Birches and their Neighbors - Day 27

Catkin Rosettes

(This is the jpg - 100kB - is there a perceptable difference?)

(This is the png8 - 373kB - is this one that much better?)

Tiny pieces of birch catkin mulch, or could it be breakfast cereal?   

- or maybe a jigsaw puzzle?    

We haven't had snow now for several weeks, and the catkin detritus is drifting into piles along the surface of what snow there is, accentuating rises and falls on the ground.
These cross-section exposures of the centers of catkins show the geometric layering of three-lobed nutlet upon nutlet in the catkin, nature's redundancy.
Let them accumulate! In the spring, these piles of organic matter will provide a rooting material for newly-sprouting birch seeds.

Birches and their Neighbors - Day 24

Touseled, Tattered and Torn

Winter Catkins  

- starting to show signs of wear  

As the birds and the wind and weather have their way during the winter, the catkins will give up more and more of their seeds, and the geometrically-ordered array of nutlets on the stalk will gradually fall off.

Art Every Day Month - Nov 21 -

Winter Fireweed

Winter Fireweed  - a pioneer species waiting for its time

Source photo

Fireweed is called a pioneer species, because it establishes itself rapidly in areas where the ground has been burnt-over or where the soil has been disturbed.
In summer, the fireweed sports bright magenta flowers on a straight tall stalk, and in winter, the fireweed's leaves dry into curved hooks which mat together and trap the plant's fly-away seeds in with other wind-borne material. Fireweed seeds remain viable in the ground for years, waiting for conditions to be right for a new plant to spring into blossom. A pioneer indeed!

Art Every Day Month - Nov 19 -

Alders for Winter

Alders for Winter - food for overwintering birds 

Source Photo

Alders, birches and poplar trees provide food for birds and small animals during the winter. It's fun watching the red polls and chickadees peck at alder cones like this to release the seeds hidden inside.  It's a natural bird feeder.