Posted in Gardening, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged flowers, Gardening, Nature, Snapshots on May 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I have always admired this shrub in a neighbour’s garden – it always looks so healthy and full of blooms. I knew it was a rose but have only just discovered that it is a Japanese rose, Rosa rugosa…
In a garden beside a nearby street there is an excellent arum lily planted in the of a Magnolia tree…
…I always thought these rather funereal and called them arum lilies, but they are also known as call lilies and are a species of Zantedeschia
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Llandaff Fields, Nature, sycamore, Trees on May 14, 2023| 5 Comments »
Greenfly seen through a leaf of the sycamore I am following in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff
Although the weather is still changeable here in South Wales, the temperatures were just starting to rise when I visited the big sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields this week.
The flowers have now dropped off and the fruits are preparing to form, although I could see no sign of the winged seeds yet.
What I did see, but only when I enlarged a photograph of some of the leaves high on the tree, was a host of greenfly – I assumed they were the same as those on rose bushes but I have discovered that there is a specific sycamore aphid out and about in May called Drepanosiphum platanoidis, which likes sycamore. Those on roses are likely to be Macrosiphum rosae…
Here are my photos from the visit on Thursday afternoon… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, tagged Nature, Trees on May 7, 2023| 11 Comments »
Leaves of beech (Fagus Sylvatica) in the rain this week
Here we are again for the monthly tree-following get-together. It’s May already but the weather here in the UK has remained very unseasonable, cold and wet. It has made the annual early bank holidays quite miserable.
But this weekend has been the celebration of our new King Charles III’s Coronation with an extra day off work to go with it. So I hope to go to visit the sycamore tree I am following in Cardiff’s Llandaff Fields at some time this week.
I hope you have all had a chance to inspect your trees and look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again.
I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.
The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on May 14.
If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I keep oin saying, I really must update that page when I have the chance…
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, tagged birds, Nature, Snapshots on April 20, 2023| 5 Comments »
Male sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisus) on the garden fence
For once I was lucky. I often see birds in the garden when I am at the kitchen sink but don’t have my camera to hand. This time a male sparrow hawk was sleepily preening itself on our highest fence and didn’t seem to be in a hurry. Maybe it was satisfied after a good meal. I had time to dash upstairs to get my camera and the magnificent bird stayed for maybe 10 minutes, fluffing up its downy feathers.
Once or twice the hawk looked me straight in the eye
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, sycamore, Trees on April 14, 2023| 4 Comments »
Sycamore leaves and flowers
It has been a very wet week but luckily the Easter bank holiday weekend was fine if a bit blustery, so I managed to visit the big sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields before starting back at work after the welcome break.
So much has happened and the tree now has flowers as well as fresh green leaves.
Here are my photos from a visit on the afternoon of Easter Monday… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees on April 7, 2023| 4 Comments »
New growth on a self-seeded wild cherry tree in a pot in my garden – I doubt if it will ever flower
Welcome to the April 2023 tree-following get-together. Spring has come to the northern hemisphere and I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again.
Here in South Wales after a very wet March the weather is changeable again for April.
It’s the Easter Bank Holiday weekend so I hope to visit the sycamore I am following in Llandaff Fields this week. If the greenery in my garden is anything to go by the tree should be well into leaf by now. We shall see.
I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.
The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on April 14.
If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I continue to say, I really must update that page when I have the chance!
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, sycamore, Trees on March 14, 2023| 4 Comments »
The sycamore in the distance, framed by alder catkins
Well, I’m really cutting this fine – just in time to publish my tree-following blog post for the month.
I had hoped to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields when it snowed last week, but the snow only lasted an hour or two before it turned to rain.
So I ended up visiting today, as the cold and snowy weather from the north and warmer, wetter weather from the south competed and left South Wales with a window of a few hours of sunshine.
Here are my photos from a visit today (March 14)… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees on March 7, 2023| 8 Comments »
Birch in March
Welcome to the March 2023 tree-following gathering. I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again. Spring is on its way, so if you haven’t chosen a tree to follow for the year yet, now seems like a good time.
Here in South Wales as March begins it is mostly cold and dry with easterly winds – although snow has been forecast for some areas later in the week.
I hope to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields this week and it would be wonderful to picture it in snow – but we rarely have a covering of the white stuff so near the warm coast of the Bristol Channel.
I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.
The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on March 14.
If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I have been saying for ages, I must update that page when I have the chance. Maybe this year!
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, sycamore, Trees on February 12, 2023| 6 Comments »
Shadow of the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) in Llandaff Fields, Cardiff
After a wet and then frosty January, February has started with some drizzle and mist and quite a few fine late-winter days.
I visited the sycamore I am following in Llandaff Fields on another lovely day – from my photos you would think the sun always shines in Cardiff!
A reminder that in America this would be called a sycamore maple but in the UK it’s simply a sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus). (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, tagged Nature, Trees on February 7, 2023| 8 Comments »
Ash branches against a cold February sky
Welcome to the February 2023 tree-following gathering. I look forward to seeing everyone’s news and pictures once again. Newcomers are always welcome and I see some of the usual followers are already looking for a new tree.
Here in South Wales in January we had some very wet weather followed by some very frosty weather – with temperatures at night falling to minus 5 degrees. That’s unusual for Cardiff, as shown by the fact that in one street the paving slabs lifted apart all along the middle of the footway because of “frost heave”, caused by expansion of wet ground below.
Since then the weather has been alternating between mild and damp and cold and dry as the Atlantic jet stream moves to the north or south of the UK.
I hope to visit the sycamore in Llandaff Fields this week while the weather is again crisp.
I’m sure you regular tree followers will have something to report. Point to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box below. And please don’t forget to leave a comment.
The link box is now open for contributions and will stay open until 7pm GMT on February 14.
If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here, although, as I have been saying for years, I must update that page when I have the chance!
The Squirrelbasket 