December 9: Late goldenrod

I think I've mentioned before that I've noticed how much later the goldenrod has bloomed in the city, compared to the farm. Over a month's difference in some cases. The farm is 150 miles away from the city, at a slightly higher elevation and farther west. I'm guessing the some of the difference, though, is provided by the city's own climate effects, from the greater concentration of heat-producing buildings, cars, and pavements that absorb and hold onto heat. The goldenrod I'm seeing in the city is just past its prime, even after several frosts.



Back at the farm, it's been a couple of weeks or more since most of the goldenrod went to seed and turned fluffy brown.

December 10: Acorn cups

I step on and around acorns all the time in the fall, all shapes and sizes: oblong, round, dark brown, light brown, green, white seedmeat, bright orange seedmeat, yellow seedmeat, the size of small marbles to bigger than banty hen eggs. Sometimes the acorns fall with their caps on, though they may lose them once they hit the ground; sometimes they leave their caps attached to the tree and fall bare-headed.





I was listening to a radio program today about what causes balsam fir trees to drop their needles after they're cut down. (It has to do with ethylene.) I wonder if there's some identifiable scientific reason some acorns fall cap and all, and others leave the cap behind. I should observe more closely to see if perhaps the different varieties of oaks have different rates.