A Year With the Trees project. What is the tree blog all about anyway?

Cercis canadensis,  Red Bud, Fruit

This blog is about the trees that are native to the Southern Appalachians. 

It is a collection of photos, drawings, and writings.  I hope this collection will inspire anyone who finds it to plant, and nurture native trees and plants in their own yards, cities, parks, and walkways.

By writing this blog, I hope to spread a bit of that fun, beauty, peace and joy that nature provides.

Why 92 Trees

I chose 92 Southern Appalachian trees because I wanted one tree to study for each day of the season.  

By visiting each tree in all four seasons, I felt like I could truly get to know them.

Since there are 90-92 days per season, I needed 92 trees that lived close enough to me to visit.

Winter:  December (31), January (31),  February (28) = 90 days .

Spring :  March (31),  April (30), May () = 92 days

Summer: June (30), July (31), August (s) = 92 days

Fall:  September (30), October (31), November (30s) = 91 days

Total:  365 days

I selected these species from a wonderful book, Native Trees of the Southeast, an Identification Guide by L Katherine Kirkman, Claud L. Brown, and Donald J. Leopold.  (Timber Press, 2007). 

Since I live in Western North Carolina, I choose the 92 trees native to Western North Carolina.

The Practice of Visiting

Because it is difficult to visit every tree in person every single day of the year, there are some days when I visit them in my heart and mind.  On those days, I think about the tree, read about it, ponder it, draw it, or write a poem.

I have created a journal where each tree has its own page.  I head out with my journal and a pen; once I am with the tree, it is my quiet time to listen and be in the moment.   I may write, draw, or even take a nap.  I love to take it all in with all of my senses:  sight, sound, smell, touch, and - sometimes - even taste.

A Year of Observation

I aim to sketch, paint, and photograph each tree through all four seasons.  Each tree is hugged, listened to and sat with.  

Spring:  Amazing buds, leaf growth and flowers.

Summer:  Lush leaves and fruit to fascinate any observer.

Fall:   Breathtaking leaf color and autumn fruits. 

Winter: Interesting bark, dried fruit, twigs and buds.

My goal is to complete this journal for all 92 trees across all four seasons.   Eventually, I hope to  create a Year With the Trees workshop each season for others who want to be creative and learn more about our native canopy.

I hope this blog inspires you to grow and nurture native trees and plants where you live, work, learn, and play.  Inspiration, learning, and appreciation of nature are the three traits that always make life a bit sweeter.

Contact me: You can reach me at Celerylady@gmail.com.  Or, you can send me a message here on the blog.    Thank you for reading this and I hope to hear from you soon!

Becky


A Year With the Trees
A Collection of Southern Appalachian Trees

Aceracae, The Maple family
1.   Acer negundo.  Box Elder
2.   Acer pensylvanicum.  Striped Maple
3.   Acer rubrum.  Red Maple
4.   Acer saccharinum.  Silver Maple\
5.   Acer saccharum.  Sugar Maple
6.   Acer spicatum.  Mountain Maple

Annonaceae, The Custard Apple Family
7.   Asimina triloba.  PawPaw

Aquifoliaceae, The Holly Family
8.   Ilex montana.  Mountain Winterberry
9.   Ilex opaca.  American Holly
10. Ilex verticillata.  Common Winterberry

Araliaceae, The Ginseng Family
11.  Aralia spinosa.  Devils Walking Stick

Betulaceae, The Birch Family
12.  Alnus serrulata.  Tag Alder
13.  Betula alleghaniensis.  Yellow Birch
14.  Betula lenta.  Black Birch
15.  Betula nigra.  River Birch
16.  Betual papyrifera - Paper Birch
17.  Carpinus caroliniana - American Hornbeam
18.  Ostraya virginiana - Eastern Hornbeam

Caprifoliaceae - The Honeysuckle Family
19.  Viburnum prunifolium.  Black Haw

Cornaceae - The Dogwood Family
20.  Cornus alternifolia - Alternate Leaved Dogwood
21.  Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood
22.  Nyssa sylvatica - Black Gum

Cupressaceae - The Cypress Family
23.  Juniperus virginiana - Eastern Red Cedar

Ebenaceae - The Ebony Family
24.  Diospyros virginiana - Persimmon

Ericaceae - The Heath Family
25.  Kalmia latifolia - Mountain Laurel
26.  Oxydendrum arboreum - Sourwood
27.  Rhododendron catawbiense - Catawba Rhododendron
28.  Rhododendron maximum - Rosebay Rhododendron

Fabraceae - The Bean Family
29.  Cercis canadensis - Redbud
30.  Cladrastis kentuckea - Yellowwood
31.  Gleditsia triacanthos - Honeylocust
32.  Gymnocladus dioicus - Kentucky Coffeetree
33.  Robina pseudoacacia - Black Locust

Fagaceae - The Beech Family
34.  Castanea dentata - American Chestnut
35.  Castanea pumila - Allegheny Chinquapin
36.  Fagus grandifolia - American Beech
37.  Quercus alba - White Oak
38.  Quercus coccinea - Scarlet Oak
39.  Quercus falcata - Southern Red Oak
40.  Quercus marilandica - Blackjack Oak
41.  Quercus montana (prinus) Chestnut Oak
42.  Quercus phellos - Willow Oak
43.  Quercus rubra - Northern Red Oak

44.  Quercus stellata - Post Oak
45.  Quercus velutina - Black Oak

Hamamelidaceae - The Witch Hazel Family
46.  Hamamelis virginiana - Witch-Hazel
47.  Liquidambar styraciflua - Sweetgum

Hippocastanaceae - Buckeye Family
48.  Aesculus flava - Yellow Buckeye

49.  Aesculus parviflora – Bottlebrush Buckeye

50.  Aesculus pavia – Red Buckeye

Juglandaceae – Walnut Family 

51.  Carya cordiformis – Bitternut Hickory

52.  Carya glabra – Pignut Hickory

53.  Carya ovata – Shagbark Hickory

54.  Carya tomentosa – Mockernut Hickory

55.  Juglans cinerea – Butternut

56.  Juglans nigra – Black Walnut

Lauraceae – Laurel Family

57.  Sassafras albidum – Sassafras

Magnoliaceae – Magnolia Family

58.  Liriodendron tulipifera – Yellow Poplar

59.  Magnolia acuminata– Cucumber Tree

60.  Magnolia fraseri - Fraser Magnolia

61.  Magnolia macrophylla - Bigleaf Magnolia

62.  Magnolia tripetala - Umbrella Magnolia

Moraceae – Mulberry Family

 63.  Morus rubra - Red Mulberry

Oleaceae – Olive Family

64.  Chionanthus virginicus - Fringe Tree

65.  Fraxinius americana - White Ash

66.  Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Green Ash

Pinaceae – Pine Family

67.  Albies fraseri - Fraser Fir

68.  Picea rubens - Red Spruce

69.  Pinus echinata - Shortleaf Pine

70.  Pinus pungens - Table Mountain Pine

71.  Pinus rigida - Pitch Pine

72.  Pinus strobus - Eastern White Pine

73.  Pinus taeda - Loblolly Pine

74.  Pinus virginiana - Virginia Pine

75.  Tsuga canadensis - Eastern Hemlock

76.  Tsuga caroliniana - Carolina Hemlock

Platanaceae – Sycamore Family

77.  Plantanus occidentalis - Sycamore

Rosaceae – Rose Family

78.  Ameranchier arborea - Serviceberry

79.  Crataegus, sp. - Hawthorn

80.  Prunus americana - American Plum

81.  Prunus pensylvanica - Pin Cherry

82.  Prunus serotina - Black Cherry

83.  Sorbus americana - American Mountain Ash

Rutaceae – Rue Family

84.  Ptelea trifoliata - Hoptree

Salicaceae – Willow Family

85.  Salix nigra - Black Willow

Styracaceae – Storax Family

86.  Halesia carolina - Carolina Silverbell

87.  Styrax grandifolius - Bigleaf Storax

Tiliaceae – Basswood Family

88.  Tilia americana – Basswood

Ulmaceae – Elm Family

89.  Celtis occidentalis – Hackberry

90.  Ulmus alata – Winged Elm

91.  Ulmus americana – American Elm

92.  Ulmus rubra – Slippery Elm

Thank you everyone for reading this.  I would love to hear from you.  
Becky

celerylady@gmail.com

Yellowwood - Cladrastis kentuckea

Fabaceae - Bean Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 30
Yellowwood
Cladrastis kentuckea

January 30, 2026

Check out this post to see pictures of this tree in all four seasons.

Spring



This tree is identified by its alternately compounded, 8-12 inch leaves. There may be 7-11 leaflets per leaf that are elliptical to ovate and 3-4 inches long each. The flowers are out in May. These flowers have been called the most beautiful tree flowers in the American Forests.  The flowers do not appear every year; just every 2-5 years.

The Yellowwood Tree in May at the North Carolina Arboretum

The Yellowwood Sign by the Yellowwood Tree at the North Carolina Arboretum

Summer

Yellowwood Tree at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville in June

My daughter and I  measured the Botanical Gardens tree for the Asheville Tree map a few years ago. We found our tape measure showed that three trunks all emerged from the base.  At 4 1/2 feet from the earth, we had three trunk measurements of 55 inches, 44 inches, and 37 inches.  I had planned to post this info on the website for the Asheville Tree Map.

The Asheville Tree Map is not active anymore.  We now have in the City of Asheville a Urban Forester. I will be reaching out to him to see if there in a new Asheville Tree Map that we are able to enter data about trees.

Fall 

The Yellowwood Tree

The Yellowwood Tree

This tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens in the meadow over the green bridge near the Gazebo. It is so beautiful in the fall light. I could hear the seed pods today blowing in the cool breeze, it was the sound of fall's music.  www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Winter

Yellowwood tree 

You can always identify this tree in the winter by seeing the dried pods hanging from the limbs and the smooth light-colored bark.

Yellowwood tree and the yellow-bellied sapsucker
photo by http://www.robertpriddyphoto.com/

This Yellowwood tree and yellow-bellied sapsucker both live at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.  www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

For the love of the trees,
Becky

January 2026

A Year With the Trees - 2026

Box Elder drawing by  Brooke Priddy Conrad

"And now let us welcome the new year; full of things that have never been."  Rainer Maria Rilke

The 93 trees of "A Year With the Trees" have been a big part of this journey since 2010. Each tree was sought out and found, offering a chance to sit quietly in its presence. From the network of veins in a leaf to the patterns of the bark and the land where each tree lives, every detail has a story to tell.

Up in the branches, birds and wildlife find a place to live and move. These trees change with the seasons: the bare branches of winter eventually give way to the new green growth of spring. Summer brings a fullness of life that slowly turns into the changing colors of fall. In the sunlight, the leaves turn to shades of gold, brown, red, and yellow. Even when the leaves fall to the ground and the branches are bare again, there is a quiet waiting for the new growth to return in the spring.

Visiting and journaling these 93 trees through every season reveals that there is always more to learn about them. It is a rewarding experience to walk through the woods, down a street, or in a park and recognize the trees as familiar friends. Developing this connection provides a sense of peace.

Beyond their beauty, trees are essential for life. We can breathe clean air and drink clean water because we live on the same planet with them. Their roots hold the soil in place, and their branches provide homes for birds, small mammals, moths, and butterflies. We share an interconnected world, and trees are its quiet protectors. 

"A Year With the Trees" was started as a way to share how to get to know the trees. Whether you are following along with all 93 or just getting to know a single tree in your neighborhood, these amazing Southern Appalachian trees have much to share with anyone who takes the time to look.

When one has an appreciation and gratitude for trees, one will naturally be led to protect and care for them.

Drawing by Rebecca Priddy

There is a journal booklet I created with the help of my husband, Robert and my daughter, Brooke Conrad.  I wanted to make this journal to help others get to know these trees.  I am editing it now to be able to hopefully put it online and/or  in printed form.  I will update this post when I get these journal booklets ready.  In the meantime, have fun out there in nature.  

For the love of the trees,

Rebecca

How Do Trees Inspire Me?



How do trees inspire me?

The PawPaw flower

Trees inspire me to be grateful for this moment,

to pause and see the beauty as a bud turns into flower.

Carolina Silverbell

Trees inspire me to learn their names.

To explore all the different colors , flowers and fruits they wear each season.

Black Locust Flowers

Trees inspire me to do share with others that we are all one sharing one planet.

Peace,


Rebecca

Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana

Ebenaceae - Ebony Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 24
Persimmon
Diospyros virginiana

The word Diospyros means "the fruit of the gods" in ancient Greek.

Spring

Persimmon Tree in the Spring
The green is very vibrant in the early morning spring light.
This tree lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens.

http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/.

Persimmon Flower.  Thank you to Wikimedia commons for the use of this beautiful persimmon flower .   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Persimmon_0375.jpg

This is a female Persimmon flower.  Both female and male flowers grow on the Persimmon tree.

Summer

Persimmon leaf teas have been used for many years in China, Japan, and in Korea.  These teas have been said to have numerous health benefits.  Benefits to health include improving blood lipid values, skin health, colon health, and many other health benefits have been reported as far back at 1000 years.

Persimmon fruit growing in the summertime

Fall

Persimmon fruit growing in West Virginia in the fall.  Photo by Robert Priddy

Persimmon in the fall.

The fruit before it ripens is very astringent.  I wanted to know what that meant, astringent.  So, I tasted a a persimmon back in June when the fruit was green.  I discovered what astringent means.  It means every single drop of moisture in your mouth is sucked out.  I had the driest mouth I ever had in my whole life.  So, today, needless to say, I was a bit skeptical to try and taste this now ripe fruit.  I have heard it said, not to eat the persimmon until they start to fall from the tree.  For, then and only then, are they ripe.  Well, today, on my walk about, there were persimmons on the ground.

So, I picked one up off the ground and I felt the persimmon.  It was quite soft.  I smelled the persimmon, I did notice a sweet-like scent, that was new to me.  After touching and smelling, I decided to taste.  I bit into the soft flesh of the persimmon fruit.  I was so amazed at what I tasted.  The fruit was so sweet, like a heavenly date-like nectar.  I had to taste more.  They were all a gift from the tree.  I thanked the tree and will be sure to go back tomorrow for another taste of heaven.

May you all find a persimmon tree on just the right fall day

Winter

Persimmon Tree that lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens

The bark of the Persimmon tree is distinctive with a dark deeply-fissured, rectangular blocks.  The Persimmon tree is native to the eastern US.

From Wikipedia:  "In philosophy, the painting of persimmons by Mu Qi (13th Century) exemplifies the progression from youth to age as a symbol of the progression from bitterness to sweetness. The persimmon when young is bitter and inedible, but as it ages it becomes sweet and beneficial to humankind. Thus, as we age, we overcome rigidity and prejudice and attain compassion and sweetness. Mu Qi's painting of six persimmons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Persimmons) is considered a masterpiece."

For the love of the trees,

Rebecca

The Apple tree and a poem

Apple Tree

“There is a pleasure in

the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the

lonely shore,

There is society, where

none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and

music in its roar:

I love not man the less,

but Nature more.”

-Lord Byron

For the love of the trees,

Rebecca

Eastern Red Cedar - Juniperus virginiana - A Year With the Trees, tree number 23

Cupressaceae - Cypress Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 23
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana

Eastern red cedar is actually not a cedar. It is a juniper. The red cedar is the most common native conifer in the Eastern United States. Its seeds are spread by cedar waxwings and other birds that eat the blue seed cones. The berries are so blue!

Spring

Juniperus virginiana

The small pink flowers on the Red Cedar will turn into a blue berry-like cone.

This next image is a Red Cedar tree with a Rust Gall.  These are quite interesting.  These do not harm the Cedar tree; yet they are cause much havoc to apple and crab apple trees.

Cedar Apple Rust

These trees are so important to the birds in the winter. The berry-like cones provide food during the winter months. Cedar waxwings, American Robin, Northern Bobwhite, Turkey, Starling, Mourning Dove, Northern Mockingbird, Purple Finch, American Crow, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, and the Eastern Bluebird all eat the berry-like cones of this tree. If you want birds to come visit where you live, plant these trees and enjoy.

Summer

Eastern Red Cedar - Juniperus virginiana

The Red Cedar is important to wildlife, it is beautiful, and it lives a very long time (400 plus years). The berries (cones) on this tree are colorful and used in herbal medicine as well as providing food for birds. The bark is colorful, interesting, and smells wonderful.

This Juniperus virginiana tree is filled with blue berry-like female cones.

Fall

Juniperus virginiana in September in Arkansas

Winter

I took these winter images today,  the evergreen foliage stays on the cedar tree all winter long.  This Eastern Red Cedar lives at Priddy Woods, and is my favorite Cedar tree.  It faces the sunset and just shines with light through its boughs every evening.  I am grateful for the peace I always feel when I watch the sunset through the branches where he light is caught in each little green whorled stem.   

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Scarlet Oak

Fagaceae  Family - Scarlet Oak
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 38
Quercus coccinea

The scarlet oak that dropped these leaves about a week ago, shares the same land I live on.  I watch and visit with this magnificent tree all year round.  The day these leaves fell, it was cold and windy.  I picked up these beautiful scarlet colored leaves and took this photo on white paper to be able to really see the scarlet color,  

I am so grateful for the trees I live beside.  To see the birds that visit the tree, to hear the wind in tree branches, to breath in the fresh air, to feel the leaves falling around me, and to touch the strong bark with my hands, these moments always bring me to the present moment.  Being present is what helps to keep me calm in what often seems a chaotic world filled with too much to do.  

Enjoy finding your own moments by a tree and embracing the time with all your senses.

My practice for the past 15 years has been to visit each of the 93 trees on this blog once per season. When I am with the tree, I am quiet and use all my senses.  Sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even tasting when possible..  These trees have become part of me; I have a love for trees that makes me who I am.  

My favorite visits with the trees include carrying my journal and writing about my time with the tree. Writing about the birds that were there with me and the tree, the weather, the leaves, the limbs, the fruits and anything I feel about the tree and anything I feel the tree communicating with me.  I might add a drawing of a leaf or the trunk or the fruit.  Anything goes. 

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Winter at the Botanical Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina 2025

I went to the Botanical Gardens yesterday with Brooke, my daughter, we had not been there since Hurricane Helene came through Asheville.  The Gardens were closed to visitors for months and this is the first time we observed the changes that happened when the storm came through.

We walked  to sycamore meadow and saw the magestic sycamore was down on the ground.  I felt shock and awe and sadness and hope all at once.  

I also felt grateful that the Botanical Gardens will leave the Sycamore tree where it lays.  This meadow was named for the cluster of sycamore trees in this area of the gardens.  This meadow is also the home of another special sycamore, the Moon tree, whose seeds flew to the moon and back aboard the Apollo spaceship.

The botanical gardens at asheville are currently working on preparing the fallen Sycamore tree so the visitors that come to the garden will be free to interact with the tree by touching and sitting on the fallen Sycamore tree. 

This is my page from my “A Year With the Trees” journal.  You can see where Brooke drew the outline of the trunk as it lays on the ground. 

If you get a chance go visit the beautiful Sycamore meadow at the botanical gardens of Asheviile.  

Peace,

Becky Priddy

Aceraceae - Maple Family 

Box Elder

"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 1

January 1

April 1

July 1

October 1

Spring

Box Elder drawing by  Brooke Priddy Conrad

The Box Elder in the light of a spring day

When I started writing my Journal Book called, A Year With the Trees, I began with the Box Elder Tree.  This is the tree I studied on January 1st for the Winter Box Elder tree.  I returned again on April 1st and on July 1st and October 1st.  I  visited each of the 93 trees in all four seasons.  The springtime Box Elder is my favorite tree at this time of year.  When you see the incredible light on the pale new green leaves, you will know why it is favorite.  I started this tree journey in 2010; now I have 93 incredible species that I call my tree friends.  

Find your own Box Elder Friend and get to know that tree in all its beautiful seasons. Sit with the tree and look into it's branches.  See how it changes throughout the year and see what feelings you experience as you become still and just breathe under this tree's branches.  For me, I feel Peace; and we can all use more peace everyday.  Let me know if you want to know where you can find my favorite Box Elder.  

You can find more info in this blog about the box elder by finding its name in the labels.

For the love of the trees,
Becky

Phenology -My Practice of Phenology at Priddy Woods - What is Phenology?

 My practice of Phenology at Priddy Woods

I have a practice of phenology at Priddy Woods.  At Priddy Woods I have currently 24 tree companions. I visit them every day I am at Priddy Woods.  I look into their branches and see what is happening.  I watch their leaves unfold,  the flowers bloom, the leaves change color in the fall; and I watch the leaves fall to the earth.  I am bringing awareness of the change of the seasons and how it shows up in nature and my life.  I am noticing nature's changes in the trees, the birds, the animals and myself, my family, and friends.  

I am a phenologist, I study the timing of the life cycle events in plants and animals.  However, to me, this is not just a "study", it is a practice of awareness and being grateful as well as a daily prayer that our grandchildren and their grandchildren for many generations may also witness the amazing life cycles of trees and flowers and birds and animals that share our earth with us.

What is phenology?

I quote from Natures Notebook,  

"Phenology is the study of the timing of life cycle events in plants and animals, their recurrence, and relationship to the environment. 

Phenology is nature’s calendar—when cherry trees bloom, when a robin builds its nest and when leaves turn color in the fall.

Phenology is pollinators visiting open flowers to aid in reproduction, elk making mating calls, and a tadpole turning into a frog."