Brooklyn
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Pin Oak
In June, I accidently uprooted a pin oak sapling in the Back 40. I was weeding wildly. Once I saw what I had done, I attempted to replant it. A couple of days later it was utterly overthrown, the work, I believe of a squirrel sapper. But then, in another pot, I noticed another. Both…
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Spilt Seeds
Cones and seeds of a Japanese-Cedar, Cryptomeria japonica, an exotic planted in the Victorian necropolis of Green-Wood. The seeds are about 5mm long. When I brought the little cones home they were bright green and very tight. But, like pinecones, they bloomed in the apartment, releasing their cargo when jostled.
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Any port in a storm
On the side of the Barge Music barge, a friendly old hull, a tenacious plant. Soil, bah, who needs it? Although this may have reached the limit of it’s improbability. Methinks it’s our old friend Paulownia tomentosa, the weed that becomes a tree.
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Four Sparrow’s Pay-to-Play Played Out?
The plan to despoil Four Sparrow Marsh has been withdrawn. I’ve written a lot about this unique corner of the borough and why it’s so special, so I’m glad to hear this wretched idea has been shelved. (For how long, for what reason, I don’t know.) While the wheels of environmental impact statements and economic…
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Bean Tree
One of those trees with too many names: Pagoda tree, Sophora, Chinese scholartree. Styphnolobium japonicum, a common street tree in the city. A member, you will not be surprised to hear, of the legume family. The small black bean-like seeds will soon be littering the sidewalks.
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Vinegar Hill
Wait a minute!Most of the bogus pigeon scarers are “owls,” as if any self-respecting owl would be hanging out in the middle of the day. This one was a raptor. A nice variation on the theme of useless bird flushers. Right across the street however, a sound in the trees where Vinegar Hill actually drops…
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Nuts! Walnuts
This is the fruit of the Black walnut, Juglans nigra. Edible, but hard to extract, since first you have to get through this husk, which stains you yellowish green. It was in fact once used as a dye. Then, once the flesh is gone (squirrels will sometimes help you) you are presented with the hard…
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The future
To be honest, until fairly recently I thought buds grew in the spring. In fact they are produced in the later summer and early fall. They winter over, cold-hardy, then burst forth unraveling the spring. These are particularly large examples, approaching an inch in length, but many are much smaller and harder to see. Above…
Backyard and Beyond 