So dramatic!

My son has been making muglio (pine cone syrup). To make muglio he needs young green pine cones. He wanted white spruce, black spruce, red pine, and balsam so he could do a taste test. As a result we have been assessing every pine tree in a three mile radius of our home for muglio-worthiness. This red pine branch was at the tip of dead branch on an otherwise healthy tree. The crazy twisted needles implies it was some kind of parasite or gall that killed the branch. If you are going to go out, go out in style!

dead red pine branch with malformed needles and cones

well, hello stranger, nice to see you again!

Horse chestnut trees were everywhere in our corner of southern France. And they usually don’t grow this far north in Minnesota. The times they-are-a-changin’.

Horse chestnut tree blossom

turn towards the light

Eucalyptus are a favorite subject of mine to photograph. So sculptural. So exotic (in comparison to my Northern trees). So aromatic. So fun.

not over yet!

I thought catkin season was long gone. After all, April is Catkin Month. And May is for Spring Ephemerals. But my son wanted help gathering young black walnut leaves for a “black walnut bay sauce” he is making. And there, to my surprise, was tree after tree full of young catkins. A quick look at Wiki includes a description of the catkins, but does not mention its late late late spring arrival. Hmmm, let me try AI. According to Google AI:

The Catkin Timeline:
To see how the Eastern Black Walnut fits into the broader spring timeline, consider when different trees release their catkins:

Ultra-Early (January to March): Trees like Hazel (Hazelnut), Alder, and Willows (such as Pussy Willow) push out their catkins while the landscape is still completely frozen and bare.
Mid-Spring (April): Maples, Birches, and Oaks begin producing their catkins and flowers as temperatures start to rise.
Late Spring (Late April to June): The Eastern Black Walnut finally begins to drop its yellowish-green male catkins along with hickories and pecans.

Depending on the region, this happens anywhere from mid-April in the South to early June in its northernmost habitats

There you go, problem solved: It is not the latest, but “among the latest”. And since we do not have pecan trees, and only limited hickories, it explains why this black walnut seems so late to me. One of the reasons cited for such late flowering was “simultaneous leafing”. Yup.

eastern American black walnut (Juglans nigra)

impermanence made visible

This photo took about 10 days to make. I love that just enough structure remained to see it was the same flower each time.