flora – Page 5 – Black and White

pinus palustris

long leaf pine detail — I planted three long leaf pines a year ago in the northern extent of their ancestral home. They look like grass at first, after a number of years they make the jump skyward. My trio is jumping!

East China Sea

clockwise walk of the Chatan Park perimeter. This bird singing in the wind and waves. — clockwise walk of the Chatan Park perimeter. This bird singing to the wind and waves.

Sciurus carolinensis

silver maple grey squirrel — The generic name, Sciurus, is derived from two Greek words, skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail. This name alludes to the squirrel sitting in the shadow of its tail–Wikipedia

Not. One. Inch.

Emancipation Oak, photo by Moncure Chatfield-Taylor — Hampton University has a three-word message for the Virginia Department of Transportation: Not. One. Inch.
And they mean it.
They do not plan to give up a single inch of land or blade of grass to make way for the planned expansion of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel and the widening of Interstate 64 adjacent to their campus.–Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot

Read more about the living history of the Emancipation Oak

killing frost

oak leaf on the ground.

winter is coming

fig leaf detail — underside of a ficus carica leaf. The first killing frost will fold this beautiful structure.

Lady Bird Johnson would be pleased

RT 20 south looking toward I-64 — The trees in the foreground were planted by CATS and the Tree Commission December 2015. Saturday November 5 volunteers converged on this section of highway to do it again, but larger… 73 trees

holes were predrilled — Tree planting basics, a tree, a hole, water, mulch. Holes were predrilled by Windridge Landscaping of Afton.

A challenging place to work, 15,000+ vehicles per day in 2012. One of the worst places in CHO to bicycle.

tulip trees — Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards planting liriodendron tulipfera

tree #1 — Tree Commission chair Paul Josey

bare root — Bare root, the way to go.

CATS workers — Many hands speed the work. Everyone involved.

The National Guard arrives. — The National Guard arrives. Planting bare root trees not an Army MOS (Military Occupational Speciality)

Guard members get a quick tutorial.

Bremo Trees was the source of the bare root stock. — Bremo Trees was the source of the bare root stock, Swamp White Oaks, Tulip trees, Kentucky Coffee trees and American Elms

Paul Josey giving pointers on the bare root procedure. Critical that trees not be planted too deep.

Cooperative effort, many players, Ballyshannon Fund, CATS, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Charlottesville Tree Commission, National Guard, Bremo Trees — Cooperative effort, many players, Ballyshannon Fund, CATS, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Charlottesville Tree Commission, National Guard, Bremo Trees, Virginia Department of Forestry, Journey Through Hallowed Ground

Planting a tree instead of a flag. Charlottesville tomorrow has the story. — Planting a tree instead of a flag. Charlottesville tomorrow has the story.(It turns out that was a need for five additional holes. The Guard dug those!)

riparian buffer 02

5 foot tubes for deer browse control — nine months later.

Arilus cristatus

procreating — The reproductive cycle of the wheel bug initiates in autumn. When a pair of wheel bugs encounter each other and have coitus, the female will lay 40-200 small, brown, cylindrical eggs on a tree twig, and eventually die. The eggs will hatch in the next spring into eighth millimeter long red nymphs, which will undergo 5 molts until they reach the adult stage the following summer.
They are predators upon soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars, Japanese beetles, etc., which they pierce with their beak to inject salivary fluids that dissolve soft tissue. Because most of their prey are pests, wheel bugs are considered as beneficial to the garden as ladybugs. They are also known for eating stinkbugs.-Wikipedia
(these two in a q.alba)

beauty matters

utility cover — taking trouble with the details