Tuesday's Trees- Sassafras albidum

A native tree to most of the states, the Sassafras albidum is very recognizable. The kids always knew the tree by the three different leaf shapes. This tree has the oval leaf, a tri-lobed leaf and the one the kids recognized immediately, the mitten leaf.




Do you like root beer? The origins of this soda come from the root of this tree. You can smell the root beer flavor by crushing small twigs or roots. Additionally tea can be made from the root. Are you a fan of gumbo? This Cajun dish has an ingredient called filé. Filé comes from the dried, ground leaves of the sassafras tree. Cherokee, Choctaw and Chippewa have many uses for this tree, from tea to spices flavoring their foods. The Spanish explorers brought the tree back to Europe in the 1500's.


Though this tree has a wide range, zones 4- 9, the tree does better in sunnier locations. The Sassafras sprouts from roots and forms groves, crowding out other trees. There is an allopathic feature that keeps the grove clear of other plant material. It is a dioecious tree and the seed production begins on mature (10 years old) trees and it can live up to 150 years. The seeds mature in one year. Flowers appear in early spring and are quite showy.

This member of the Laurel family will grow to a height of 50 feet; it is a fast grower and has softwood. Deer like the twigs in the winter and the drupes/berries are a good food source for birds. The fall color is a glorious range of yellow to orange to reds. The inner bark is cinnamon in color and outer bark has kind of twisted deep ridges. The growth pattern is irregular, twisting a bit and the twigs form a 60 degree angle with main stem.



Floridata has some good history
MOBOT - some nice photos and good information
NC State- quick reference
Virginia Tech- another quick reference
Forestry Department, Silvics manual—in depth information, no photos
University of Florida - easy to read detailed information
USDA Plant Database- good list of additional web links
Ohio State – succinct information
Remember all photos can be clicked on to enlarge. I am continuing to update previous tree posts with photos of fall color.



Next week's tree- Chinese Pistache

How 'Bout These Babies? November GBBD

Have you ever taken some photos that you just sit back and admire? Did I do this? While moving things back to where they belong after our storm I was surprised to see how many blooms had opened on my Thanksgiving/Christmas Cactus. I will have to do some more research to figure out which this one is. In the meanwhile..... I am sorry, I couldn't decide which to post so here are four of the shots.







As for my garden, while I feel like it is toast, there are still some blooms-- it is just sooooooooo soggy. My August Beauty Gardenia and the Adonis Blue Buddleia have been uprooted by the wind. Will have to see what I can do after the ground dries a bit more.

As for the rest of the garden, here is a sample of what is still blooming in spite of the storm.


Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) , Spiderwort (Tradescantia), Green ConeFlower (Rudbeckia laciniata)


Viburnum dilatatum 'Michael Dodge', Callicarpa americana Beautyberry, Forget-me-Not,Cynoglossum amabile
And last but not least--- the sun shining behind the Hydrangea paniculata.




Don't forget to go to Carol's webpage to see other Garden Bloggers' Blooms.

A Window to My World

This is the window from which I most often look.  If you notice there is a lot of water.  We have been playing with what we are calling Nor'Ida.  Take one serious nor'easter and add a healthy dose of the remains of a late season hurricane.....include over 10 inches of rain over three days and six tidal cycles.  I was going to call this posting 'Where in the Hell is Pat Robertson?'  He claimed to pray away hurricanes.  Sorry, my sense of humor is shot.  High tides got progressively higher with each cycle as the high winds would not allow the waters to recede during low tide.   Les from A Tidewater Gardener mentioned flooding in his posting on Thursday. 

Wednesday we had rain and there was some talk of some coastal flooding.  Ok, we could deal with that.   This photo is a very high tide, not uncommon with a nor'easter....higher than usual, not enough to make me crazy. 

We spent Wednesday putting things up, away from possible flood water.  Kitchen counters and tables were covered with items pulled from any low cabinet or shelf.  The garage items were moved as well.

This is what happened two hours later at high tide.  Again, not what I wanted to see, but oh well.  Coastal flooding. 

We got up very early on Thursday morning to find a lot of water in the yard.

 Note the bird bath.

Six hours later would be our low tide.  LOW tide it wasn't . 

This was before high tide, I was looking out all my windows.  Just how high would it come?  We flooded with Hurricane Isabel, something I really did not want to experience again.   Before we go any further, I know there are those who experienced much worse with many other hurricanes.  Mine is not a severe case, it is my case.  Our house got repaired and with each passing hurricane season we worried, looked out the window and watched the water.  With retirement looming, we decided to build on a newly purchased lot, as those who read this blog know. 



Thursday evening's water was to be worse that that morning's high tide.  We paced and paced.  You want to do something but there is nothing you can do to stop the water. 

It came into the garage a bit, we had some minor losses.  My nerves on the other hand.....

The high  tide this morning was higher than yesterday morning, but lower than last night.  Hooray!  The offshore winds had diminished and the water was able to recede with low tide. 




So all this being said, I haven't lost my marbles, but we do have a lot of cleanup to do.  Will try to get around to other blogs in a few days.  




For now I am going to bed and get some rest, knowing that the worst is over.  And that is my 2 cents.