I posted a photo of these trees with their Autumn look in October. The plan is to return each season for another view. Here they are on the first day of winter. These are Lombardi poplars that form a windbreak along Kitchen-Dick Road. It’s a view looking north.
Below is how they looked in October.
May you have a day filled with love, warmth, and meaning, whatever your faith.
Tall Oregon-grape, Berberis aquifolium, adds a splash of color to the landscape.
Happy Hanukkah!
The light on this old apple tree near Sunny Farms caught my eye recently. As I tried to capture what I saw a crow arrived to eat an early dinner.
These frothy blooms brighten the landscape in June. Oceanspray grows as a shrub with thin stems that reach up to 15 feet tall. The wood of the stems is very hard and the tiny white blossoms explode in delicate clusters. The nectar from the blooms provides food to butterflies and other insects.
The changes in fall and winter are dramatic. The blossoms dry to brown clusters of powdery looking seeds. They look frail and ephemeral but they hold up to harsh winds and last well into the winter months, providing seeds to overwintering birds.
I took this a few weeks ago. Since then we’ve had some very strong winds and freezing nights. Streets are paved with yellow and gold leaves.
Sequim is rightfully known for its beautiful cultivated lavender, but one of my favorite native flowers is the Nootka rose. It can tolerate growing near salt water and is profuse in the Dungeness Recreation Area. Leaves first appear in spring from thorny branches. By early summer the bushes are lavish with buds and blossoms. I love the heady rose fragrance, though it’s rarely carried on the breeze unless it’s warm. The scent is usually saved for noses that get up close and personal.
Summer rose bushes are now a sea of bright red hips. The branches have lost their leaves and look bramble-y, so characteristic of Washington in the winter. The hips, or rose berries, don’t ripen all at once, which helps provide food over a longer period for many birds, small mammals, deer, and elk. They are a good source of vitamin C for human cooks who are willing to turn them into jellies or tea.
Roses readily intermingle with snowberries. This photo doesn’t do it justice. Through the winter they brighten the landscape with their red and white berries, a cheerful touch in a sea of dormant plants.
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