Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on January 4, 2023| 2 Comments »
The bare tulip tree in February 2022
I will soon be starting to follow a new tree so it’s time to look back on 2022, the year of the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park.
For the record, all my tulip tree posts can be found here.
These are some of my photos taken from winter through spring, summer and autumn to winter again… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on November 13, 2022| 11 Comments »
Autumn leaves of the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park this week
I am glad I visited the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park a bit earlier this time as I might otherwise have missed its autumn colour.
We have had so much rain and wind in recent weeks that most of the loosening leaves have been blown from the branches and now lie in mush on the grass.
Here are the photos from my latest visit, on a rare dry day… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, tagged Nature, tulip tree, Victoria Park on September 14, 2022| 6 Comments »
A raindrop-splattered leaf fallen from the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
As the days get shorter and cooler, there is what my Yorkshire mother-in-law would call a “back-endish” feel to the crisp air.
Since last month the parched weather has been relieved by a considerable amount of rain here in South Wales, but I fear it will not be a good year for autumn colour, with many tree leaves falling prematurely, brown and shrivelled.
After a wet week I managed to visit the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park today, on what turned out to be a glorious blue-sky day with quite warm temperatures.
There was a stubborn band of rain farther to the south of Britain, which soaked London during these sad times of national mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Here are the photos from my visit this morning… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on August 14, 2022| 6 Comments »
Dry leaves fallen from the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
All around, people looking half-dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
[The Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the City]
Last month we had a mini heatwave with temperatures in the 30s for a few days, but this time we are on the verge of drought, even here in South Wales, one of the wettest parts of the UK. The hot, cloudless weather has lasted about a fortnight and we are really hoping it will break with some welcome rain in the coming week.
It was exhausting walking the mile to visit Victoria Park to check up on the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) on Friday. The place was full of families, with the loud squeals of children playing on the splash pad – such a good idea in this weather and all the water is recirculated. I don’t like to take pictures of children without permission so this is from the website of the creators of the splashpad…
One of the exciting features of the splashpad is a bucket that gradually fills and then upends over all the children. Click on the photo to go to the Ustigate Waterplay website
Here are my pictures of the tulip tree… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, tagged Nature, Spring, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on May 14, 2022| 8 Comments »
New flower buds and last year’s husks on the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
As we pass from late spring into summer here in Cardiff the weather is warming up, although we still have an occasional wet day for the benefit of the garden.
It was sunny but surprisingly blustery when I visited Victoria Park to visit the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) this week.
The statuesque tree is now full of leaves at that lovely, fresh light green stage of growth.
Here are the pictures from my latest visit… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Spring, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on March 13, 2022| 2 Comments »
The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
It has been a wet week here in South Wales but one morning I managed to find a weather window to visit the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park.
There has not been much visible development since my last visit but Spring has sprung all around, with a patch of crocuses in the grass beneath the tree.
Here are the pictures from my latest visit… (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Nature, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on February 14, 2022| 4 Comments »
The husk of last year’s fruit on the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park
Last week I made my first 2022 visit to the tree I have chosen to follow this year, a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Cardiff’s Victoria Park.
I was a tiny bit concerned I wouldn’t recognise it in winter but I needn’t have worried.
It is the tallest tree in this part of the park and I remembered it was near the bandstand. (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Lombardy poplar, Nature, Trees, Victoria Park on January 14, 2022| 3 Comments »
The Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) in Victoria Park, Cardiff, a year ago
It’s a new year and time to draw a line under the tree I followed last year – a Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) in Victoria Park, Cardiff – and to move on to a new subject for observation, which will be a tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera‘ also in Victoria Park.
You can find all my Lombardy poplar posts here but these are some of my pictures showing how the tree changed through the seasons. (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged Lombardy poplar, Nature, Trees, Victoria Park on December 14, 2021| 4 Comments »
Afternoon shadow of the Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) in Victoria Park, Cardiff
I was up against it this time in trying to find an opportunity to visit the Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) I am following in Victoria Park, Cardiff. It has been quite wet and windy in the last month but when the sun shines it is glorious.
I managed to grab a moment with the tree on Friday afternoon as the sun was already low in the sky and the shadows were stretching out across the grass. It seemed sad and appropriate as it was the last time I would focus on this particular tree.
My abiding memory of this occasion was a grey squirrel that gazed down at me from a low branch on the tree throughout my whole visit.
Here are my pictures: (more…)
Posted in Nature, Trees, Uncategorized, tagged autumn, Nature, Trees, tulip tree, Victoria Park on November 30, 2021| 6 Comments »
Looking up at the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Victoria Park
On my November visit to Cardiff’s Victoria Park two trees particularly caught my attention for their autumn colour, so I thought I would give them a blog post of their own. (more…)
The Squirrelbasket 