Over the last 48 hours we've received over a foot of snow in my neighborhood and most of downtown Quincy. I drove around a bit today to survey the results. The Sweetgum by the courthouse that I photograph often was a brilliant red just a couple of days ago. As you can see from the top two photos here, most of the leaves have been knocked down as well as a major branch. The bottom photo is of a Sweetgum across from the Quincy Natural Foods Coop. Its leaves were still mostly green, but it suffered a similar fate, losing several major branches. The leaves are hanging on, however. I wonder if these trees are two different cultivars since they are at quite different stages of coloration. The tree is native to the Southeast, so I wouldn't expect it to hold up well in winter. The third photo from the top is of the Mountain Ash by the courthouse that I often photograph. All the leaves have been knocked down, but the berries persist. I wish I could hike up to Spanish Peak and look at the Mountain Ash around 6,000' where they are native. Probably all leaves and berries are knocked down, and the trees themselves, mostly smaller than the ones in town, are probably totally buried under snow. If the current deposit of snow melts away quickly, I'll return to the phone booth on Main Street and see how those poppies that were blooming just a couple of days ago fared. It's storming again as I type. I think I'll stay inside and work on my Natural History of Phone Booths.
Over the last 48 hours we've received over a foot of snow in my neighborhood and most of downtown Quincy. I drove around a bit today to survey the results. The Sweetgum by the courthouse that I photograph often was a brilliant red just a couple of days ago. As you can see from the top two photos here, most of the leaves have been knocked down as well as a major branch. The bottom photo is of a Sweetgum across from the Quincy Natural Foods Coop. Its leaves were still mostly green, but it suffered a similar fate, losing several major branches. The leaves are hanging on, however. I wonder if these trees are two different cultivars since they are at quite different stages of coloration. The tree is native to the Southeast, so I wouldn't expect it to hold up well in winter. The third photo from the top is of the Mountain Ash by the courthouse that I often photograph. All the leaves have been knocked down, but the berries persist. I wish I could hike up to Spanish Peak and look at the Mountain Ash around 6,000' where they are native. Probably all leaves and berries are knocked down, and the trees themselves, mostly smaller than the ones in town, are probably totally buried under snow. If the current deposit of snow melts away quickly, I'll return to the phone booth on Main Street and see how those poppies that were blooming just a couple of days ago fared. It's storming again as I type. I think I'll stay inside and work on my Natural History of Phone Booths.
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