Monday, March 12, 2018

Tree-following: we have news! (maybe)


Yesterday, late in the afternoon, I made my monthly visit to the boxelder tree I’m following, not expecting to find anything new. After all, it’s still winter. But I was wrong. The tree had changed, in fact in two ways. One is obvious, the second much more subtle (if even that).

Since last month, the sun has "moved" significantly. It now sets far enough north that it is beginning to shine into the nook where the boxelder grows.
Here comes the sun … but will it shine on the boxelder?
To see exactly how much the sun had shifted, I used SunCalc, a handy app that displays “sun movement and sunlight phases during the given day at the given location” (free, web-based). In the first diagram below, the orange curve is the sun's path back in early February. The second diagram shows how much farther north it sets now, just a month later. This is so encouraging! Yes, it happens every year  but we’re always relieved to see the days lengthen, the sun set farther north, plants come to life, etc.


When we arrived at the boxelder nook (inside corner in photo above), the sun was still far enough above the horizon that I thought it might yet shine on the tree before setting. So we made a short detour to the prairie nearby to visit a patch of Easter daisies (towndsendias), usually the earliest wildflowers to bloom here. Most plants had plump "buds" (technically composite heads of tiny buds, being members of the Asteraceae). Some heads were topped with white points—the clustered tips of ray flowers starting to emerge.
I spotted one townsendia in bloom, but it was already closing for the day. The temperature had maxed out at just 47º F, and when I photographed these plants it had dropped to 35º; the low the previous night was 6º. No wonder Easter daisies close up every evening!
Time for bed.
House keys for scale.


Meanwhile, back at the boxelder the sun had indeed reached far enough into the nook to shine on the north side of the tree, and was making shadow branches on the metal building. This is one of the two changes I mentioned at the beginning of the post.

A moment in the sun … brief now, but longer soon.

The other change is much more subtle … or maybe only wishful thinking. Are the buds showing hints of green? Or are they simply basking in the golden glow before dusk? (click on image to decide)


This is my contribution to the monthly virtual gathering of tree-followers, kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. More news available here. Consider joining us!

12 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm going to go out on a limb (oops, I made a pun) and say I see some green in those buds! This is the most encouraging post I've seen today. Yay sun. Yay Boxelder tree. Yay Easter Daisies!

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    1. I soooo agree, Beth, hooray hooray! (and another sunny windless day in Laramie :)

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  2. I feel for that poor little tree in the corner. Soon it will finally get hours of sunshine.

    The first few sunny days after the long, dark mid-winter months always makes everyone really happy here.

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    1. Erika, those "first few sunny days" are like a tonic here--everyone's cheerful, no one's a stranger, can't walk down the sidewalk without stopping and chatting ... not a bad thing!

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  3. Interesting to know about the sun tracker website
    Hope your tree does well this year!

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    1. Thanks, Lea ... I suspect it will do fine. Boxelder's are tough, sometimes considered weeds here. My worry is that someone removes it while "cleaning up" the place.

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  4. Fascinating post as always - I love that sun calculator. I have been taking pictures through my window through the months to see where the sun rises (it goes way south in the winter) but this app looks much more useful!
    I also love that townsendia - what a find - and those tree buds are definitely green!
    All the best :)

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    1. Thanks, Pat. The app may be more "useful" (or easy to use) but I like the idea of taking photos through time. I will think about that option ...

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  5. how wonderful to have sun and no wind! I also see green in those there buds, they look nice and plump too, love the easter daisies, daisies are my favourite flowers, Frances

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    1. Frances, you are right ... no wind especially feels like paradise to us, because we have had soooo much this winter, unbelievable. Really cold even when the sun is shining. It seems to have abated, we all hope so.

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  6. It's a very striking location for a followed tree. It makes me think of David Hockney paintings.

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    1. thanks for the comment, Lucy, it sent me off in search of Hockney and an interesting tour of his works (didn't know of him prior)

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