Red-dipped Parrotia persica leaves in the garden in August
As I write this we are in the middle of a spell of thunderstorms and heavy rain in South Wales, but on the day I took these pictures of the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) we were well into an intense heatwave and I thought I was going to have to water the garden.
There was not much new to see this month but the pretty red-dipped leaves are still attractive, peeping out from the sycamore tree that, as I have said before, heavily overshadows the ironwood. Despite that, the hardy little tree is surviving well.
In the shade the leaves are still tough and green
Is it the sun that brings out the red colouring?
There are quite a few twisted leaves, perhaps from insect attack
One or two seed capsules are still hanging on…
…a closer look
In the inaccessible thicket of ironwood stems is a dead branch, probably from the ash trees around it
Below the ironwood the common Buddleia davidia has already gone to seed
Last week I went to revisit the tree I followed in 2016 – see more about it here. This old oak (Quercus robur) in nearby Thompson’s Park had almost no acorns in the year I followed it but was plagued with galls of several sorts.
This year I was amazed to see it absolutely laden with thousands of new green acorns, although there are still some rather attractive galls…
Acorns plus knopper galls (from the wasp Andricus quercuscalicis)
The 2016 oak as it looks this summer – I think it may have shed a big bough on the right
Thanks to Hollis for this link to suggestions about the reasons for bountiful oak “mast” years, here.
That’s it for August – and it will soon be autumn – with no real summer to speak of thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown since March…
The Squirrelbasket 
The red-dipped leaves are very pretty. Artistic! But are they supposed to look like that now? Otherwise it looks like the tree is not feeling well and is starting to break down the chlorophyll too early. It seems to think that it’s autumn already.
I think it’s probably OK – it seems to be a feature of this particular species, or at least of quite a few of the cultivars I have seen in pictures online.
The leaves started with red edges, seemed to lose them and then perhaps get them back again. I can’t think why I haven’t noticed in previous years.
Best wishes 🙂
the red dipped leaves are very pretty and it’s lovely to check up on your oak from a previous year. I should revisit some of my trees from previous years in my next tree following update
Juliet
http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com
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Thanks.
And yes, it’s good to go back and revisit old tree “friends”, although I always fear they may have been removed and feel so uplifted when I find they are still there and thriving…
All the best 🙂
The account of the acorns is interesting. I remember from California that the oaks there had “mast” years with lots of acorns. I looked into it and apparently it’s common in oaks — https://libanswers.nybg.org/faq/222824
Thanks for the link – interesting idea that it could be about “predator satiation”, so that in bountiful years the predators can’t possibly eat all the acorns, so there are plenty left to grow into the next generation, and in the poor years the predators starve! Makes a certain amount of sense.
I always love your botanical insights…
Best wishes 🙂