At last! It's been a long time coming! It seems somewhat of a relief that I finally have something to report for this month's Tree Following post. I feel as if I've prattled on about everything except my wee tree in my previous posts. I wasn't sure I could string it out much longer!
This month sees the first anniversary of me planting Sorbus Autumn Spire in my garden. S. Autumn Spire's growth is described as fastigiate (columnar) and was bought specifically for this part of the border where it narrows. It's a rather nice looking tree, even though I say so myself. I feel as if I made a good choice in so far as this tree is concerned. The birds continue to feed from the little feeder I have hanging there. The trellising last year was a very useful perch for the blue tit and sparrow fledglings. It's nice to finally start thinking forward into summer rather hovering around in Spring.
Healthy new foliage.
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Markings/texture on it's bark. The bark of young Rowan trees are generally described as grey but to me it looks more olive green than grey.
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More importantly, flower buds. It flowered rather sparsely last year and produced very few berries (pomes), there should be far more this year.
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For those of you that are familiar with Rowan trees, S. Autumn Spire is a sport of the widely planted S. Joseph Rock. According to the RHS, they can fall fowl of aphids, blister mites and sawfly. So far everything seems rather healthy. The new foliage has a very healthy sheen to it.
The young Viburnum (V. sargentii Onondaga) growing to the left, is also budding up and should be in bloom about the same time. The bronzy tinge on the foliage picks up the colour of the flower buds on the rowan. It's still young and has grown very little in the couple of years I've had it. This shrub has gorgeous spring colour, as you can see.
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This shot, taken looking towards the house, is from an angle I haven't shown you before. Although many of the plants in and around here are not all woodland plants, the area as a whole seems to be developing a kind of woodland feel to it - or at least my interpretation of one. Do two trees constitute a woodland? I doubt it! As the trees matures and the shrubs fill out, many of the perennials will have to go but right now there is plenty of room for everything. I recently brought the tiny Acer palmatum Garnet from a spot that had been inappropriate for it. Use it or loose it, as they say. I hope it will be happy enough here.
Time now to pop over to Loose and Leafy so see how everyone else's tree is fairing this May. See you there!
This month sees the first anniversary of me planting Sorbus Autumn Spire in my garden. S. Autumn Spire's growth is described as fastigiate (columnar) and was bought specifically for this part of the border where it narrows. It's a rather nice looking tree, even though I say so myself. I feel as if I made a good choice in so far as this tree is concerned. The birds continue to feed from the little feeder I have hanging there. The trellising last year was a very useful perch for the blue tit and sparrow fledglings. It's nice to finally start thinking forward into summer rather hovering around in Spring.
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| Sorbus Autumn Spire |
Markings/texture on it's bark. The bark of young Rowan trees are generally described as grey but to me it looks more olive green than grey.
More importantly, flower buds. It flowered rather sparsely last year and produced very few berries (pomes), there should be far more this year.
For those of you that are familiar with Rowan trees, S. Autumn Spire is a sport of the widely planted S. Joseph Rock. According to the RHS, they can fall fowl of aphids, blister mites and sawfly. So far everything seems rather healthy. The new foliage has a very healthy sheen to it.
The young Viburnum (V. sargentii Onondaga) growing to the left, is also budding up and should be in bloom about the same time. The bronzy tinge on the foliage picks up the colour of the flower buds on the rowan. It's still young and has grown very little in the couple of years I've had it. This shrub has gorgeous spring colour, as you can see.
This shot, taken looking towards the house, is from an angle I haven't shown you before. Although many of the plants in and around here are not all woodland plants, the area as a whole seems to be developing a kind of woodland feel to it - or at least my interpretation of one. Do two trees constitute a woodland? I doubt it! As the trees matures and the shrubs fill out, many of the perennials will have to go but right now there is plenty of room for everything. I recently brought the tiny Acer palmatum Garnet from a spot that had been inappropriate for it. Use it or loose it, as they say. I hope it will be happy enough here.
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| Laburnum and Sorbus in my mini woodland |