FOUND ONE!

WITCH'S BROOM IN A DIEING BALSAM FIR TREE

Monday, 9:30 AM.  32 degrees F at the ferry dock, 27 on the back porch.  Wind W, light.  Teh sky is filled with snow clouds and the humidity is 78%.  The balrometer is 30.28" and falling.  Snow tomorrow.

   After my post regarding witch's brooms several days ago I have been looking for one as i drive about; not the best way to navigate, by the way, as one's eyes are looking up and about instead of concentrating on the road. 

   Anyway, I found one hiding in plain sight at the corner of Hwy. 13 and Old San Road, just south of Bayfield.  The balsam fir tree it is located in is mostly dead, but the witch's broom looks healthy.  If I could retrieve it I would pass it on to a good propagator who might be interested in trying to grow cuttings from it.

   I found it, but I'll leave trying to climb up there to someone else.

WHITE SPRUCE

BAYFIELD WHITE SPRUCE

WHITE SPRUCE NEEDLES

WHITE SPRUCE CONES (Google photo)

Sunday,  9:30 AM.  30 degrees F at the ferry dock, 25 on the back porch.  The wind is variable and calm, the sky clear.  The humidity is 82%, the barometer 30.44" and beginning to fall.  Snow is predicted for late Monday through early Thursday, but today is beautiful.

   White spruce, Picea glauca, in the Pine Family (Pinaceae), is among the most cold tolerant of the conifers.   At the northern limits of tree growth, where the boreal forest meets  the tundra, it grows in association with black spruce, aspen, and paper birch.  It's natural distribution  includes most of Canada and Alaska, and around the shores of the Great Lakes.  It grows best in zones 3 and 4, but will grow further south when planted in the right conditions.  It becomes a large tree, growing to fifty or even a hundred feet in height in landscape situations and often taller in nature.

   I would describe it as similar to the ubiquitous Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) but less intense in every way; not as blue in needle color, the needles not as long nor as stiff, and the cones not as large.  Where it can be grown, it is now a better choice than the Colorado blue spruce, which is susceptible to a very disfiguring and often fatal fungal needle cast.  I think it also more subtle in the landscape; the Colorado blue spruce can appear very garish if improperly used.

   That said, the two spruces are closely related, the Colorado spruce being formerly named Picea glauca var. pungens.  

To add to the confusion, the Black Hills spruce of the nursery trade is actually considered a southern disjunct population of the white spruce populations of Canada to the north, left behind by the glaciers as they retreated. The latin species name glauca refers to the whitish bloom of the needles, and pungens to the odor of the Colorado blue spruce needles when crushed.

DWARF ALBERTA SPRUCE, AND WITCH'S BROOMS

WITCH'S BROOM IN A PINE TREE (Google photo)

...DITTO...

...COLLECTING  CUTTINGS  FROM A  WITCH'S BROOM...

DWARF ALBERTA SPRUCE IN THE ODE HERB GARDEN

Saturday, 9:00 AM  23 degrees F at the ferry dock, 22 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with moderate gusts.  Humidity 80%, barometer 30.43" and rising.  Snow is predicted on Tuesday but today is beautiful but cold.
  Both quite common and yet a rarity of sorts, the dwarf Alberta spruce, Picea glauca variety albertiana conica. is a "sport," or genetic mutation, of the white spruce, Picea glauca, in the Pine Family, the Pinaceae.   Such mutations are often found  in the odd growths called witch's brooms, which can occur in all types of trees and other plants.  Witch's brooms can have many causes, such as insect attack, diseases, or chance genetic mutations in developing growth buds.  The chance genet mutations can often be reproduced by cuttings.
   The person high in the tree in the photo is harvesting cuttings to propagate the witch's broom to determine if it can be valuable commercially.  More than one such adventurer has fallen and become crippled, or lain and died in a remote forest harvesting cuttings from witch's brooms.  A plant hunter who is a really good shot with a high powered rifle can bring down cutting material from a tall tree without performing the hazardous climb.
   The dwarf Alberta spruce was found by chance in Alberta, Canada, by two curators from Harvard's Arnold Arboretum over a century ago and it has been a popular landscaping plant ever since its introduction.  The one pictured grows in the Ode herb garden.  They are cute accent plants when small, but despite their nomenclature, can outgrow their designated space over time.  They can also be very troublesome plants, prone to red spider mite infestations and other insect pests, and I have found them to be very subject to drouth and late-winter windburn.  At times our two have been so unsightly I have threatened to cut them down.
   But, they tell a good story, and in appreciation I have thus far spared the storytellers.

   

BIBOON: IT IS WINTER

Friday, 10:00 AM.  21 degrees F at the ferry dock, 19 on the back porch.  Wind W, light. The sky is partly cloudy, with some high overcast.  The humidity is 78%, the barometer stands at 30.66"and falling, predicting snow by Tuesday.  The roads are icy.  The Bears beat the Packers last night.

   We always have snow on the ground at Thanksgiving, as was the case again yesterday.  As our Ojibway neighbors say in their native language, which some of them still speak fluently, "Biboon," (it is winter)

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

NORMAN ROCKWELL'S "FREEDOM FROM WANT',,,

...DITTO

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  32 degrees F at the ferry dock, 31 on the back porch.  Wind NNE, gusty at times.  The sky has a leaden overcast, it is snowing lightly and it is rather miserable out.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer continuing to rise, now at 30.31", presaging a sunny weekend ahead.

   Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday, as it has no real premiss or ideology except thankfulness and family.  There certainly is nothing wrong with an occasional feast day, despite pests like PETA attempting to spoil it all by berating us for killing and eating turkeys, those “intelligent, sensitive creatures,” and attempting, like all tyrannical entities, to turn children against their parents.  You would think we were all cannibals for consuming farm raised turkeys, which are about as intelligent and sensitive as a fence post.  But, PETA and other crazies aside, Thanksgiving is a day to enjoy  life and family, and to celebrate our freedom and good fortune.  

   We will not be with family again this year, but perhaps next year we can gather children and grandchildren under one roof somewhere in this great country; but as for today, Joan and I will dine alone. Our seasonal church family has dispersed until Christmas, and there are few other options, with no community celebration in Bayfield.  Other years we have gathered a surrogate family for the feast, a few other lonely souls far from their families, to celebrate and be thankful.

   Have you ever noticed that Americans are very good at gathering themselves together, becoming a family when the occasion calls for it?  I don’t believe most other cultures are very prone to do that.  Tribal societies do that quite well; I see our Indian neighbors doing it all the time for various celebrations.  

    I like to think of us Americans not so much as a nation, but as a great extended family; not a tribe based on genetics, but a tribe, if you will, based on shared cultural values and deeply held beliefs. These days my faith  in that concept is under attack,  but Thanksgiving will renew it.

   So, alone or in company with others, let us will eat our fill, thank God, or Providence, or The Great Spirit, for the bountiful harvest and the successful hunt.  

   And then watch the Packers beat the proverbial stuffing out of the Bears.

WHITE CEDAR (ARBORVITAE)

WHITE CEDAR HEDGE THAT SOMEONE STOPPED TRIMMING, NOW 40' TALL...

WHITE CEDAR, SOFT, MEDIUM GREEN, SCALE-LIKE NEEDLES...

WHITE CEDAR, WOODS GROWN, IN  PARTIAL SHADE...

...WHITE CEDAR: THE SELECTION 'NIGRA', GROWS COMPACT AND PYRAMIDAL IN SHAPE

Wednesday, 8:30 AM.  42 degrees F at the ferry dock, 36 on the back porch.  Wind SW, breezy.  The sky has a high overcast and the humidity is 78%.  The barometer is ow rising, standing at 29.94".  We may get some rain or snow showers this afternoon.
   Eastern white cedar, AKA arborvitae, Thuja occidentals, in the Pine Family, the Pinaceae, is much used in landscaping because it is adaptable to many soil conditions including limestone soils.  Its native habitat is marshy and boggy areas in eastern North America south to the Carolinas, but it survives well on drier sites when planted in man-made landscapes. The ideal soil in which to grow white cedar is a deep, well-drained loam.  White cedar grows best in full sun and won't tolerate much shade.
   The species is slow to medium in growth rate, and in nature it tends to be loosely pyramidal.  It has soft, scale-like, medium to dark green needles.  There are many, many cultivars of arborvitae, most of which are far superior for landscape purposes than the species.  'Nigra' and 'Techny' are more compact in habit, have superior needle color, and take better to shearing (for hedges or foundation plantings) than the species.  For naturalizing purposes I prefer the species.
  Eastern white cedar needles are intensely fragrant, and the wood is very rot and weather-resistant, but most cedar lumber sold is from the giant western cedar, Thuja plicata, a much, much larger tree, although occidentalis can reach heights of fifty feet and more if left untrimmed. One occasionally sees linear "groves" of arborvitae that were once a hedge but got too tall to be trimmed and grew and grew.

CANADIAN HEMLOCK

CANADIAN HEMLOCK ABOUT 8' TALL...

...DARK GREEN UPPER SIDE OF LEAF...

SILVER-GRAY UNDERSIDE

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  35 degrees F at the ferry dock, 32 on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm  The sky is mostly cloudy, the humidity 70%.  The barometer stands now at 30.30" and is falling, predicting the possibility of rain tomorrow.
   Canadian Hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, in the Pine Family (Pinaceae), is a very large tree that can grow to 75 feet in its natural habitat; ravines and slopes in eastern Canada, around the Lake States and in the mountains south into the Carolinas. It is closely related to the gigantic hemlocks of the western mountains and coastal rain forests.   As Canadian hemlock progresses south in its native range it is increasingly found only in relict populations in deep ravines and north facing slopes of lakes and rivers.
   I have fond memories of iconic "hemlock forests" in New York City, along the banks and bluffs  of the Bronx River in the New York Botanical Garden, and again in the ravines along the Mianus River, along the New York and Connecticut border, the later preserved by the first project of The Nature Conservancy.  Both these forests, or more properly groves, were comprised mostly of huge, mature hemlocks.  Unfortunately, both those populations are under great stress from climate and human activity, and suffer from insect attacks such as that of the wooly adelgid, and no longer reproduce themselves sufficiently to maintain their populations.
   As an individual specimen Canadian hemlock is slow to medium in speed of growth and has a rather graceful shape  in youth, becoming wide-spreading, open and picturesque with great age.  In the landscape, its dark green needles provide a good color contrast with other plants.
  The soft, pointed  needles are two-ranked along the branches, much like those of balsam fir, which they somewhat resemble but are very much smaller, only 1/2 inch long or less.  The upper surface of the needles are dark green, the underside with two whitish bands.  It bears very small cones that shed their seeds during the winter, the cones falling off in the spring.
   Because it takes to shearing well when begun young, it can be kept in control with judicious pruning, and it is most often used as a hedge plant.  It is less successful the further south and west it is planted.  It can be quite expensive because of its slow growth in the nursery and it probably is not used to its full advantage because of cost.
   I like to use them, un-sheared, to provide added diversity to forested areas along Lake Superior, and because of their excellent shade tolerance.

BALSAM FIR

YOUNG BALSAM FIR...

NEEDLES 3/4"-1and 1/4"LONG, MEDIUM GREEN ABOVE, SOFT...

...UNDERSIDE OF NEEDLES GRAY-GREEN...

NEEDLES AND UPRIGHT CONES (SEEDS DISPERSED)...

Monday, 7:45 AM.  29 degrees F at the ferry dock, 26 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light to moderate gusts. The sky is overcast but trying to clear on the southeast horizon.  Humidity 85%, barometer 29.9" and rising.  We had a trace of snow last night, enough for squirrels, rabbits and the occasional stray dog to leave their prints.

   Balsam fir, Abies balsamea, in the Pine Family (Pinaceae) is a medium sized conifer native to central and eastern Canada, New England and the Lake States.  It may reach 75' in nature but much less in cultivation.  It's needles are soft, light to darker green on the upper side, and grayish on the underside.  The needles are spirally arranged on the cone-bearing branches (towards the top of the tree) but appear as flattened  on either side of non-fertile branches. Firs are easily distinguished from spruces by their soft, flat needles and upright cones (the cones of spruces and other conifers are pendant, hanging from the branches).
   In nature the balsam fir grows in association with black and white spruce, white pines and poplars, often in swamps and bogs.  It prefers cool, moist, rich soil but also grows on drier hillsides. It is also found on high mountaintops of the eastern mountains. In nature it is easily spotted from a distance or from a moving vehicle as the most spire-like  of the evergreen conifers. It is shallow rooted and transplants rather easily when balled and burlapped, or, as is increasingly the case, grown in pots.
   In landscaping the balsam fir provides a narrow, spire-like profile and is quite shade tolerant when young.  It is particularly useful  for naturalizing in wooded landscapes in the north.  It is not very heat tolerant and therefore not much useful in landscaping in the lower Midwest or South.
   It is perhaps best known for its use as a Christmas tree, but it also is valuable as pulpwood.  It's resin is very fragrant and has long had uses in both Native American and folk medicine.  The resin is also used as pitch for birchbark canoes.

COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE

COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE, ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD...

...SILVER-BLUE NEEDLES OF CURRANT YEAR'S GROWTH...PENDANT FEMALE CONE, EMPTY OF SEEDS

Sunday, 9:30 AM.  21 degrees F at both the ferry dock and the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with moderate gusts.  The sky is clear, the sunshine bright.  The humidity is 78% and the barometer falling, now at 30.06".  It is a cold but pleasant day.

   The Colorado blue spruce, Picea pungens, in the Pine Family, the Pinaceae, is a very large conifer, that can reach a height of well over 100' in its native habitat of the mountains of the southwestern US.  It prefers a moist loam soil but is quite tolerant of various soil and moisture conditions, withstands drought and is hardy north.  

   Because it is a very attractive tree, the Colorado blue spruce has been universally over-planted, its main landscape features being its blue-green to silver-blue needle color and its formal, conical shape. The silver-blue trees are very expensive. Only about 10% of Colorado spruce seedlings have a truly blue color of new needle growth, so the true-blue color demands a premium.  Many of the silvery-blue trees sold at nurseries are patented, grafted selections, which are also very expensive.  

   It is sometimes difficult for many to distinguish a spruce tree from a fir tree, but there are some easy clues.  The needles of the spruce species are quite characteristic in being very stiff and sharp, also in the fact that they are rather square in cross section.  An easy way to distinguish spruce from fir needles is that you can roll a spruce needle in your fingers; a fir needle is flat and won't roll.  Another easy way to distinguish spruce from fir species is that spruce and most other conifer species cones are pendent (they hang down). Fir cones are borne upright on the branches.

   Colorado blue spruce is rather ubiquitous in American landscaping, and of course has held this position because it is esthetically attractive, but it has lately become subject to a very disfiguring, ultimately fatal,  needle   -cast fungus which is difficult to control, and unless a good cure or preventative comes along, I can no longer recommend it.  And, The further away from its native range it is planted, the more subject it seems to be to other insect and disease problems. such as spruce gall (caused by an aphid), canker and red spider mite (can be severe in hot, dry conditions).

WHITE PINE

WHITE PINE, ABOUT TWENTY YEARS OLD...

...BLUE- GREEN NEEDLES, 3"-5" LONG...

...NEEDLES GROW IN BUNDLES OF FIVE

CONES 4"10" LONG (seeds have dispersed)

Saturday, 9:30 AM.  23 degrees F at the ferry dock, 22 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, mostly calm with very light gusts. The sky has a high overcast and there are intermittent snow flurries.  The humidity is 74% and the barometer is falling, currently at 30.03".  The big Midwest snowstorm evidently passed to our south, as they often do.
   Joan had me cut evergreen branches for a swag she is making for the front door and I thought it would offer a good opportunity to write about the various conifers, all of which grow in our yard.
   The swag will be composed of branches of the following species: white pine, Colorado spruce, balsam fir, white cedar, and hemlock.  The first I will discuss is white pine, Pinus strobus, in the Pine Family, the Pinaceae.
   The white pine is a rather rapid growing tree that can reach 60' to 80' in height and almost as broad in its natural habitat, and often that in other sites as well, so it can't be accommodated at maturity in most landscape situations, at least without judicious pruning. White pines are long-lived, often lasting hundreds of years in nature. If it is used in the landscape, assume that it may have to be removed at some point.
   White pine has very flexible branches, which can be subject to damage in high winds, although the trunk itself is usually very sturdy.  The needles are blue-green, 3"-5" long and borne in clusters of five.  They usually turn yellow and fall off naturally after two years.  The female cones are green at first, 4"-10" long.  They persist on the tree two years and fall from the tree after opening to disperse the seeds, which are an important food source for many birds and small mammals.  The spent cones are brown and woody.  The male cones are much smaller and disperse their pollen in great clouds of golden dust in spring.
   Young trees are quite formal in shape, but loosely branched.  With age white pines become irregular in shape and eventually quite picturesque.  White pines can be disfigured and even killed by white pine blister rust, which can be a problem when the alternate host, currants and gooseberries, are present.
  The natural habitat of the species is New England and around the Great Lakes.  It is in nature what is called a disjunct species, establishing itself after fires and blowdowns and dominating such areas for long periods of time because of their great size and long life.
    Although it prefers a light loam or sandy soil and ample moisture, white pine will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, as well as considerable shade when young.  White pine timber is very valuable and much used in construction.  Heavily sheared young white pines are often sold as Christmas trees.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED IN BAYFIELD

A WINTRY BACK YARD

Friday, 8:30 AM.  26 degrees F at the ferry dock, 24 on the back porch.  Wind W at altitude, variable at ground level, with moderate to strong gusts.  The sky is mostly cloudy with a high overcast, but the sun is beginning to shine through.  The humidity is 73%, the barometer 30.08" and rising.  The weekend is predicted to be cold, with highs in the upper twenties.  It was a cold chore to walk Buddy this morning.
   Winter arrived with a vengeance yesterday.  Not much snow, but punishing winds and snow flurries, and temperatures dipping into the mid-twenties.
   I was busy with rehab exercise in Ashland most of the morning, and in the afternoon I hurriedly completed outside chores I had left undone.  I continued the job of getting winter bird feeding stuff up...a thistle feeder, a peanut butter feeder, filling the empty seed feeder with oiled sunflower seeds. The Geranium baskets are done for and had to be taken down so the place doesn't look abandoned.
   Most of all I needed to drain the rain barrels completely, and get them stored under the deck. I got my sneakers and gloves soaked in the process.  I had a garden hose to thaw out and roll up.  I was glad to get the tasks all done and get back in the house and warm up.
   Winter has arrived in Bayfield, that's for sure.

GOLDFINCHES

GOLDFINCHES AT FEEDER (Ode photo)

MALE AND FEMALE GOLDFINCHES ARE ALMOST IDENTICAL DURING THE WINTER
(Wisconsin DNR photo)

THE MALE IN FULL BREEDING PLUMAGE (Wisconsin DNR photo)

Thursday, 8:00 AM.  30 degrees F at the ferry dock, 29 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, very strong and gusty. The sky has a high overcast with snow clouds at lower elevation but the sun is trying to shine through. The humidity is 68%. The barometer has started to rise, currently standing at 29.47".
   We had a few snow flurries earlier but none remains on the ground.  The weather is very wintry this morning, and I donned a winter jacket and gloves to walk Buddy.  It may snow later today.

   The third bird species to visit our feeders since I put them up on Sunday has been goldfinches, usually visiting in a flock.  They will settle in and stay at the feeder until they have eaten their fill or something scares them off, unlike the constantly flitting chickadees.  Goldfinches were at the feeders yesterday, but my photo skills were mostly absent, thus the borrowed photos.  Goldfinches are a gregarious bird, 5.5" in length or less.

  The goldfinches molt twice a year, in spring and fall.  The males are characteristically "gold" in their breeding plumage, the females very much subdued and mostly olive colored all seasons.  They are easily recognized by their flight, which is undulating, up and down, and by their canary-like songs, and very thick beaks.  

   Like the chickadees, the goldfinches are a fun bunch to have around.  They are short distance migrators, going where there is food and shelter to be found. They are seen both summer and winter in Bayfield.  

   Goldfinches are almost exclusively seed eaters, mostly those of annual plants.  Their natural habitat is open fields and meadows, where weeds and other annuals grow.  They adapt well to human environs, particularly if feeders are kept full.  

   

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

MALE DOWNY WOODPECKER

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  54 degrees F at the ferry dock, 50 on the back porch.  Wind ESE, calm with stronger gusts.  The sky is cloudy and overcast, the humidity 97%.  It is still drizzling lightly, after an earlier trace of rain.  The barometer is still falling, now standing at 29.91", predicting more rain, followed by snow as a cold front moves in.  It looks like winter will soon begin in earnest.

   To continue the saga of the bird feeder: the second species to appear at the feeders (actually the first at the suet log) was this male downy woodpecker.  Much more shy than the chickadees, he kept mostly on the opposite side of the suet log from me and the camera, but eventually crept into a position where I could snap a photo.

   The smallest of the woodpeckers, the downy woodpecker is an almost exact miniature of the much larger hairy woodpecker ("downy" and "hairy" refer to and respectively describe their bristly beak feathers).  These species also stay the winter, and appear often at the suet log.
   The downy is about 6" long, the hairy a couple of inches longer.  Both species have a white stripe down their back.  The downy has a ladder of black feathers on its otherwise white tail.  The beak of the hairy is longer in relation to its head than that of the downy.  The males of both species have a patch of red feathers on the back of their heads, distinguishing them from the females.
   We'll have to see which of "the usual suspects" show up next.

NO WONDER MY BIRD FEEDER IS ALWAYS EMPTY

CHICKADEES... FIRST BIRDS TO VISIT THE FEEDERS

Tuesday, 9:00 AM.  50 degrees F on the ferry dock, 46 on the back porch.  Wind S, very light with stronger gusts.  The sky has a low overcast and the streets are wet with the trace of rain that has fallen.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer still falling, now at 29.81", predicting several more days of rain.

   I did get a bird feeder filled and a suet log hung up on Saturday, and by Monday mid-morning the chickadees had found them both and were flocking to them.  It won't be long until other avian species are emboldened to do so as well.  I'm taking a chance on the bears leaving them alone.

   Black-capped chickadees are cheerful, gregarious little bundles of energy.  So quick and energetic that they are hard to photograph (as I found out again  yesterday).  They are also either quite tame, or quite fearless, or both, as they will closely investigate a hunter  in their deer stand, or someone sitting quietly  on the porch. I have had them perch on my shoulder or my hat (for a fleeting moment).

   Chickadees are permanent northern residents, toughing out the winter weather with the rest of us mostly non-migrantory species.  To survive the cold they have evolved a very rapid metabolism, their tiny hearts beating up to 650 times per minute.  This requires large amounts of nutritious food, including insect eggs and larvae, almost any kind of seed, and suet if it is available.
   According to the Wisconsin DNR a chickadee will consume as many as 150 sunflower seeds on a cold winter day.  No wonder my bird feeder is always empty.

APPLES, APPLES...MY, OH, MY

WINDFALL APPLES ON OLD HWY. K...

...COLORED RED, GREEN...

...AND ALMOST EVERY SHADE BETWEEN

Monday, 8:00 AM.  45 degrees F at the ferry dock, 42 on the back porch.  Wind E, calm with light gusts.  The sky is overcast, there is fog over the channel, and the humidity is 86%.  The barometer is falling, currently at 29.99",  and it is raining very lightly.

   The above photos of a profusion of windfall apples was was taken yesterday on Old Hwy. K.  They inspired the following doggerel:

APPLES

Of the genus Malus

Grow from Khazakstan to Dallas

Red, pink, yellow, green

and almost every shade between

Eat them, juice them, drink hard cider and get high

But best of all I like them,

in an apple pie

Apples,  apples...My, Oh, My.

HANGING ON UNTIL CHRISTMAS

A GORGEOUS APPLE TREE...

...WITH APPLES LIKE CHRISTMAS TREE  ORNAMENTS

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  39 degrees F at the ferry dock, 44 on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm.  The sky is mostly clear with aome haze, the humidity 95%.  The barometer is falling very gradually, currently standing at 30.09".  Rain is predicted for Monday through Wednesday

   On our way to the recycle center yesterday, Joan spotted a gorgeous apple tree, laden with fruit, on the southern outskirts of the Rez.  I have no idea whether it is a wild tree, or whether someone simply neglected to pick their apples.

   Whatever the case, it is a beautiful sight.  I hope the apples hang on until Thanksgiving...or even Christmas.  

GERANIUM BASKETS ARE STILL LOOKING GOOD

THE MORNING AFTER THE STORM

TOUGH GERANIUMS

Saturday, 9:30 AM.  35 degrees F at the ferry dock, 32 on the back porch.  Wind SW, calm with stronger gusts.  The sky is partly cloudy and hazy, the humidity 75%.  The barometer is beginning to fall, now standing at 29.99", predicting rain for Monday and Tuesday.

   I have to get a large bag of sunflower seeds today and get a feeder up, or the neighbors will have all the birds this winter.  I did get a suet log up this morning, and hope the woodpeckers and chickadees will find it soon.

   Most annuals are gone now, and snow covers the ground.  It is melting, but not very fast.   The hanging Geranium baskets on the porch are still blooming and looking good, in stark contrast to the wintry scene around them.

THE SWANS HAD THE RIGHT IDEA

NO BIRDS ON THE BAY

BACKYARD CONIFERS

SNOW AND "LAKE SMOKE"

Friday, 9:00 AM.  32 degrees F at the ferry dock, 30 degrees on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm.  The sky is mostly cloudy,  overcast and foggy,  but the sun is struggling through the gloom.  The humidity is 93% and the barometer is still rising, now at 29.98".
   Yesterday morning the geese were flying over in large flocks, and later in the day the birds were virtually gone from the lower bay, including two trumpeter swans that had been loafing there for over a week and had successfully avoided my attempts to photograph them.  No geese, no swans.  some will come back; the smart one's won't.
   And then last night we had our first snow of the young winter; 5"-7".  It was wet and sticky, and the  garbage truck got stuck up eleventh street and was pulled out by the big city end loader.  Buddy got all excited by it. Last year it first snowed on November 8.
   It is all very pretty, and it looks like good packing snow for snowballs and snowmen, but I think the swans had the right idea.

A GOOD DAY FOR EAGLE WATCHING

BALD EAGLE ON CHEQUAMEGON BAY

Thursday, 7:45 AM.  43 degrees F at the ferry dock, 40 on the back porch.  The sky has a high overcast and it is raining, as it did all last night, almost two inches thus far.  The humidity is 91% and the barometer has begun to rise, predicting a nice weekend.  But, for now it is still very rainy and windy,  the rigging in the sailboats at the marinas humming loud enough to be heard up here on the bluff.
   We have family in Weatherford, Texas, and visit there often in winter, so I track the weather there.  This morning the t conditions are exactly the same as in Bayfield, so it looks like this weather system covers the entire mid-section of the country.

   Yesterday was another beautiful day, at least until evening, when it began to rain.  We saw three mature bald eagles in quick succession yesterday, the one above near Ashland on the Bay, another perched in a tall aspen high above Hwy. 2, and one feeding on a dead deer on the side of the same road.  Yes, bald eagles will feast on carrion.
   It was a good day for eagle watching.

WHEN THE GALES OF NOVEMBER CAME EARLY

 THE 750 FOOT LONG SHIP, THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  Winds variable, calm.  The sky has a high overcast and the humidity is 67%.  The barometer is in free fall, now at 29.80".  We should get rain by evening and rain tomorrow. Will the gales of November come early?

   It is hard for me to believe that Monday was the fortieth anniversary of the sinking of the 750 foot laker, the Edmund Fitzgerald.  It went down carrying twenty-six thousand tons of iron ore at the east end of Lake Superior in a monumental gale with 90 mile per hour winds and 25 foot waves.  It lies broken apart 525 beneath the surface of Lake Superior, a watery grave for 29 brave souls.  Exactly what happened is and shall remain a mystery, but all who live on the big lake know of its  rapidly changing moods and violent storms.  Gitche Gumee, the Big Sea Shining Water, is as dangerous as it is beautiful.

THE TALE OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD

as sung by
Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
Then later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
When the wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
'Twas the witch of November come stealin'
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin'
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"
At seven PM a main hatchway caved in
He said, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below, Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early

GREAT WORK, GUYS!

NEW ASHLAND BREAKWATER...BUILT AT NO CHARGE...

ALL THE TUGS, BARGES AND CRANES REST AT THE DOCK

Tuesday,  8:00 AM.  43 degrees F at the ferry dock, 38 on the back porch.  Wind variable, calm, with occasional light gusts.  The humidity is 73% and the barometer has started to fall, now at 30.01", presaging rain late tomorrow and into Thursday.

   A few days ago I posted about a new breakwater off the Ashland Marina, built by the contractor who has been cleaning up pollution in the harbor, and who offered to do the extra work at no charge since it was cost effective for him to do so, and the city of Ashland accepted.  

   The new breakwater is completed, and the tugs and barges are back at the dock.

   Great work, guys!

YELLOW-FRUITED CRABAPPLES

YELLOW-FRUITED CRDABAPPLE

Monday,  8:30 AM.  45 degrees F at the ferry dock, 42 on the back porch.  Wind SSW, calm with light to moderate gusts.  The sky is clear, the humidity 72%.  The barometer stands at 30.4" and is steady.  Rain is predicted for Thursday and snow on Friday, and I have a lot of work to do before either. Might have to enlist some help.

   Most crabapples trees have red fruit, which can be variously sized, according to the named selection.

There are a few yellow-fruited varieties, which can be very pretty, especially when contrasted with the red fruit, or with a snowy background.

   The yellow-fruited crabapple pictured is probably the cultivar 'Bob White,' which has single white flowers in profusion, followed by small yellow crabapples.  Another nice yellow crabapple is 'Golden Hornet,' which was developed back in the 1950's.  A new variety that I have not myself seen but that has been evaluated as excellent, is 'Hozam,' which also has white flowers.  There are a few others, but not very many, considering there are about 500 crabapple species, varieties and hybrids.

   Crabapples are species and varieties of the genus Malus that bear fruit that is under 2" in diameter.  All apples, including crabapples and the edible apples, are thought to have originated in the mountains of Kazakstan.  Several species of crabapples, including the Wisconsin native ioensis, are considered native to North America, but how they got here is unexplained.  The North American species have greenish-yellow fruit, and I am guessing that they are the progenitors of the yellow-furited selections, but I don't know for sure.  The genus Malus has a very malleable and prolific genetics.

SPINDLE TREE

EUROPEAN SPINDLE TREE...

RED FRUITS INSIDE PINK HUSKS THAT BURST OPEN

 Sunday,  9:30 AM. 47 degrees F at the ferry dock, 45 on the back porch.  Wind WSW, very gusty at times.  The sky is crystal clear, the humidity 58%, and the barometer steady, at 30.19".  It should be a nice day, if we don't get blown into the lake.
   Almost all trees and shrubs are bearing fruit heavily this year, including a very unusual small tree in Fountain Garden Park (south entrance to Bayfield on route 13).  It is the European spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus, in the Celastraceae Family.  Its yellow flowers are relatively inconspicuous, but the fruit is absolutely unique and beautiful, what is called an aril, this one a pink, valvate husk surrounding a bright red fruit.  In a good year such as this, the tree is loaded with the unusual, colorful fruits.
   It is not a plant I would normally use in a landscape and it would be hard to obtain, but as a conversation piece or focal point it is hard to beat.
   It is called "spindle tree" because its very hard wood was used to make the spindles on spinning wheels centuries ago.  It is a close relative of the common burning bush, Euonymus alatus, and the native Euonymus americanus, the strawberry bush (so called because of its bright red fruits).