Little trees growing in buckets. Too tiny to be seen. Buckets, buckets everywhere!
Owen Conservation Park in Madison, Wisconsin
Bucket Tree Nursery
Boundary Line
Greening of the Hardwoods
I found a new area for hiking west of Madison and I am thrilled with my new tramping grounds. There is a rolling long field, overgrown with wild things, and currently covered with yellow rocket in full bloom. I know the plant is considered an invasive pest, but it was a rather pretty sight nonetheless.
On either side of the open land are woodlands, mostly Maple, Ash, White Oak, though quite a few Elm, and a large stand of Shagbark Hickories. The trees are just greening, as evidenced by these photos of their unfurling leaves.
This White Oak grows in eastern and central North America, 100 feet, sometimes up to 150 feet tall. This is one enormous, mind-boggling tree.
I love the unfurling of the Shagbark Hickory leaves. Take a close look at the marvelous structure of the tree and her leaves at this stage. The hickory is my favorite tree – the bark is a spactacular show of evolutionary wit. After the tree has matured-30 to 40 years-the bark begins to peel off in shaggy, curly strips. This presents a sharply angled obstacle course for the squirrels who come to feast and ‘squirrel’ away the acorn nuts.
And here is a leaf from a younger ash tree, just beginning to open-looks quite like a leafy green rosebud
I recognized dozens of different wildflowers, many in bloom – I probably saw a thousand Jack in the Pulpits. I’ve never seen so many in one place before, plus there was a carpet of Hepatica (Bloodroot) dropping down and across a large ravine, though not yet in bloom, and seas of Mayapples, their little umbrellas now fully extended. I’ll put the photos of the flowers in the next post. But now, I may just go take another short hike before the weather cools.
All is a Miracle
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child– our own two eyes. All is a miracle. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Ice Storm

Winterscape © 2008 Bo Mackison
Wisconsin is still covered in white, although we did miss the forecasted storm earlier this week. It is the FIRST time this season that we did not get dumped on when ‘dumping on’ was predicted. Those darned weatherpersons finally made a wrong call – ’bout time. It isn’t nice to be perfect all the time.
I still have enough winter photographs to post daily until 2009, or perhaps even until 2010, but in honor of Leap Year Day tomorrow, I promise a photo that will soothe all the sun-starved, me included.
Today’s photograph
Owen Conservation Park
Madison, WI