Early Spring Trees at My Farm
Today in Bedford, New York, we're expecting plentiful sunshine and near record high temperatures, for this time of year, in the upper 80s. We are well into springtime weather and all the gardens are transforming.
It always amazes me how quickly plants and trees grow from day to day. I am constantly noticing something new blooming at my farm. And, while many of the spring 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.
Enjoy these images.
-
- This week, all of us here at the farm are enjoying the show from these two weeping cherry trees down behind my stable. A weeping cherry tree is at its best when the pendulous branches are covered with pink or white flowers. These trees are in full bloom right now, but it doesn’t last long – only a couple weeks.
-
- Look at the gorgeous blossoms. These trees are big eye-catchers when guests are lucky enough to see them in flower.
-
- One of the earliest trees to flower here in spring is the magnolia. I have several pink, white, and creamy yellow magnolias. Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
-
- Growing as large shrubs or trees, they produce showy, fragrant flowers that are shades of pink, white, red, purple, or yellow – the blooms are so stunning.
-
- Here are the flowers of a white magnolia outside my Summer House. 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.
-
- 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.
-
- Very few ornamental trees offer the variety of tree shapes, sizes, bloom shades, and fruits as the flowering crabapple tree. The crabapple has more than 35 species and 700 cultivars. Crabapple trees can reach 50-feet tall, but most remain in the 15-25-foot range. They can be columnar, spreading, weeping or vase-shaped.
-
- Once the flowers, which tend to be small, but bountiful, all bloom, they can last for up to several weeks. Flowering crabapples are quite adaptable, but thrive in rich, loamy soil with a pH of about 5.0 to 6.5.
-
- These “ancient” apple trees are original to the farm. These, too, are showing seasonal growth.
-
- In spring, the apple trees’ buds unfold, and newly formed leaves and pure white flowers begin to grow on the ends of the twigs.
-
- These are ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs, which bloom in May. They are some of the most fragrant of all the lilac bushes. These lilacs prefer full sun, but will also live in partial shade.
-
- Here is some of the early spring growth. Soon, these sweet ‘Miss Kim’ lilacs will be smelled all over the garden. The blooms will become bright lavender and will stand out nicely against their dark green leaves.
-
- Across the carriage road are the beautiful Malus ‘Gravenstein’ espalier apple trees. I am hopeful we will have a very productive apple season this year.
-
- These trees are also showing off their early springtime buds.
-
- Just outside my Winter House is this weeping katsura, one of my favorite 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.
-
- Tiny red flowers emerge in late March or early April before the leaves. Here is a closer look at the fresh foliage.
-
- I love these rare weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’ – the branches of these trees gracefully weep creating an umbrella of foliage that reaches the ground.
-
- Hornbeam is monoecious, meaning male and female catkins, which appear before the leaves, are found on the same tree.
-
- From a distance, everyone notices the stunning golden-yellow weeping willows. Here is one grove of weeping willows at the edge of my pinetum. The golden hue looks so pretty against the early spring landscape.
-
- When the tree blooms in late winter or spring, yellow catkins such as these appear. The catkin flowers are one to two inches long, and each blossom consists of hundreds of hairlike protrusions. The flowers mature to yellow before they are disbursed by wind or rain.
-
- And remember my grove of American beech trees which we treated organically last year? I noticed they were not as vibrant and was worried they had caught a relatively new beech leaf disease that is spreading rapidly through the Northeast killing both mature American beeches and saplings. We are now seeing lots of new buds all over the trees. I can’t wait to see how they look all leafed out.
-
- 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 Allée, the Pin Oak Allée, and the woodland, all converge.
-
- Looking closely, one can see all the new spring growth starting to emerge.
-
- Aesculus hippocastanum is a large deciduous tree commonly known as the horse chestnut or conker tree. I have many of these trees. This is one of two located at one end of my stable at the foot of my long Boxwood Allée. The flowers provide a rich source of nectar and pollen to insects, particularly the bees.
-
- Here are the leaves of the horse chestnut which will grow over the next few weeks. Even at this early stage, one can clearly see leaves and developing flowers. By mid-May to early June, these trees will be in full bloom.
-
- Here’s another espalier of fruit trees. I purchased 10 espalier Asian pear trees and planted them outside my stable near my peafowl, and geese enclosures. Espalier refers to an ancient technique, resulting in trees that grow flat, either against a wall, or along a wire-strung framework. Many kinds of trees respond beautifully to the espalier treatment, but fruit trees, like apple and pear, were some of the earliest examples. These trees are all doing excellently.
-
- I have six ‘Shinseiki’ and four ‘Nijisseiki’ pear trees. These flowers will soon be open.
-
- And here is a weeping Japanese cherry in pink. This was gifted to me last year and is now planted at the east end of my Boxwood Allée.
-
- Look at the spring blooms. Its showy pink and white flowers attract butterflies like the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Everything here is just bursting with spring life. I am so pleased with the gardens and I am looking forward to sharing more photos as the season progresses.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
