Summer Trees Around My Farm
Summer weather here at my farm is expected to be very hot and humid today - possibly climbing to 90-degrees Fahrenheit.
By this time every year many plants have already reached their flowering peak for the season, but the trees, most of which I've planted through the years, are still so beautiful and lush with foliage.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Every single day I am home, I tour the farm to see how all the gardens, trees, and plants are doing. Every specimen is special. These trees line the main carriage road to and from my woodland.
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- I’ve planted thousands and thousands of trees here on my 153-acre farm – in and around the gardens, along the carriage roads, and throughout the woods. I love how they look in the landscape and how they change through the seasons. Most importantly, we need trees for the environment – they help combat climate change, provide habitat and food for birds and other animals, and release oxygen for us to live. This is my allée of pin oaks, Quercus palustris, which I planted soon after moving to my farm. At that time, they were just about six feet tall.
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- Down behind the chicken coops is a grove of dawn redwoods. Dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, grow faster than most trees and need an area under full sun that is large enough to accommodate the trees which can grow to more than 160-feet tall. One of their distinguishable characteristics is the deeply fissured bark on mature trees.
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- I have many Japanese maples just in this woodland near my chickens. I always look forward to their gorgeous displays of color, especially in autumn.
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- The Atlas Cedar has a bold, pyramidal form with sparkling silvery blue foliage. It is among the most popular evergreen conifers.
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- In the same area, I have several scholar trees, also known as Japanese pagoda trees, Styphnolobium japonicum. These are deciduous trees grown for the white flowers borne in late summer after most other flowering trees have long finished flowering.
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- From a distance, everyone notices the weeping willows. These are in a grove at the edge of my pinetum. Weeping willows are wide and tall with graceful curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground.
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- This is a mature hickory tree. Hickory trees are one of the most important hardwood trees in North America. They are robust, durable and valued for their nut production. The hickory is a variety of species within the Carya genus. There are about 12 species of hickory native to North America.
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- This is a ginkgo. Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history.
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- The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze.
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- On one side of a carriage road in my back hayfield are these red maples. The red maple, Acer rubrum, is a fast-growing tree native to North America. It is a member of the Sapindaceae family and can grow up to 70 feet tall at a rate of 18 inches per year.
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- On both sides of the carriage road in another hayfield, I planted an allée of London plane trees and about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria.
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- The London plane trees are loved for the large three-lobed, toothed, dark green leaves that turn yellow, orange, and red with the fall season.
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- They are also known for the exfoliating bark, which is a natural process that helps the tree shed old bark to make way for new growth.
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- From this side of my long and winding pergola, one can see the towering bald cypress, Taxodium distichum – a deciduous conifer. Though it’s native to swampy areas, the bald cypress is also able to withstand dry, sunny weather and is hardy in USDA climate zones 5 through 10. I also planted these when I took over my farm.
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- 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.
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- Nearby, off my terrace is this beautiful Nyssa sylvatica, or black tupelo – a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and eastern Texas, as well as Mexico. Its summer leaves are a bold dark green.
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- But look closely and see the changing color. This Nyssa tree is showing a few of its autumn leaves – shades of yellow, orange, bright red, and scarlet, which can all appear on the same branch. It’s a sign that autumn is not farm away.
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- From my driveway one can see this catalpa tree with its large heart-shaped green leaves. In late summer, early fall, it starts growing long, slender bean like seed pods.
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- I am very proud of my orchard. Look at this peach tree laden with fruits. I’m having a great peach season. There are more than 200-fruit trees planted in this orchard – apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, pear, medlar, apricot, quince, and peach trees. There are so many more interesting trees at my farm, but i hope this helps you to appreciate some of the beautiful specimens where you live – perhaps even inspire you to plant one.
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