Tree-following: Good News (mostly)

After skipping a month, we headed off to visit the Rocky Mountain Junipers I'm following this year. There were big changes. The grass is mostly straw-colored now, as it would have been several months ago if we hadn't had so much rain. Seed heads were dense, showing how productive the season has been.

Needle-and-Thread, Hesperostipa comata. Needles and threads (seeds and seed tails) are mostly gone now.

Blue grama, Bouteloua gracilis, has my favorite dried inflorescence. It curls so elegantly.

When we reached the junipers, I wasn't expecting much based on July's visit. But I was wrong. On the east (lee) side of the larger tree were plenty of dark blue berries. Wow, how did this happen?! The yellow ones in July looked so sickly. Now I wish I didn't skip August.

Healthy-looking canopy.

Technically these are fleshy cones. Being gymnosperms junipers have neither flowers nor fruit.

Yellow are immature, dark blue are mature.

It was a warm day, good to have a tree and a bit of shade.

But not everything was good. Recently one of the neighbors fell.

When it fell, it revealed a large woody root leading into a crevice in the limestone—the tree's anchor and source of water. I will always be amazed that something this large can grow on such a harsh site and in a semi-arid climate!

This is my contribution to the monthly gathering of Tree-followers, kindly hosted by The Squirrelbasket. More news here.