Springtime Trees at My Farm
Today in the Northeast, we’re expecting on and off showers and possible thunderstorms, but earlier this week we’ve had some beautiful spring weather - mild temperatures, sunny skies and clear views of all the transforming gardens around my farm.
Every day, I notice something new blooming. And, while many of the flowers are erupting with vibrant color, we've also been taking photos of the various trees and all the precious buds just beginning to open on their branches - please enjoy these images.
But first, I wanted to repost this very nice article about my blog that was originally featured in May 2017 on the web site, The Verge - a technology news and media network. Just click anywhere on this highlighted link to read the article. I am so proud of "The Martha Blog: Up Close & Personal" and I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts as much as I have enjoyed putting them together over the years. I also love reading your comments - thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me. I look forward to sharing so much more with you in my blogs ahead.
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- One of the earliest trees to flower here in spring is the magnolia. I have several white and yellow magnolias outside my Summer House. Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
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- Growing as large shrubs or trees, they produce showy, fragrant flowers that are white, pink, red, purple or yellow. The blooms stop all my guests as they walk along the carriage road – they’re so big and beautiful.
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- Further down this carriage road are these pink magnolias.
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- Look how bold and bright these flowers are. The magnolia family is one of the oldest trees in existence. Because of this, their flowers do not have true petals and sepals; instead, they have petal-like tepals. Also, the flowers do not produce real nectar, but attract pollinating beetles with fragrant and sugary secretions.
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- Magnolia flowers range from three to 12-inches in diameter. Some species of Magnolia flowers are also protogynous, meaning they appear with or before the tree’s leaves.
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- This is one one of two large horse chestnuts in front of my stable. Aesculus hippocastanum is a large deciduous tree also known as conker tree. It is looking very green now, but soon it will have gorgeous pink flowers that provide a rich source of nectar and pollen to insects, particularly the bees.
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- See the buds just waiting to open. The flowers will appear on erect, eight-inch long panicles at each branch tip.
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- This is a weeping larch, Larix decidua ‘Pendula’. It has bright green needles in spring, which turn gold before dropping in fall. This curvaceous tree is located at “the triangle” where the carriage roads leading to the Boxwood Allee, the Pin Oak Allee and the woodland, all converge.
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- Looking closely, you can see all the many interesting young leaves.
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- As many of you know, this is my Pin Oak Allee. At this time it is easier to see its recognizable branch habit, where the lower branches hang down, the horizontal middle branches flare out and the upright upper branches point up.
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- Here are the buds on the pin oak branches – just waiting to open.
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- I love these weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’ – the branches of these trees gracefully weep creating an umbrella of foliage that reaches the ground.
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- Its leaves of green are emerging quickly.
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- This orchard surrounds three sides of my pool. We planted more than 200-fruit trees here, many of which started as bare-root cuttings.
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- These trees are all staked for added support, and they’re growing very well – in part because of the nutrient-rich soil.
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- These are the pink buds of one of my apricot trees. Many of these trees already produced an abundance of fruit last year – I can’t wait to see what they do this season.
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- These are plum trees on the other side of the orchard. My plum varieties include ‘Green Gage’, ‘Mount Royal’, ‘NY9’, and ‘Stanley’.
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- Prunus americana has such beautiful white flowers. It produces very sweet, and juicy fruits.
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- Across from the pergola, is a row of bald cypress, or Taxodium distichum, is a deciduous conifer. It is a large tree with gray-brown to red-brown bark. It is popular as an ornamental tree grown for its light, feathery foliage.
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- A close look at its branches shows some of the leaves emerging. The leaves are alternate and linear, with flat blades that are spirally arranged on the stem. These will start off green and then be orange-brown to dull red in fall.
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- Behind my carport is my dwarf apple orchard. Look closely, and these trees are also showing some colorful buds.
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- Here they are buds. The majority of apple tree blossoms begin as pink buds and bloom as white flowers. Father Legendre of Hannonsville, France is credited with pioneering the espalier growing method in 1684. Because sunlight reaches every piece of fruit that these trees bear, espalier pruning continues to be a standard procedure at commercial orchards in France.
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- Across the carriage road are the beautiful Malus ‘Gravenstein’ espalier apple trees.
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- Here you can see some of the white flowers emerging.
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- And here is a row of ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs, which bloom in May. They are some of the most fragrant of all the lilac bushes.
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- Here is a closeup of its branches. The blooms will become bright lavender and will stand out nicely against their dark green leaves. These lilacs prefer full sun, but will also live in partial shade. ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs are very popular for borders or as specimen plantings.
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- Just outside the kitchen to my Winter House, I have two of these Camperdown Elms. Camperdown Elms slowly develop broad, flat heads and wide crowns with weeping branch habits.
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- Its leaves are broad oblong-obovate to elliptic, rough-textured and serrated.
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- On the other side of my Winter House are these two weeping katsura trees. Cercidiphyllum japonicum f. pendulum has pendulous branches that fan out from the crown and sweep the ground. Caramel-scented foliage emerges bronze or purple-red, turns blue-green, then fades to gold or apricot in autumn.
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- Here is a closer look at one of its branches – already so full with foliage.
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- Malus sargentii, occasionally called Sargent’s apple or Sargent crabapple, is a species of crabapple in the genus Malus. The plant is a shrub growing about six-feet tall. Here are two of four that flank the carriage road between my Tenant House and my blog studio.
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- These too are showing many buds on their branches. Everything is just bursting with spring life. I am so pleased with the gardens this year – I am looking forward to sharing more photos as the season progresses. What trees are blooming around your home? Share with me below.
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