a replacement for an ash tree that had been killed by an infestation of the nasty Emerald Ash Borer. I was excited about my beautiful new tree. I called him Mr. Armstrong, and and wrote about him here.

But all is not well with Mr. Armstrong. For the last couple of years, I noticed that the main leader branch at the top of the tree had no buds or leaves. Last summer a tree specialist cut off the main spike, and the tree seemed to recover. However, the main trunk shows either insect damage or some kind of disease, and there's loads of grey and yellow lichen growing on the bark.

And further down I see a small shelf bracket fungus has started to grow, a sure sign of something that shouldn't be happening to a healthy tree.

Yet the branches are full of new spring growth and tiny delicate maple flowers.

It looks like Mr. Armstrong's in trouble.

The Ironwood Tree

Along one of the main trails at Drysdale Woods is a large Ironwood tree, (ostrya virginiana), and according to this plaque, it's believed to be the largest Ironwood tree in the Province of Ontario.

I had never heard of an Ironwood tree, but they have the hardest and densest wood of any native tree species in Canada, hence the reference to iron. In the past the wood was used for tool handles, sled runners, mallets, ladder rungs and firewood, but owing to the rarity of these trees, they are no longer harvested and should be protected.

Another common name for this tree is hophornbeam.....  "hop" refers to the similarity of the fruit clusters to hops, an ingredient in beer-making; "horn" refers to the hardness of the wood; and "beam" comes from an archaic English word for tree. 

The tree is growing on a slippery slope, so I didn't climb up to measure the trunk, but it's wider than my outstretched arms. There are a few baby hophornbeams growing around it too. It's a slow growing tree, so I think this tree is over 100 years old.

The bark is composed of shaggy peeling narrow strips that look a bit like strips of fried bacon! These trees rarely grow taller than 12 m (40') but I don't know how tall this one is, it looks pretty big to me.

I'll go back to visit this Ironwood tree again, and I'm keen to see it in the spring with its male and female catkins.

Giving Thanks!

It's Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The weekend where families get together around the dinner table and feast on roast turkey, or ham, and an array of vegetables, usually followed by dessert of traditional pumpkin pie. And we give thanks that we all live in such a great country!

Sadly, the Covid 19 infection numbers are steadily rising here. The advice from both the government and the docs is that we should all stay within our own households this year. No large Thanksgiving family gatherings. No big parties. No travelling long distances to see relatives. Stay safe. Stay at home. Keep the infection numbers low.

And so there's no big family dinner happening for me this year. I am at home by myself. Older Son is at home with his family, and Younger Son is at home with his family. It's just not worth the risk. But even though we can't celebrate our togetherness, there's a lot to be thankful for. We are all healthy, no positive Covid tests thank heavens, nobody has lost a job through the lockdown, the grandies are back in the swing of school, and we all have a positive attitude.

It has been a beautiful warm sunny day so I explored the trails through the nearby Drysdale Woods. This area of 55 hectares was a Christmas Tree farm operated by the Drysdale family for over 60 years, and was given to the York Regional Forest in 2014. There's a spruce and pine area, and lots of maple, oak and beech too. This is a wonderful time of year to walk in the trees... so of course, more photos.

Emerald Ash Borer

The Emerald Ash Borer is a highly destructive nasty little bug that is killing millions of ash trees throughout Ontario and the Great Lakes Region. It probably stowed away in a shipment of infected wood from Asia, and it's thrived ever since. Its larvae tunnels though the trees vascular system cutting off water, nutrients and sugars, and once infected with these little devils, the poor tree doesn't stand a chance.

Wood from infected trees shouldn't be moved to another location as the infection can move with it to previously clean areas. 

A young ash tree in front of my house suffered the same fate in 2015. It was replaced with an Armstrong Maple.... I blogged about it here.

This lovely ash tree is managing to stay healthy so far.... with a little help from the Forestry people.

Fingers crossed that this mature tree will survive. I gave it an encouraging pat and told it to be very brave and to trust the Forestry people! They know what they are doing.

Michaelmas Day

Today is Michaelmas Day.... the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, celebrated on 29 September.   Saint Michael is the patron saint of the sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatmen, of horses and horsemen. Traditionally he was the Angel who hurled Lucifer (the devil) down from Heaven for his treachery. 

Michaelmas is one the four quarter days in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due.  The quarter days have been observed at least since the Middle Ages, and they ensured that debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on. Accounts had to be settled, a reckoning had to be made and publicly recorded on the quarter days.

And as the Autumn Equinox happened just a couple of days ago,  here are some Autumn colours. The reds, golds, yellows and purples.... a beautiful time of the year.

Mulberry Tree?

 Are there any tree experts out there? Can anyone tell me if this is a young mulberry tree?

It seems strange that the leaves at the bottom of the branches are a different shape and also a different colour from the top leaves.

It's about 2 metres high, lots of thin branches, and is growing in a very weedy grassy area beside the pond near my house. Probably planted by a bird!

Saved!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an elegant 200 year old American Elm that was threatened by the proposed expansion of a train and bus station in 2020.
Good news!
A local geography teacher thought that his Grade 8 class would be interested in getting involved. After much discussion in the classroom, the students wrote letters to Metrolinx (who will be designing the station) and the local Member of Parliament to try and save the tree.
And they were not the only letter writers. Many students from other schools and members of the public were asking for the tree to be spared from the chainsaws. It seems the outpouring of mail has had the desired effect, and Metrolinx has announced that the station site is being redesigned around the tree.
Hooray!

Some of the students and the local Mayor and Councillors and the Member of Parliament at the announcement. I think the tree is breathing a sigh of relief!

On the Chopping Block?

Not far away from my house stands this beautiful and elegant tree, an American Elm, ulmus americana. It's age is estimated to be around 200 years old, which makes it the largest and oldest tree in the area. This tree was just a tiny seedling when Queen Victoria was born in 1819.

The tree is 40 metres tall, has a canopy of 40 metres, and a 4 metre trunk circumference.

It is situated on a piece of land that is to be the site of a new expanded GO Station.... that's the public transit buses and trains that will take commuters to the city.  Metrolinx, who will build the station, planned to chop the tree, but the local paper says that there are negotiations going on to save the tree.
Yes we need public transportation, but we need the tree too. Surely we can have both? 

A Walk in the Woods

With the sun shining and the sky a vivid blue, I decided to get some fresh air. There are not many of these lovely days left and the cold winter winds are not far away. We haven't had a real frost yet, although one is forecast for tonight.
So I walked though the nearby woods by the local reservoir. The sign says "No Pedestrians, Sensitive Environment" or words to that effect, but if I stick to the path I'll be OK.  I could hear the Canada Geese on the water, honking and flapping their wings. No geese pics.... the bulrushes were too tall and I didn't want to get my feet wet!

 And a big surprise.... art in the forest! Lovely idea.