Tree Appreciation

[Apech]

You are never going to believe this - I planted a plastic bottle ... and ....

 

[C T]

[Brian]

1 hour ago, C T said:

I just remembered that we had some white magnolia plants (trees?) in our garden and in flowering, they gave off the most divine scent, fills the air and penetrates into the house during breezy evenings. It was quite sublime just to catch wafts of the scent now and again. Anyone have this tree/shrub/plant around? 

 

There are a few varieties, but ours looked like this 

 

I do. Magnolia trees are a Southern" staple.  I practice qigong under one a couple times s week, weather permitting.

 

I'll try to remember to post a picture later.

[Brian]

36 minutes ago, Brian said:

I do. Magnolia trees are a Southern" staple.  I practice qigong under one a couple times s week, weather permitting.

 

I'll try to remember to post a picture later.

[Kar3n]

9 hours ago, C T said:

I just remembered that we had some white magnolia plants (trees?) in our garden and in flowering, they gave off the most divine scent, fills the air and penetrates into the house during breezy evenings. It was quite sublime just to catch wafts of the scent now and again. Anyone have this tree/shrub/plant around? 

 

There are a few varieties, but ours looked like this 

 

I, my sister and cousins grew up climbing three of the biggest Magnolias I have ever seen in my grandparent's front yard. I can still feel the smooth bark, the texture of the felt-backed leaves, see the red seed pods in the black soil under the low hanging limbs and the sweet, earthy scent of the blossoms is still impressed upon me. Those trees were our friends, our hide out, our protector from an afternoon shower or the sun on a hot summer day, and so much more that makes verbalization near impossible. We loved them, I loved them and I believe they loved us. The memory of them is heartwarming; they were a big part of the best days of my childhood and their impact will forever be part of who I am.

 

Thank you, @C T, for taking me back to a place I have not been in many years. It has been a beautiful, yet an emotional time of reverence and remembrance of my childhood friends that are no longer with us.

[C T]

44 minutes ago, Kar3n said:

I, my sister and cousins grew up climbing three of the biggest Magnolias I have ever seen in my grandparent's front yard. I can still feel the smooth bark, the texture of the felt-backed leaves, see the red seed pods in the black soil under the low hanging limbs and the sweet, earthy scent of the blossoms is still impressed upon me. Those trees were our friends, our hide out, our protector from an afternoon shower or the sun on a hot summer day, and so much more that makes verbalization near impossible. We loved them, I loved them and I believe they loved us. The memory of them is heartwarming; they were a big part of the best days of my childhood and their impact will forever be part of who I am.

 

Thank you, @C T, for taking me back to a place I have not been in many years. It has been a beautiful, yet an emotional time of reverence and remembrance of my childhood friends that are no longer with us.

 

[silent thunder]

After reading about rene's soon to arrive Maple tree... this thread laid a hand on my mind's shoulder and said... "please revive me."

 

This little bonsai was my 49th birthday gift from my son:

 

She's settled in after a brief period of adjusting.  Turns out I was watering her too shallowly and she was getting a bit too much intense heat and sun. 

 

While we traveled up the coast this summer for a few weeks, we are fortunate to have a wonderful young lady who cares for our animals while we're gone.  Though the plants don't usually fare so well, so we took Okasa along with us.  She was so smitten with the diffuse light of the old growth forests of Oregon while lounging on the deck outside our cabin, she was reticent to get back in the truck and return to the desert.  I assured her, we'd be returning again on a more permanent basis in the not distant future.

[Stosh]

15 minutes ago, silent thunder said:

After reading about rene's soon to arrive Maple tree... this thread laid a hand on my mind's shoulder and said... "please revive me."

 

This little bonsai was my 49th birthday gift from my son:

 

She's settled in after a brief period of adjusting.  Turns out I was watering her too shallowly and she was getting a bit too much intense heat and sun. 

 

While we traveled up the coast this summer for a few weeks, we are fortunate to have a wonderful young lady who cares for our animals while we're gone.  Though the plants don't usually fare so well, so we took Okasa along with us.  She was so smitten with the diffuse light of the old growth forests of Oregon while lounging on the deck outside our cabin, she was reticent to get back in the truck and return to the desert.  I assured her, we'd be returning again on a more permanent basis in the not distant future.

Those are fun , I did one of those, and similarly , saw clearly that they like to be in a certain situation.

Forcing it, doesn't work , but if she has a hard time in the desert, and you tried the submerge thing , the amendment I would aim at, is changing the substrate. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Stosh

[rene]

:googling substrate:

[silent thunder]

4 hours ago, Stosh said:

Those are fun , I did one of those, and similarly , saw clearly that they like to be in a certain situation.

Forcing it, doesn't work , but if she has a hard time in the desert, and you tried the submerge thing , the amendment I would aim at, is changing the substrate. 

Yea I picked up on the particular/certain situation pretty soon. 

 

I'm hoping she'll be adaptable enough to settle in to this clime while so young.  There are a plethor of her species here at the Japanese Garden in the Huntington Library grounds, some over 200 years old, so I'm hopeful.

 

I'm planning on repotting her next Spring.

 

[Stosh]

14 hours ago, rene said:

:googling substrate:

Its the fancy term.

My boss , for his bonsai, used the granular material that you'd , use for soaking up oil spots , from autozone ,I think 

and it has worked well for his plants. Organic materials , tend to be more problematic in that they deteriorate ,or house pests , have a wrong ph etc. 

[silent thunder]

My son was hanging out near the cabin and spotted this lovely flutterby on the ground one morning.

She was obviously struggling and very weak, close to passing and some other insect had settled in to take advantage of an easy meal, munching on her right wing, so he picked her up and carried her to where my wife and I sat on the deck.

 

 

She spent a while in his hands, then she fluttered a bit and walked onto Okasa and passed shortly after.

[silent thunder]

I grew up in the vibrant north woods of Minnesota, the Dakotas and Canada.  I know northern woods as my hometown and my street.  Trees have always been a source of unending interest, inspiration, healing and meditation to me.  I regularly involuntarily exclaim when encountering a spectacular tree along the path. 

 

Something in the old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest is unique however and resonates with such a distinct power, vitality and subtle complexity... the very air teems with a vibrantly different energy than the woods I grew up in... these are the woods I will grow old in.

 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 8, 2018 by silent thunder

[silent thunder]

This tree is was the matron of our neighborhood.  She has passed now and is going back to the earth since the 'arborists' showed up to trim her branches one day.  It was just the first step in her removal really as they scraped her clean of all but about 10% of her breathing branches and she lasted about 13 months before letting go.  They'll be back in another year or so when she dries out to take the rest down.

 

I recall when my wife brought us to look at the place we live in, my first comment upon turning up the street was... holy shit!  Look at her! 

 

She's been stipped clean in this pic, but in her prime, her canopy was so dense that when it managed to rain here, you could stand under her and not feel a drop.

 

There is no other tree for a mile in any direction of her age and canopy breadth.  She housed generations of Odin's Eyes who've come to know our home well as the place where that viking guy whistles and offers scraps each day near dawn.  She was the hang out spot for my son and his friends.  Her main branches like an upturned hand begging, literally begging folks to climb up and have a rest.  I'm looking for the shot I have of her in her prime, from down the block.  Her canopy covered a staggering area and the small unclaimed area in which she stood was and is still a natural hang out for the local kids, and me when I'm out late at night, or early in the morning playing energy, talking on the phone, or just being.

 

I've kept a large chunk of one of the many large branches they took... it's seasoning and I'll strip, oil and preserve it as a stump seat in another year or two.  That will come with us wherever we end up.

 

It was powerful though the evening I went to her while she was passing and I received quiet clearly the distinct message of no human emotion in her passing.  I had all this angst over it while she, after being cut severely put not effort into emotions, but simply responded to the cuttings by burgeoning new growth sprouts where she could.  There was no angst in the loss and when she ceased growing and began to decay, there was no resentment, no bitterness, only complete release into the soil beneath her, going back now effortlessly to the soil which supported her while she grew.

 

Me?  I'm waiting for the 'arborists' return with a certain message to deliver...

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by silent thunder

[Stosh]

Whats the tube on your left shoulder? 

[rene]

My guess is it's a flute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

silent thunder,

Your words and tribute moved me to tears.

What a gift, she was and still is.

What a gift you are, to us.

Thank you.

[silent thunder]

On 8/8/2018 at 9:41 AM, Stosh said:

Whats the tube on your left shoulder? 

That is an old and dear friend... the Staff of Creighton the Red. (now more Creighton the White lol).

 

For a time, when I was crippled, I literally leaned on her to walk.  She was my cane as I hobbled about for a few years.

 

I'm recalling how I meet some wonderful people due to her.  Stick people and wood folks light up when they see her and come over and we strike up a conversation.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 19 by silent thunder

[silent thunder]

Boulder Basin in California is my local spirit home and home to one of my favorite climbing trees of all time.  This mountain spot was the primary catalyst for my gal and I moving to California from NYC back in 2000.

 

My wife worked for Fox Sports Latin America at the time and had come to Los Angeles for a business trip just after Christmas.  I came along with her and we made plans to go camping with our oldest and dearest friend who lived in San Diego at the time.

 

As we drove East on the 10 out of Los Angeles, then headed south into the San Jacinto range on the 243 toward Idyllwild.  My heart opened up, my spirit soared and by the time we reached Boulder Basin up around 8.000 feet, I told my gal.  "we should move here.  why are we still in new york?"

 

Within three months she had a job here and I had arrived with all our belongings.

 

This tree is one of the all time great climbers.  Her bark shines silver in the light... even in decay she has remained resilient and strong for the last 18 years.  She veritably beams with silver light in her perch atop the cliff overlooking the valley west. 

Each night at sunset the entire sky explodes in magenta love from her vantage point.

this is the view West... every single night...