BAYFIELD COTTONWOOD TREES IN WINTER

ENORMOUS COTTONWOOD TREES TOWERING OVER BUILDINGS

DEEPLY FURROWED DARK BARK

HUGE DIAMETER TRUNKS

PROMINENT DORMANT BUDS

LARGE, DARK GREEN, DELTA SHAPED LEAVES

Monday, 9:00 AM.  -18 degrees F, wind SW, light with stronger gusts.  we are enveloped in heavy, freezing fog and blowing snow.  I just shoveled several inches of the latter from the drive.  The humidity is still 77% and the barometer is trending down at 30.27".  Buddy now stands patiently while I put his jacket on him.  He would probably keep boots on as well if we had some, as he hops from one foot to another when we walk in this cold.
  The age old question, "Will the world end in fire, or in ice?"  seems closer to being answered this morning.  My mother, who grew up not only sometimes hungry but usually with little or no  heat in the winter alway said, rather facetiously, that she would rather go to hell than to heaven, because at least there she would be warm, and I remember her stoking the coal furnace until it nearly glowed when we had a hard Milwaukee winter.  Joan's mother used to tell of sleeping seven sisters in one bed to keep warm in Wisconsin winters.  Now we simply adjust the thermostat and hope the natural gas prices keep declining.
   Cottonwood trees (Populus deltoides), in the willow family (the Salicaceae) are not common in Bayfield, probably due to the fact that they have a bad reputation because they shed masses of cottony seeds in the spring.  In fact, the City of Bayfield tree ordinance, as do those of most cities, prohibits their planting.  That is rather too bad, as except for that seasonal annoyance, which is shared by all poplar species, they are magnificent trees, growing to great height and age.
   The huge cottonwoods pictured are growing more-or-less in the abandoned city alleyway on the south side of Rittenhouse Avenue, between fourth and fifth streets.  They are easily the tallest and most massive trees in Bayfield, challenged only by a few ancient white pines.  These trees are probably ninety feet in height and at least four feet in diameter at breast height.  They are obviously very old, I am sure a century at least, and at last inspection were sound and healthy.
   Cottonwoods are native to most of North America except Alaska, far northern Canada and the far western US.  Their native habitat is stream banks and other wet areas but they tolerate drier sites.  It is impossible for me to tell whether those pictured are native or planted.
   The trunks of mature cottonwoods have deeply fissured, dark brown bark.  They have alternate leaves and branches,  the dormant winter buds are very prominent and the  bud scales are sticky. Probably the most identifiable summer characteristic is their large, dark green, deltoid shaped leaves, as denoted by the latin species name.  The fall leaf color is a beautiful golden yellow, similar to that of aspen leaves.
   Cottonwood trees become too large to be used as street trees of for shade trees on a small lot, but in a large space where they can grow unhindered they can rival any other large growing tree species in beauty and usefulness.