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| COMMON MILKWEED |
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| BASSWOOD LEAF |
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| BASSWOOD FLOWERS |
: Saturday, 7:15 AM. 65 degrees F, wind WNW, calm at present. The humidity is 85%. The sky is clear with some haze. We got a good shower yesterday so the lawn looks better today and maybe the raspberries will plump up. Maybe our hot spell is broken and maybe not, but it is a beautiful morning.
The basswood tree, AKA American linden (Tilia americana, in its own family) is in bloom in the woods at this time. Basswood is a shade tolerant tree which grows in association with sugar maples and other trees of the climax (shade tolerant) northern deciduous forest. It is fairly fast growing and makes a good street tree. It is not usually found in great numbers, but it is not by any means rare. There are a number of species in the genus, both native to North America and non-native, many of which are used horticulturally. The blooms are sweetly scented, a favorite of bees and make excellent honey. A large American linden in bloom is impressively fragrant. The blossoms are followed by diminutive, winged nutlets, which can be messy but are a small price to pay for the beauty and utility of the tree. The European linden, Tilia cordata, is also a fine street tree, somewhat smaller than its American counterpart; and, there are a number of good hybrids between the two species. Common milkweed (Asclepias syiaca, in the milkweed family) is also in bloom everywhere, to the point of its fragrance being almost overpowering along some of the roadsides.
Political commentary: I see that presidential candidate Romney is being criticized by some of his opponents for taking his family on vacation. I’m not paying for it, and I wish them all a good time.
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