Sunday Walking … The Wizard’s Tree
17 August
It’s that extra hot time of year again when the berries of the Mountain Ash Tree, or as I have always known it, the Rowan tree, start to glow and passing birds take note.
Mountain Ash trees are one of those many species of the Rosacea that look very little like what most people considered to be a rose. The naming of plants can sometimes be horribly confusing. There are a good number of species. (Sorbus is the genus) and originally the common name of Rowan was used specifically for Sorbus aucuparia . This name seems to be either unknown by people or is applied more generally as a common name for the entire genus. Living as I do these days, in Canada, I have to say that the common name Rowan is not widely used, but it's the one I grew up with and it's the name I will stick with for the rest of this post. Although there are differences between North American Rowan species and the European ones that I grew up with in Britain, the ones that I have in my garden here in Quebec are most probably one of the European species. One of the easiest to distinguish differences seems to be that European trees have toothed tips to the leaves, whereas the North American species are generally relatively blunt and smooth. You will see from my photograph that the leaves on my tree are well toothed.
As the fruits are attractive to birds, it is interesting to note that the species part of the name Sorbus aucuparia, is derived from two words avis meaning “bird” and capere meaning “catching”. Entirely appropriate.
When mature, the trees are only medium height in theory up to 50 feet, but in my experience rarely more than 25 or 30. Trees frequently have two or sometimes three or four trunks of up to a foot and a half in diameter. Pale yellow/white flowers appear in late spring early summer with bunches of bright red fruit in Midsummer, roundabout now during August. The specimen I have photographed is one of two growing in my own garden, but walking around the Neighbourhood it seems to me that more and more young Rowan trees are starting to appear in quiet corners and I assume that seeds have been spread by birds. There are some 60 or so bird species that to eat the fruit from these trees, but they are particularly favoured by American Robins (see photo below), and in my experience Waxwings.
I referred above to this tree as the wizard tree. In Britain, it was considered that the wood of these trees had the power to turn away witches and other malign spirits. According to some references, the shaft of some farm implements would be made from Rowan tree wood in the expectation that this would protect animals and crops from the spells of witches. In Scotland Rowan trees would be planted in pastures to protect cattle and sheep. If I'm not mistaken, the staff that Gandalf carried in the Lord of the Rings, was made of Rowan wood.
This time last year, I had to cut a six foot staff from one of our Rowans. I left it to dry, thinking maybe I can do something with that. Now, I don’t want to waste the wood but I have no idea how to even start turning it into a magical staff. It has the stubs of side branches along its length which can be cut back but then what? Leave the bark on or remove it? Anyone have suggestions?
Big Hawk at Fritz
A couple of days ago I was working in the early morning at the Garden at Fritz where community volunteers grow huge amounts of produce that is donated to local food banks. The weather was nice, the company was pleasant and all was proceeding peacefully when a Red-tailed Hawk launched itself from a tall tree and sailed low overhead calling loudly. There are, of course, plenty of rabbits in the area, and foxes to control them, so maybe that was an attraction. I don ’t know, but it was nice to look up and see a beautiful bird like this low in the air.
I had a hoe in my hand and the camera was, of course, in the car so here is one I photographed earlier, not far away.
I found a good number of articles this week that I hope you will enjoy, even if you just skim them
The Lost Art of Noticing Things
“Whilst Out Walking” it is very important to notice things - small things that scuttle and beautiful flowers alongside mosses with beetles.
Connection to nature
Generation by generation we are losing our connections to nature, in great part because we are experiencing less of it.
The modelling predicts an ongoing “extinction of experience” with future generations continuing to lose an awareness of nature because it is not present in increasingly built-up neighbourhoods, while parents no longer pass on an “orientation” towards the natural world. Other studies have found parental nature connectedness is the strongest predictor of whether a child will become close to nature.
Bring back messy
”There's a crazy amount of lawn out there, like tens of millions of acres in Canada and the United States, dedicated to growing just turf grass," said Brendon Samuels, a postdoctoral fellow with the Ecological Design Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. "Which is an imported, non-native group of species that has no real ecological value, that is very expensive to maintain and that doesn't look so nice when you're in the middle of a heat wave in the summer."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/no-lawn-movement-1.7605703
Toronto - Pollinator Garden Grants
If you live in Toronto there are competitive grants of up to $5000 for “projects that directly result in the creation of publicly-visible pollinator habitat”. These are for such things as community gardens, school fields and the like rather than private gardens, but it’s a good start that maybe other local authorities might consider. A bit of seed money to encourage local groups to make a start.
Introducing people to nature
A huge part of what I try to do is connect people to nature – and there I was, surrounded by people doing exactly that. The reason there were so many families with kids at Carding Mill Valley was precisely because there were toilets, and a cafe, and helpful signs to reassure them that they were going the right way. There were kids splashing in the stream, kids climbing trees, kids eating ice-cream, kids making dens in the bracken and chasing each other up and down the steep slope on their brand-new legs. And even more wonderful: as I looked around I realised that about 40% of the visitors were non-white. Given how inequitable access to nature remains – for a plethora of reasons – that felt like a brilliant thing.
AI Garden Design
This is interestingly enjoyable … but be warned
Flowerology
A recently discovered newsletter that each time focuses on a specific plant. There is lots of interesting information and all accompanied by some very attractive and accurate art work. Worth looking at for the pictures alone … example below the following link.
August Garden at Suppertime
Footnote:
Not wildlife related, nor gardening, but rather worrying …
(Quote): I was struck by a comparison found in Horowitch’s article about the college students who can’t read a book. A few professors told her that their students liken people reading books to hipsters listening to vinyl records. It’s an anachronism-turned-fringe-hobby.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/reading-crisis-perspective
Oh leave the bark on your staff 😊
Thanks for the great tutorial on the Rowan tree. My grandmother called by that name : she had one in her front yard in Schenectady, NY -- a great magnet for robins, as you noted.
At 85 and living in a city apartment, I miss country walks. I like what you said about noticing things.