Tree following link box for September 2019

A small hornbeam tree (Carpinus betulus) in Cardiff Bay, heavy with its distinctive little nuts held in leafy bracts

The tree-following link box has now closed for another month. Here in Wales the weather was mixed in August, but managed very high temperatures for the late August Bank Holiday Monday.

Now September has begun and already there is an autumnal nip in the air.

You will find everyone’s updates below, so enjoy exploring…

Alison at the Blackberry Garden – the solitary quince

Erika Groth in Sweden – aspens

JayP – Amblings around Penwith (Cornwall) – flowering dogwood

Pat – Squirrelbasket – the London plane of Mermaid Quay

Andrew – Kind Hearts and Corydalis – Oliver the oak

Flighty’s Plot – Liz’s witch hazel in Lexington, Kentucky, and Mike’s apple tree

Hollis – In the Company of Plants and Rocks – Russian hawthorn in Wyoming – and a rabbit

Frances at Island Threads, off the North West coast of Scotland – hawthorn

If you are new to tree following, read all about the idea here. Why not join us? Point us to any tree-related post you would like to share, using the link box published on the 7th of each month and lasting for a week.

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Mystery tree fruits identified

Frilly fruits on the trees in front of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay

There’s always something I haven’t seen before when I am in Cardiff Bay. This time, on a blustery day, I noticed these unusual, heavy fruits on the trees in front of the Wales Millennium Centre.

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Lego lands on Mermaid Quay

Lego dragon on Mermaid Quay

For the last few summer weeks there has been a group of fantasy characters gathered on Cardiff Bay’s Mermaid Quay. And these are all constructed from Lego, the famous Danish brand producing interlocking plastic bricks and other models.

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Fairground mixed feelings

Close-up of a carousel horse in Cardiff Bay

This summer the “beach” and funfair has returned to Cardiff Bay’s Oval Basin – also known as Roald Dahl Plass. I looked in on it as I returned to the office from lunch one day last week. It seems to attract families and there is a small enclosed pool like a mini lido on the seaward side of the funfair. I’m not sure I saw a lot of sand, which would in any case have had to be shipped in for the event.

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2019 tree following 8: Sunshine and showers

Seed ball of (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia)

I seem to remember that last month, during a heatwave, I said “Please let it rain”. Be careful what you wish for!

In the last few weeks here in Cardiff we have had very changeable weather, with thundery and torrential rain, gale-force winds and sunny spells in between.

It all seems to have benefited the London plane (Platanus × hispanica or Platanus × acerifolia) I am following in Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay. The tree is looking lush and green in the height of so-called summer.

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News from the world of trees 2019 #3

Here is another round-up of tree news articles from around the world. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

Monsieur Plant makes tree hugging an art

Botanical artist Christophe Guinet — known as Monsieur Plant — has installed a ‘human-vegetable’ work entitled Tree Hug in Annecy, France, reports Design Boom…

House made of cork is shortlisted for prize

Shortlisted for the 2019 Stirling prize, a house in Eton, UK, at the vanguard of ‘corkitecture’ is broadening ideas of sustainable construction, says The Guardian…

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A second summer on the Wharf

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) on the Wharf in July

Last year I walked around the Wharf (former Bute East Dock) in Cardiff Bay almost every month, but in this my second year working at County Hall I am only an occasional visitor. This is partly because I am no longer following a tree beside the Wharf and also because I fear I will not find anything new this second time around.

I needn’t have worried. The view is constantly changing – although mainly because of construction work rather than the plants I see. Here are the images from my latest visit, in early July…

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