Roadtrip....

This afternoon.....trees,on the bluffs,in a small family cemetary....Dave....

One of my favorite "haunts"!

one more......

Great pictures, and beautiful country. What is the tree behind the sycamore in picture number two?

Scott

last.....

Hi,Scott......I'll be honest with you....just not sure what it is....Dave

Great pictures...thanks for sharing them. Next to arboretums, cemetaries are my favorite places to look for trees. I took these of a Japanese Maple (I think that's what it is) last year while visiting Stonewall Jackson Cemetary in Lexington, VA.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v145/maackia/Woody%20Stuff/Deciduous%20Trees/?action=view¤t=dd7defd8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/maackia/Woody%20Stuff/Deciduous%20Trees/HPIM1485.jpg

I've just been slapped silly for spelling cemetery wrong........stones dated 1869......notice the hands.....Dave

I mean 1879......need to rest......lol! great visuals Maackia! wow......thanks....

Dave, I guess we're going to have to share the Dan Quale spelling award for the night. ;)

The conifers must be Junipers.

Junipers.....

Maackia.....one more thing....while there at this spot,there were hundreds of bluebirds roosting in the trees,but I couldnt get a pic in time as they spooked.....Dave.....

Very cool. I've put up several nesting houses designed specifically for Bluebirds (Tree Swallows also use them, though) and enjoy watching them througout the summer. They should be making their way back in about another month.

If I was Scott, I'd say that's a Carpinus.

Best guess from distant KY is Tilia on the background tree, with the recurved branches and the bark character. Not enough detail on the stems or buds, and it looks much "rougher" (as in scruffy) than Tilia around here, but that might be life on the prairies talking.

Except that the trunk/bark bears no resemblance to it whatsoever, I would've guessed one of the Morus, because that would match the scruffiness.

What a fun winter diversion, Dave. I visited our local sematarie yesterday, and came away with some images suitable for the mood.

VV,
What is the tree in your picture? Is it a weeping, contorted European beech (Fagus sylvatica? The bark looks like Fagus bark) Very cool! Certainly looks to be contorted and weeping.
Thanks,
Mike

Booga booga booga!

It's every bit a Fagus sylvatica 'Pendula', all dressed up and no where to go.

View on the river road ....that leads to the sematarie.....

Crossing Independence creek....where Lewis and Clark camped .....getting closer to sematarie.....

Where is Will? He would love this thread.

Hi Equil and other friends,

I'm so sorry I haven't been around much lately. I have been saving up my resources for a place to hang my hat, many hours of work the last couple of months. Even today I burned a tank of gas driving around rural Jackson County in search of a couple acres for sale. For anyone not familiar with Jackson County, its the county that Kansas City is in. I'm not homeless or anything but my main priority right now is buying some land where I can pitch a tent or something..lol
Well, buying some land anyway! I very recently was excited about a land deal that was really too good to be true, and I found that out. The seller was supposed to be sellling 5 acres, a shed and a house for 5 thousand dollars, which I could swing.
Anyhow, turns out that he was full of you know what! I was so excited I even offered a co-worker a 10% finders fee, the lady that knew him. She found out the real story though, and told me the guy was full of beans (actually, the other un-printable word), he not only deceived me, but her and her husband as well. I'll keep on looking.

I really want (and need) land where I can plant my hundreds of potted trees and other plants. And also to carry out my other landscaping business aspirations.
As of now I'm still in this little house by myself that I rent from my Grandmother.
She is getting up in years and my time in this house is getting shorter with every year.

I do love cemetery trees and plants, they are so mature, with many native trees in their manicured landscape. A cemetery is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. Cemetery plant life lives such a long un-interrupted existence there.
Its as if it was planned to have so many trees and shrubs there to give the appearance that there really is lasting life. Perhaps cemetery fauna was designed on such a large scale to help bring solace to the grievers.

If anyone would like to check out some of my past cemetery photos, just click here - to see my photo album -
http://photobucket.com/albums/v243/w4i0a/Mount%20Washington%20cemetery%20trees/

Will

Oops, I meant flora not fauna. Well, maybe fauna too! I have seen much wildlife in cemeteries! But I just looked up fauna in my dictionary and it says: "the animals of a specified region or time", not the word I was shooting for! After I posted that I was thinking "I didn't say that word, did I".
I must've been thinking of that saying "flora and fauna" or something, geez its late, I better get to bed!

Will

Maackia, if you made it all the way to Lexington, I'm hoping you found Dr. Munger's incredible collection at Boxerwood while you were here? http://www.boxerwood.com/

RCN,

We happened to pick alumni weekend to spend in Lexington...great planning on my part. With the throngs of W & L and VMI grads choking the streets and and making it about impossible to get a dinner reservation, it took some of the fun out of our stay. Nevertheless, Lexington is a charming little town and I highly recommend it. We did visit Boxerwood, which was a quiet retreat from the revelry going on in town(not that I'm against revelry). The late Dr. Munger put together a great collection of plants in his lifetime and I'm sure he would've been a very interesting man to know. It did seem a bit unkempt for our midwestern sensibilities, but the groundskeeper told us his philosophy was that anything he planted should be able to survive in a more natural setting, with minimal human interference/assistance. If so, they're certainly holding true to his wishes. We had a great time in Virginia...the whole Shenandoah Valley is just a beautiful place.

Interesting timing -- Speaking of road trips and cemeteries, I just stopped at a country cemetery in southeastern Wisconsin at 6:00AM a couple of days ago to shoot the most spectacular Camperdown I have ever seen!

Will, get in here! Somebody wake up Will!

Guy S.

Guy, is this the same tree pictured in plant files under camperdown elm, if so, how did it get so high without support? Plant file picture tree seems to need major support. Ken

Hi Guy and friends,

I'm awake hehe!
Now back to work in a couple hours for my ten hour days to start back up this week.

Back in 01' a friend and I went on a road-trip to Virginia. Her sister lives in Powhatan, VA., I think its about 70 miles from Richmond. While we were there we went to the James river, the ocean and Richmond. That was after 911 and things were a bit tense there. I remember seeing my first F-16 fighter jet fly over-head. I was even interviewed at a rest stop, they were asking what the road conditions were like. The roads were a little more congested because of less people taking planes. My friend was bringing back some Bamboo from VA. and the camera-man thought he was getting footage of drug dealers transporting some drugs. He was wheeling all around with his camera, getting video of our open trunk and all the bamboo. Everything we brought back expired though.
I brought back some small Shortleaf pines and wild American Holly.

VA. is a great place for plant life. I saw trees growing there that I only rarely see here, such as Southern Magnolia, Shortleaf Pine and American Holly.

Guy, that is a great photo of Camperdown Elm, now I know kinda what to look for.
I don't think I've ever seen one, their all curly and twisted, very unique.

Will

Ken, I don't even know how to navigate through PlantFiles -- never have time to go there. But this one is the biggest I've seen, anywhere, and probably the oldest too. If you click to enlarge, you should be able to see the graft line at about eye level.

Will, welcome back! You need to stay in touch better, buddy!

Guy S.

Great, great picture!

Scott

Yes, Yes, I agree with Scott. Guy's photo needs to be there as well. Who can look at this mature tree and not say: "I want one" or more appropriately: "I want to leave one". I know I'm "preaching to the choir" here, but isn"t this why we all all here, at DG's. Coming back from my 72 mi. grocery run this afternoon, I was "looking" for trees and "natural groups" to show you of the north above frozen tundra. Now I just have to figure out how to use a camera, but believe me, I see the shots I want you to see. Ken

Guy....that is a work of art.....I hope it is framed for all to see...Dave...

More like a work of luck. It was near dawn, I'd been on the road an hour already, running on about 4 hours sleep, and the thing just stood up and glared at me. Had to turn around and go back, then find a way to crop out the cell tower and power lines while retaining the silhouette effect and avoiding lens flare. Finally just shot it and ran back to the car to thaw out fingers!

My main point was the serendipity -- you had just done some nice tree shots in a cemetery on a road trip, and I was doing the exact same thing!

Guy S.

I found this nice bur oak nearby at about the same time, but it wasn't in a cemetery. Dawn light is an ephemeral thing, and it can be tough to catch it with any worthy subject handy.
Guy S.

Hey thanks Guy, its good to be liked!

Sorry about not being around much lately.

It was in the mid 70's F here today, and will be that and warmer the next 2 days.
I looked at a couple of my potted plants and they have buds coming in already!
I hope they aren't in for a disappointment if it turns cold again.

I look forward to Spring as much as anybody but this is still February!

Great photos btw.

Will

Maackia, sorry to hear you were in town during an alumin weekend - even the locals stay out of "town" during those weekends :) I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Boxerwood, a "bit unkempt" - KB and Hunter, the stewards of the property have done a great job, but they rely on volunteers for maintenance and sadly there aren't enough volunteers. They have, however, developed a wonderful educational program for local elementary students and creating an appreciation of the landscape in these future gardeners.

Guy, beautiful silhouettes with dawn's early light!

Debbie

Hey Will, here's one for you that I forgot I took at a cemetary. I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes to cemeteries-

I wrote a whole poem about a tombstone over which a tree was growing!

http://www.coffeedrome.com/juliepoetry.html

Here's the picture that goes with the poem. I was totally obsessed! (Ok, not really. I mean "obsessed" in the sense that I HAD to write the poem after being so compelled by the tree growing over the tombstone.)

Julie,I can't think of any words to describe how your poem made me feel...thanks so very much for sharing this.....Dave

There is definitely some talent amongst us and it certainly isn't me. Very nice work Joulz. Very nice! There's another poet here amongst the ranks. He does very nice work also. I've often wanted him to get published. Why is it that people who are so gifted don't consider submitting their work somewhere so that it can be accessed by the masses?

Julie, Julie; I pray that financial reward comes soon for you, but until it does, I guess that thanks will have to suffice from those whose hearts you toutch. Keep on keeping on. Ken

Wow. I don't often get into poetry. Or babies. Or other mushy stuff. I'm just a tree guy. But just because it was Joulz, and I know she does special things, I opened that link.

Joulz, your fame will come. Dollars are still open to debate, as they always are with talent, but your fame will come.

Guy S.