Holly berries in the background make the seed capsules look Christmassy, don’t you think?
I was lucky with the weather when I visited my empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa) in Cardiff’s Bute Park this week. There had been torrential rain and gale-force winds for days but there was a brief respite on Tuesday.
I was meeting a friend for coffee at the Pettigrew Tea Rooms at the entrance to the park, so it made sense to choose this as my December day for the empress. I think it lovely that the cafe is named after a family of Victorian gardeners who did so much to create Cardiff’s parks, particularly in their planting of trees.
The empress is damp and bare after recent wind and rain
The Paulownia has lost nearly all its leaves and is surrounded by mole hills.
Only a few shreds of green leaf remain
Most of the big leaves are now rotting into the grass and cow parsley
Lesser celandine leaves (Ranunculus ficaria) are a sign that spring will come again
These buds will also open in spring with wonderful purple blooms
The seed capsules are still firmly closed…
…even those on the ground
I took that one home to cut it open and when I shook it I could hear what was inside thudding around like a dense ball of kapok or cotton wool…
The easiest way to open the pod is to cut along the groove, but that marks the internal wall of the capsule…
…I broke open the wall to let out the seeds
The individual winged seeds
It makes you wonder why the park isn’t full of pesky little Paulownia seedlings from this tree.
But back to the empress herself…
After the wet weather the mossy trunk is lush
Sprigs of moss
Lichen – possibly Parmotrema perlatum?
Damage to the trunk shows the pale wood within
I was desperate to find something new to say about the empress after all this time, so I tried to stand still for a minute – what Lucy at Loose and Leafy does for her “stuck foot posts“. I can never manage it, but I stood still for long enough to spot this…
A red balloon caught high in the branches of the empress tree
I think the balloon said 16 on it, and I suppose you could see some significance in that? I first met the empress on January 16 this year, and next year is 2016. I will no doubt visit again in early January, as I would like to see if the seed capsules crack open over the next month to match what I observed in January 2015. And then I must choose a different tree to follow.
You can find out all about tree-following here. And look out for the tree-following link box here on Monday, December 7.
All my Paulownia postings are here.
All my tree postings of any sort are here.
lovely post thank you for sharing have a blessed week
Thank you – and may you have a good week, too.
Best wishes 🙂
That is so wonderful–finding a red balloon in your tree! (in my mind anyway 😉
I was excited, too! It must be something to do with the imagery of balloons floating up and away in the sky like souls…
All the best 🙂
It’s funny how thoughts percolate to the surface of the mind … this morning I remembered “The Red Balloon”, a wonderful short film. You can read about it via google. It is magical, charming, but a little bit sad.
I will look that one up.
I was also singing the Eurovision song contest winner from a few years ago (1984), although in the original German they were “air” balloons (luftballons) not “red” balloons. See the video here.
All the best 🙂
The Empress tree is magnificent! I confess I did not know what their seed pods looked like. I smiled at the red balloon and the celandine, I have a lot of celandine.
She is, isn’t she? I’ll miss visiting her next year – and when I do see her it will be like meeting an old flame!
Celandine is great, too. I always feel it’s spring when that flowers. So sunny!
All the best 🙂