Habitat Visitor 2:

Joey found this fellow in our backyard wildlife habitat about a month ago. Note he is "playing possum". This works very well on Joey. I took Joey inside and when I returned, the possum was gone. I actually saw this happen once, as soon as Joey gets to the possum it immediately falls over, as if dead. Note the bared teeth.

Habitat Natives?

These guys popped out the following spring:

Habitat Resident 2004

This guy (gal!) moved into our house in late fall but died soon afterwards. Do they just live one year?

Winter Water II

One of Kathy's dishes - must be filled by hand but the birds love them. Shallow and easily to place in prime locations.

Winter water

This year we're adding a "hot rock" to one of our birdbaths. $25 from Plow and Hearth, cheap, but add $11 for s/h, still less than the FIFTY dollars Wild Birds Unlimited wanted for a similar item.

Transplanting a Tree Three
This subject pictured previously is a white ash Fraxinus americana. Supposedly easy to move (source?) Pictured is a slightly enlarged hole around it. I anticipate finishing it this weekend (!).

Transplanting Pt II

My previous successful transplants: 3’ hophornbeam and 4’ paw-paw. The former was small enough and young enough (<1 year since bare-root planting) that I was (apparently) able to easily get the entire root ball. The paw-paw had actually been in the same spot for about 3 years after planting from a container so I’m sure roots were lost. And I moved it during the height of the summer. But I learned and watered it heavily in the preceding weeks (and after). And I picked a cool day to move it. I did prune afterwards although I’ve read conflicting things about this. Digging was awkward as I couldn’t approach the tree comfortably from all angles. Nevertheless it seemed to being doing well in the 2-3 months prior to dormancy. We’ll see if it survives the winter.

My previous failures: A 8-12’ willow oak (way too big for me to even dig out, much less move) and 2’ willow oak (!). The 2-footer was so small I was overconfident and dug it out on a lark. I didn’t dig deeply and severed what appeared to be a tap-like root. And I didn’t water first and all of the dirt fell away from what was left of the root. The seedling either went into shock or just died. I felt like a noob after that.

Transplant pictures

Rosa multiflora

I've been shearing it from our local park, of which there is the following Wikipedia entry: "This plant is readily distinguished from native roses in the U.S. by its flower or seed heads, which bear multiple flowers and hips, often more than a dozen, while the native species bear only one or a few on a branch".

Rather I have been thinking about how to distinguish it from native greenbriar, which grows alongside it, before the leaves fall. I think the rose has more of a caning habit than the greenbriar, which seems to grow more loosely.

Meetings Will Be Meetings...

I received this email from the chairman of the our local citizens' advisory group on urban trees:

"... I want to take this opportunity to remind each member of the of the importance of meeting attendance. I want to remind you all of the importance of making meeting time constructive and directed to supporting the charter of the commission. "

Note that we are all volunteers and meet during our weekday evenings. Nonetheless these meetings remind me of meetings at work...

Recommended Shade Trees

Yesterday I sent this list to our c.a. president, as the basis for our tree grant program. On my recommendation (!?), we're only reimbursing shade trees in '06, and I found this list on the county web-site:

Acer rubrum Red Maple 'October Glory', 'Red Sunset' 50' x 50', showy fall color
Acer saccharum Sugar Maple 'Bonfire', 'Commemoration', 'Legacy' intolerant of salt
Celtis laevigata Sugar Hackberry 'Magnifica' 70' x 70'
Celtis occidentalis Common Hackberry 'Prairie Pride' 50' x 50'
Cercidiphyllum japonicum Katsuratree 50' x 50'
Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green Ash 'Marshall's Seedless', 'Patmore' 60' x 30', seedless varieties
only
Ginko biloba Ginko 'Autumn Gold' 50' x 35', male only, showy
fall color
Gleditsia triacanthos Honeylocust 'Shademaster', 65' x 55', showy fall color
Liquidambar styraciflua Sweetgum 'Rotundifolia' 70' x 60', fruitless variety
only
Nyssa sylvatica Blackgum 55' x 40', showy fall color
Platanus x acerifolia London Planetree 'Bloodgood' 80' x 65', showy bark
Quercus bicolor Swamp White Oak 60' x 60'
Quercus imbricaria Shingle Oak 60' x 60'
Quercus macrocarpa Bur Oak 75' x 75'
Quercus palustris Pin Oak 65' x 45'
Quercus phellos Willow Oak 65' x 55'
Quercus rubra Northern Red Oak 70' x 60'
Quercus shumardii Shumard Oak 70' x 60'
Sophora japonica Scholartree 'Regent' 60' x 60'
Taxodium distichum Baldcypress 60' x 25'
Tilia americana American Linden 70' x 45'
Tilia cordata Littleleaf Linden 'Greenspire' 65' x 45'
Tilia tomentosa Silver Linden 'Green Mountain' 60' x 50'
Ulmus americana American Elm 'Valley Forge', 'Liberty' 70' x 55'
Ulmus parvifolia Lacebark Elm 'Allee', 'Central Park Splendor' 70' x 60', showy bark
Zelkova serrata Japanese Zelkova 'Green Vase', 'Village Green' 65' x 55'