Trees that Capture Our Hearts

Dedicated to my mother Rose Fuchs who loved trees

[More about Rose Fuchs]

In Chicago and its suburbs, days in spring are marked for me by tree-surprises. Which tree will show itself first, second, third after a winter of slumber? Will it still have thorns left over from last year or buds or seeds or a profusion of new growth, like the thin yellow branches that the weeping willow showily displays in early spring?

The moments are so transient when each tree buds and blooms that I decided to capture these moments in pictures and share them with you. It was fairly easy to find the names of the most of the trees, with their branches heading every which way and their unique thorns, buds, seeds and flowers. But there was one, the Japanese Tree Lilac, Syringa reticulate, that took some investigating.

Osage orange, thorns left over from winter

 

      

Catalpa, in bloom ~ Seed pods left over from last year

 

         

This was a mystery tree in Skokie, Illinois, seen on the south side of Church Street, east and west of Crawford.
Not in any tree books I had, but the official City of Skokie tree lady identified it:
"It is a Japanese Tree Lilac, Syringa reticulata. It's a nice ornamental tree.
We plant them under wires where tall growing trees are not appropriate. The most common variety is Ivory Silk."

 

Weeping Willow on the campus of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

 

Box Elder, buds in early spring

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Contact Betsy at betsywfuchs@gmail.com.
To view new prayers, photography, reflections and Betsy's other creative writing experiments, go to betsywblog.blogspot.com.

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