Summertime and the livin' is easy

Tree # 83 Weeping willow

I am sitting on my deck under the arbor covered by the Lady Banks rose (vine #2 and see also tree 51c, in view from my seat) listening to Keith Jarret playing "I loves you Porgy" (perfect summertime music) and writing about summertime trees. What could be a more perfect summertime tree than a weeping willow?

Weeping willow at a small lake in HarborTown, behind the Montessori School.

These trees are usually near water, and they have a tendency to seek water. If you have one in your yard it is likely to clog you water drain pipes and require a visit from the Roto Rooter man to clear them. Our neighbors had a similar problem with three old oaks in their yard. The man who cleared the pipes for a hefty fee recommended they flush rock salt down their toilet several times to keep the roots from growing back. They followed this advice and in the spring their oak trees all looked dead, so they called a tree expert. He came and fertilized the trees and gave them a resuscitation.  To our astonishment that actually worked, so be careful about salt down the drain to discourage root growth in your pipes.

Weeping willow in a gated community on Poplar Ave. south side of street, east of Kirby Parkway.

This sunny landscape next to a lake reminds me of the movie "Picnic" (1955) with William Holden and Kim Novak.

It would be great to be "messing around in boats" as Ratty would say (Wind in the Willows,  1908)

Time for seersucker suits and a mint julep on the verandah. 

Weeping willow trunk, July 5, 2014

Tree # 21 revisited. Crepe myrtle (summertime version)

We saw crepe myrtles in the winter (Tree #21) to show their seed pods.These trees are the quintessential Memphis summertime trees. They can be found everywhere, often within any 360 degree view in Memphis. The trees are heat loving. They do best when every other plant is wilting. 

Lilac colored crepe myrtle off the R parking lot at UT Health Science Center, July 1, 2014

Crepe myrtles come in several pastel colors. They also are best displayed in clusters of two or three. Give them enough room to grow.

More lilac colored crepe myrtles (two) dominate the corner of Hickory Crest and Wildberry, July 5, 2014

Here you can see the effect of clustering in a former yard of the month. 

July 5, 2014, next door to Lord of Life Lutheran Church on Black Oak

 

Fuchsia colored crepe myrtle in the R lot at UT Health Science Center July 3, 2014

Slash Pine Cove crepe myrtles July 5, 2014

Madie Cook's crepe myrtles on Slash Pine Cove are flourishing in the summer heat.

Light pink crepe myrtles at the CarreFour shopping center Kirby Parkway and Poplar, July 6, 2014

The CarreFour mall has about 80 of these light pink crepe myrtles throughout the rows of parking spaces. Near the Poplar entrance there are three fuchsia colored plants that must be replacements. The next picture shows a row of the pink ones.

I have included representatives of five basic colors: white, light pink, lilac, fuchsia and red.

Along the Memorial Park Cemetery across from the Olive Garden, July 6, 2014

Same row of red crepe myrtles, closer view

Flowers, note the yellow centers

Eastward view of the crepe myrtle row

Closeup of the flowers. Each flower has six colored petals surrounding yellow anthers.

The close up shows the anthers as bright yellow.  These are not easy to see from a distance, but all the different colored flowers have the yellow anthers.  Also notice that on this plant there are some lighter pink flowers mixed with the mainly red flowers. This may be a popular red variety called Dynamite.

Tree #84 Fig

Rather large fig tree in HarborTown July 2, 2014

This tree is doing well, but the cold winter did damage another friends even larger tree, leaving several dead spots.

Figs growing on the tree

A second view of the fig

The fig actually has the flowers inside (so you never see fig flowers) and they must be pollinated by a fig wasp. Figs are among the earliest cultivated plants, apparently domesticated 1000 years before wheat. Not surprising then that Adam and Eve are depicted as wearing fig leaves in their exit from the Garden of Eden.

Tree # 85 Sassafras

Sassafras mixed in with another plant (possibly a hickory) July 5, 2014

When I was living in Virginia, we had a wooded section on the back of our property where some small sassafras shrubs grew. My father made us sassafras tea on some occasions. The plants were easy to recognize by their mitten shaped leaves. The leaves have variable numbers of lobes making them stand out among the other understory plants. I remember liking this "tea" made from the roots.  In our modern world, the word came down that components in the plant were carcinogenic (safrole), so its use in making root beer commercially was banned by the FDA.

Another view of the same plant on Hickory Crest near the entrance to Holmes Park

There is another sassafras tree I have enjoyed for several years. It has been growing clandestinely behind an electrical box on Black Oak (across from the white crepe myrtle above). Either the owner or the electric company (MLGW, Memphis Light Gas & Water) decided to cut this tree down, which they did.

Sassafras stump sending up shoots July 6, 2014

I remember my shock at finding the tree in a heap on the curb for trash pickup. It made me angry that someone would cut a favorite tree. HA! Life does not surrender so easily and the sassafras is coming back. Score one for this sassy plant, carcinogens and all.

Life pursues the imperative to grow

 The leaves of sassafras are dried to make filé gumbo, a spice used in cajun cooking.

The rumor that living close to high voltage can be harmful is apparently wasted on this sassafras shrub

Tree #86 Weeping mulberry

Weeping mulberry on Sunset in Germantown July 5, 2014

The mulberry is the exclusive food for silkworms. Without it we would not have silk. So think about the interdependence of life. Many of our luxuries like silk and many of our banes (cocain, heroin) are derived from plants. Fabulous that  there are so many (~350,000 species of flowering plants). 

Second view showing the gnarled trunk of this Morus alba 'pendula'

Unfortunately, the fruits of the tree are messy and they stain driveways and can be tracked into homes on feet. Our next door neighbor had a beautiful specimen in her yard like an eight foot high umbrella, but she had it cut down. Even my parents had a mulberry (not the weeping variety) in Scottsdale, AZ and they also cut it down. I guess if you are not making silk the tree has less appeal. 


Tree # 87 Bottlebrush buckeye


At Holmes Park, just behind the cypress bench there is a bottlebrush buckeye. On the fifth of July this plant was begining to flower, but the flowers were not white and full yet.

I plan to revisit this plant in a week to get a picture of the mature flowers.

Bottlebrush buckeye closer view

Closeup of the flower spike July 5, 2014

This plant is only a few paces from a red buckey shown as tree #57 in our earlier post about a visit to Holmes Park. 

Red buckeye that flowered in mid April. This photo taken on July 5, 2014

I revisited the bottlebrush buckeye to photograph the flowers in full bloom.

Bottlebrush buckeye July 13, 2014

Closeup of the mature flowers July 13, 2014

 

Tree #88 White pine


The authoritative book on Tennessee trees by Wofford and Chester says there are only 6 native pines in Tennessee and only two are found in West Tennessee, Loblolly and Virginia pines.  These two pictures are of a tree planted at the same place as the weeping willow at the top of the post (off Poplar Ave just east of Oak Hill, south side of Poplar). 

White pine, 5 needles per fasicle, cones shown below, July 5, 2014

A second view of this pine planted in a landscaped park by a small lake east of Wellton Dr. on Poplar

The problem with landscaped areas like this small park is the trees obviously came from a nursery and they do not have to be native to TN. I need to get some needles and maybe a cone to help in the identification.

On a second visit I checked the needles and found they were five per fasicle. Pine needles are grouped in clusters with a defined number per bundle or fasicle. There is only one TN pine with five needles per fasicle, the white pine Pinus strobus.  I also got a cone and it matches images of cones from white pines. 

Cones of the white pine, July 13, 2014

 So now I need to find a Virginia pine.