Just because. A delightful little plant among several I traded for some cacti a month or so ago in the weekly street fair.
Flowers
Category: plants
Epiphyte blooms – nice!
A flowering epiphyte in a little shrub I transplanted from the backyard years ago, which has turned out to be quite the tree.
Foaming tree
I’ve had this photo a couple months; never got around to trying to find out why a fire-damaged pine tree was foaming one day.
“…what you were looking at is a common bacterial disease among deciduous trees called slime flux. Now, if that is not a disgustingly descriptive name I do not know what is. Another name is wetwood because of the water-soaked marks on the trunk of infected trees.
“There are several bacteria that are associated with this disease and no one single organism has been identified as the main culprit. As the bacteria grow inside the tree (usually in damaged areas of the wood), carbon dioxide gas is released as fermentation occurs.
“This release of gas increases the pressure in the tree and forces sap to the outside, resulting in wet areas on the trunk. This is called fluxing and results in large, dark regions on the trunk once the flux is exposed to air. These wet areas become breeding grounds for other microorganisms – as alcohols are produced in this mess, bubbles or foam form as well as foul smells.
“I am surprised you did not see many insects feeding on the “brew” because this alcohol mixture attracts many bees, beetles and other larval forms to the concoction. Fortunately, the insects do not do any harm and there has not been any indication that the insects can act as a vector for the disease and spread it to other healthy trees in the area.”
source
Pruning the palta tree
Aggressive pruning or butchery? I guess the avocado tree will decide. Yesterday, looking at this angle, you would see virtually no sky.
Second and final load. Even though taking them less than a block, using the vehicle made more sense than endless trips on foot.
Though I had removed the only three smallish avocados I could find before, I did find one more on the ground as I cleaned up, and one on the ground behind the car—885 grams.
New plant reacting to light
Midday, evening, morning.
Flowering tree
Real dandelions or – ?
Signs of spring. And we have some hollow-stemmed dandelions growing in front of our house – first I’ve seen in 12 years here. Our yard is typically overrun with similar, but without hollow stems, so I haven’t been sure if I can use them.
Roots
Erosion around tree roots on the beach. There’s also a dog in there.
Pretty, but don’t eat.
Mushrooms spotted on the dog walk today.
Pruning trees
Until we moved to Uruguay, I thought all trees sort of got along. Then I noticed the small pear tree in the front yard had branches growing toward the neighbor’s bushes, then reversing course and curving in the opposite direction (photo except I gave up on it and removed it recently).
Likewise the lemon tree in the backyard apparently doesn’t like the pine (look closely). And the entire anacahuita to its left is leaning away from the lemon tree.
So I decided to remove the pine branch infringing on the lemon tree’s space, but spotted a nest. It’s the middle of winter, so no chance there would be birds in it, but got out the taller ladder to be sure.
This is the nest.
Lots of wind recently, and this morning I noticed another nest in the grass.
The pine tree provides shade, which is good, but I had thought about cutting several meters off the top. Didn’t do it mostly because it wold be very messy, given pine sap. However, this past year I have become aware of how birds just love its dense foliage. I won’t be removing more than necessary.