Memphis Trees continued

Tree #14 Junipers on median strip

Twisted junipers as a median strip hedge along Humphries Blvd. east of Shady Grove

The median strip east of Baptist Hospital on Humphries Blvd. has several segments of these captivating juniper shrubs. They look like they have been twisted by the wind, but this street is not a windy place, so the shape is natural. These are about 20 feet high. (11/29/2013)

End on view of this strip shows the twisted windblown look.

I always enjoy driving past these hedges (kudos to the city planners). My best effort at identifying these trees is Juniperus chinensis torulosa or Torulosa juniper. When going south, and at the point the road curves east there is an odd tree-like cell tower on the north side of the road. It is made to imitate a conifer, but no conifer that one can see in Memphis. The first time I saw it I was bit surprised until I realized it was not real. 

Tree #15 Bamboo

One does not think of bamboo as an American tree, but it can be found around Memphis in un-cultivated groves. It is actually a monocot, like grasses and palm trees. This grove is on Poplar Pike near Sunset, on the north side just across the railroad tracks. I show the left and right sides of the grove since it fairly large. (11/29/2013)

Half expect to see a panda in there (left side of the bamboo grove)

Memphis has giant pandas at the zoo and they eat bamboo, but I think I remember reading that it had to be a special type of bamboo. There is a bamboo farm at the Agricenter for the pandas growing Phyllostachys rubromarginata and Phyllostachys aurea. This was vandalized in Feb. 2013 by teenagers, but there is still plenty of bamboo to feed the pandas.

Right side of the bamboo grove on Poplar Pike

Our friends John and Susan Mutin have an imposing and possibly encroaching grove of bamboo just beyond their property line in the backyard. Certainly screens out the neighbors.

Tree # 16 Eastern red cedar

Symmetric compact Eastern red cedar

Someone 15-20 years ago thought it would be a good idea to plant this tree in line with a fence. It has overtaken the fence now. Located on Kirby Parkway between Humphries and Cottingham on the West side of the street. (11/29/2013)

Tree #17 Regal privet

Regal privet corner of Cottingham and Kirby Parkway 11/29/2013)

These privet bushes get very large and are covered in white flowers in the spring. There are some impressive banks of these along Poplar near the Carre Four Mall. [But not any more! See Murder of the Regal privet (May 18, 2014).]

Closeup of the Regal privet

Tree #18 Loblolly pine

Loblolly pine Cottingham and Westminster 11/29/2013

The south is full of Loblolly pines. This one is rather short and wide, kind of unusual. It makes a showy centerpiece to this front yard. One night at the Levitt Shell I was taken by the outline of a loblolly pine against the darkening sky, just before it got truly dark. I tried to get a shot of that with a phone camera, but it was not up to it. 

The Mississippi artist Walter Inglis Anderson drew and painted wildlife on Horn Island, off the coast from Biloxi, MS. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, MS has a process where one can buy a black and white print drawn by Anderson, and then local artists will watercolor the print. We did this with a 4x2 foot image of a stand of loblolly pines. Two details of this painting are shown below. (pardon the camera flash)

Top section of the long tree painting

Anderson had an almost cartoonish style reminiscent of Tolkien's painting of Bilbo floating down river on the barrels from Mirkwood. (See: 
Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves. 

Mid section of the painting hanging on our living room wall.

The overall effect is uncanny in capturing the essence of the pine trees. Here is another link to a forest of these evocative trees.