Petrified Wood on the Washington Mall

I remember going to the Petrified Forest in Arizona when I took a trip out west once so I was delighted to see some pieces of petrified wood at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum on the Mall in Washington, D.C. recently.  I don't know if these pieces are from Arizona but they look very much like the ones I'd seen before.
To show how I had no idea about it, when I went to the petrified forest national park in Arizona, I really expected to see a standing forest of "frozen" wood. Feeling a bit silly, it was, of course, 'just' several acres of land that you can walk through on paths that weave among logs and trees and stumps that are lying on their sides and are fossils that were created when they got buried in sediment and minerals leached into them aeons ago.
 What is especially interesting are the tree rings and all the different colors that the minerals show in the "wood" pieces. You can touch the ones on the mall and they feel just like stone!  So interesting!

 

Dogwood Tree Blooming By Agriculture Department in DC

On my daily walk recently on the Washington Mall I wandered over to Independence Avenue near the Department of Agriculture and saw this lovely dogwood tree blazing away. Of course, I had to snap a few photos as I knew the rain was coming in soon and all the petals would soon get torn off.

The more you look at these dogwood tree flowers the prettier they get, from the little pink tips to their yellow green hearts.  Of course, I'm hoping that next time I walk over that way, it will still be there but probably not.  I've noticed flowers bloom and go quickly during spring. So doing the best I can to photo and get them blogged!

I also learned -- from the internet -- that as legend has it, the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made from a dogwood tree. God decreed that the dogwood tree would from that day forth never grow large enough to be used to make a cross. So maybe that's why this tree isn't very big! And why it flowers around Eastertide!

Hidden Garden With Bright Colors and Unusual Plants

We recently visited the United States Botanical Garden in Washington, D.C., up near the U.S. Congress buildings.  We were thrilled and amazed at the plants and flowers and trees growing there. As it was a very cold wintry rainy sort of day, it was very pleasant to go into a warm and humid environment and see brightly colored flowers and tropical plants. It's set up with many different rooms all of which are glassed in, although there is an outside area -- the Children's Garden -- that is only open in warm weather. There was a room full of orchids that were spectacular hues, some with tiger skin design or flaming pink or orange or colors you didn't think existed naturally. Another very interesting room was filled with desert plants, such as various cactii and grasses that grow in very dry areas.  They had specimens from many areas of the world and with just enough text to explain what it was, although I think they could have provided just a little bit more information. One room was filled with medicinal plants and having more text it was cool to find out how many commonly-used
pharmaceuticals are derived from plants.  Another huge area, two-storeys high, was filled with jungle trees and vines and bromeliads, some flowering, some just hanging. Inside the Children's Garden you could see a large plant that looked like it was made of glass. In fact one visitor looking at it said "That's not a real plant!"  But it turned out there were several of these milky white glassy plants growing there and they are real. Another treat were the topiary trees shaped as animals such as bears, and some potted mosses and ferns arranged to look like frogs or other creatures. Since it was the holiday season there was also an extraordinary display of poinsettas, some pink, some cream and the more familiar red ones. Another (small!) glass room displayed some endangered species plants, including some interesting ferns and flowers.

View to US Congress from front of Botanical Garden

This is a  truly a wondrous place to visit (for free) in the city and learn more about the environment. 

Trees in November are So Colorful

This has been a week to take photos of all the trees as they are so full of color after the recent cold snaps. Everywhere I look there's lovely orange, yellow and red leaved trees. I know it won't last long so I just had to snap away and record these splashes of bright color before the browns and greys of winter arrive. Now, who's the artist responsible?

Killing Our Trees Softly

Hoard leaning on tree

Sticky duct tape

Trash bag tied to tree

I don't know why it is that I now see how badly many are treating the trees locally but this abuse must stop.  Hardly a block away somebody has put several mattresses leaning against the tree with a big scraping on the bark as "they" had clearly adjusted the leaning angle against the tree to suit the mattress. When I looked again today, not only were there mattresses but also a door and some old furniture (!) all piled up as an eyesore leaning against what has been a pretty young and healthy tree on the sidewalk planted and paid for by taxpayers.  The recent rains have soaked the mattress and you just know it's getting moldy and nasty and will transport all kinds of stuff to the tree, bringing in infestations that will cause the tree to die sooner than it should.  Equally annoying to see are taped up notices or garbage bags attached to trees.  Clearly someone thinks a garbage bag on the street is helpful. However, what they are missing is that the tape is damaging the tree bark and providing a way for bacteria and bugs to get into the tree, and yes, you guessed it, causing the tree to die sooner than it should. Last summer I saw bikes chained to trees, and which are even more damaging.  Since the bicyclist generally returns to the bike soon, I taped notices onto the bikes asking the rider to not do this again.  In one case, when I verbally asked someone not to do this, the owner of the house beside the tree yelled at me that her tenant could tie her bike up wherever she felt like. I repeated loudly again that chaining bikes to trees is bad for the tree but she refused to listen.  I'm mystified by this disregard for trees.  Do people just see trees as objects, as dead and unreactive to the environment? Do they think trees are immortal and can take the abuse? Do they think trees should support our human activities even if the activity (throwing out junk, tying things to the tree) hurts the tree? Are these tree-abusers too lazy to call the city to take away the trash or junk? Are there any laws available to help this situation here in DC? What can be done?

Flowers and Unleashed Dogs in #BloomingdaleDC Park

Crispus Attucks daffodils

Flowering trees

Unleashed dogs with scofflaw owners

Sign says" ALWAYS KEEP YOUR DOG ON LEASH"

On a recent walk in the local Crispus Attucks park I saw the very welcome signs of spring like flowering trees, tons of daffodils out, and some crocuses and hyacinths. I also saw someone working on the plants, cleaning out the winter debris. I also chucked out a bottle of vodka (empty!) found in the flowers.  Some local people -- scofflaws -- seem to forget that this park is NOT a dog park and were letting their dogs freely roam UNLEASHED having a great time tearing about in the "dog" portion of the park.  I guess some local residents think we all like dogs and dog poop or maybe they can't read the signs all over the park which advise users of the local rules.    

Evenings Darken Earlier But Roses Still Glowing

All of a sudden it seems like the evenings are darker earlier! As I walk home there have been some spectacular sunsets but my cell phone camera doesn't take sky shots very well. So all I could do was to capture the last of the sun's glow on my roses in the garden. Even though it's 90 degrees this evening, winter is approaching very quietly and stealthily if you just take note of the little signs. Birds practicing formation flights, trees beginning to tinge orange, some bees dead from the sudden cold snap the other day, neighbors taking air conditioner boxes out of their windows, people talking about Halloween and Christmas, wondering when the clocks fall back an hour or when they will stop street cleaning so we don't have to move our parked cars. What other signs are there? .