TREE FOLLOWING - August 2015

It's time to share this months photos. There are a few small changes. First,

THE LONDON PLANE....

Each month I check out this ivy. I remembered it being quite tall and thought it would be higher by now.  So I looked back.

 

This was the ivy in April....

 

And in January...

 

I had not noticed that it had been cut back in between.  My attention must have been drawn to other things. And that explains why it hasn't reached the height I expected. I know this tree is managed and cared for, so it is no surprise.  I wonder when it will be cut back again?

The leaves make a lovely silhouette against the sky.

Sadly the horse chestnut that grows next to the London Plane and intertwines branches has developed a disease on the leaves.  Luckily my tree looks healthy. So far. Perhaps this disease is specific to the horse chestnut?

 

You can see the violet leaves in the grass and around the base of the tree. There are no flowers of any kind this month.

But look up and you can see pendulous seeds. You can't see flowers but according to Wikipedia they are hidden inside:

'The flowers are borne in one to three (most often two) dense spherical inflorescences on a pendulous stem, with male and female flowers on separate stems. The fruit matures in about 6 months, to 2–3 cm diameter, and comprises a dense spherical cluster of achenes with numerous stiff hairs which aid wind dispersal; the cluster breaks up slowly over the winter to release the numerous 2–3 mm seeds'.

 I remember seeing the  empty shell in January:

 

 

 

 THE OAK...

While I have been away the field has been cut...

 

and cleared.  Just stubble remains.  And the dead branch.

 
But new shoots still emerge...

And baby spiders wait their time....

There are clusters of acorns, of different colours and size...

A bit like this lichen really.....

 

Thank you for popping by.  I am linking in with Lucy over at Loose and Leafy.