Fall on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smokey Mountain National Park

Fall is in the air in Asheville, North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Cataloochee.    I took a drive on the Parkway and also camped at Cataloochee a few days ago and here are some of the beautiful sights that spoke to my soul.  If you are near the Parkway, take a trip to see nature's beauty and fill your soul with the blessings of earth!

Fall Evening on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Sunset in October.

Fall Evening on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Sunset in October

Flowering Dogwood, 

Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana

Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana

Mountain Ash, Sorbus americana

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Black Gum, Nyssa sylvatica

Flowering Dogwood

Cornaceae - Dogwood Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 21
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida

Spring

Flowering Dogwood in the spring

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood, in the spring

The Dogwood trees are so beautiful this time of year!!!!  The leaves are opening up and growing by the hour.  Some trees are in full flower and some are leafing out.  It is a wonder filled time of year.

Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, in the spring

Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida, in the spring

The Flowering Dogwood Tree in March

A flowering Dogwood in April.  

The Dogwood Tree - Cornus florida

The beautiful Dogwood is in full spring bloom in the mountains of North Carolina.  I am always in awe of this incredible display of flowers in the sky, and always look so forward to April to see this sight again.

Summer

The Flowering Dogwood Tree in July

The flowering dogwood has these little green berry-like fruits called drupes during the summer. The leaves are getting a bit worn come summer time. However, to see this tree on a July summer day with the fun filtering through the leaves, well, I am not sure it gets much better.

Many animals and birds will depend on these drupes for food when they ripen in September.  The drupes will be bright red by September and can usually be seen on the trees until December.

The Flowering Dogwood tree in July.  The veins on the Dogwood leaves are quite distinctive the way they all curve up towards the tip of the leaf.

Fall

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood in the fall

Fall Flowering Dogwood Tree

Beautiful red berries,

A fall red blush,

I can not pass by without pausing

and being grateful for this moment.

Winter

The Flowering Dogwood Tree

This Flowering Dogwood lives at the Asheville Botanical Gardens. http://www.ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/

You can always recognize the beautiful flowering dogwood tree by it's very distinctive bark. The bark is broken up into little interesting shaped pieces. You can also identify this tree by it's buds that are all upright and remind me of little birthday candles all over the tree. Sunsets and dogwoods can paint such beautiful scenes.

Flowering Dogwood Bark

The drops of rain on the dogwood tree were so beautiful on every limb. The winter dogwood tree stands out with its thousands of limbs lifting up to the sky with buds on the ends of each limb. The water droplets shining like small diamonds in the morning light looks like stars.

For the love of the trees,

Becky

The Man who Planted Trees

I was given a book to read, The Man Who Planted Trees by Jim Robbins.  This book is about David Milarch and his mission to replant forests all over the world. 

The reading of this book has changed my life as student and teacher of the trees.  My new focus is to write about the people who are working to bring an awareness to the world about the importance of trees to the future of our planet.

There are amazing people out there speaking about how it is imperative for the earth to have mature forests as well as ancient trees standing on the earth.   It is also most important to tell the stories of the people that are working to make this a reality, so that is what I am to do.

Our children and grandchildren need a world to thrive in.  Read about and listen to the wisdom of these great teachers.  May we listen and then act to help save this beautiful planet for our children and grandchildren and their children.

To quote Jim Robbins here,

"Planting trees may be the single most important ecotechnology that we have to put the broken pieces of our planet back together."

The link to connect with David Milarch is:  https://www.ancienttreearchive.org/

David Milarch says that 98 percent of all the old growth forests in America are gone.

His mission is:

"Propagate the world’s most important old growth trees before they are gone.

Reforest the Earth with the offspring of these trees to provide the myriad of beneficial ecosystem services essential for all life forms to thrive including releasing oxygen, sequestering carbon dioxide, providing beneficial aerosols and medicines: essentially a global warming solution.

Archive the genetics of ancient trees in living libraries around the world for the future."

After listening to David Milarch speak on Ted Talks, the reason is clear and imperative:

Clean Water
Clean Air
Clean Soil
The trees are the filter system of our earth.  

It is for our children and grandchildren and their children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGMJT9H3Aok

Listen to the YouTube video, above.  Go to his website.  May we all do our part.

I have a personal goal to plant 93 native southern Appalachian trees in the Asheville area in 2017. The 93 native trees that I have studied on this blog will be the trees I plant.

In Celebrating Champion Trees, There is a National Flowering Dogwood tree.

A Flowering Dogwood at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville
September 26, 2016

The National Forest Champion Flowering Dogwood lives in Clarke, Georgia.  Nominated by Andrew Saunders.   

http://www.americanforests.org/flowering-dogwood-cornus-florida-2/

This Dogwood is 67 feet high and has a circumference of 90 inches.

Fall leaf changes in North Carolina

Acer saccharum, Sugar Maple

Cornus florida, Flowering Dogwood

Carya Glabra, Pignut Hickory

Fall color is in North Carolina and is showing in the Hickories, the Dogwoods, and the Maples.  On the Blue Ridge Parkway the reds of the Black gum, the Red maples, and the Sourwoods are coloring the mountains.  Get outside and enjoy!!!

The Dogwood Tree - Imagine Forgivenss

The Spring Dogwood Tree in April

The spring dogwood is in full bloom today. This tree is so beautiful. 

When I visited the winter Dogwood in January, the tree spoke to me of imagination.

When I visited the spring Dogwood in April, the tree spoke to me of forgiveness.

When I combine these words it is - imagine forgiveness. Imagine how the world would be if all of us lived a life of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is the path of peace.

The spring dogwood tree is filled with white or pink flowers with four large petals. There are marks of red or white and a center of yellow. The legend of the dogwood relates the dogwood to the Easter story of Jesus. I encourage everyone to read the story for yourselves.

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."
~ Robert Muller