Once the holidays are here and gone, go for a walk through any neighborhood and you’ll see Christmas tree after Christmas tree, with strands of tinsel blowing in the wind, dumped by the road awaiting garbage collection. This strikes me as somewhat befuddling when we can take a custom that symbolized life and the promise of rebirth in the spring and turn it into another aspect of our “throw-away society”
The most noticeable and distinctive characteristic of Betula Papyrifera, a medium sized and native deciduous tree, is its peeling bark, which is accented by the green leaves that turn to a bright yellow in the autumn season. The peeling white bark blends in well with snowy winter landscapes.
Well, here we are again. Smack dab in the midst of the “dog days of summer”. And Lord have mercy, We just went through a stretch of days with heat indexes in the hundreds. GEEZ!!!! Yes, those sweltering, hot, humid conditions again in the forecast.
Imagine living in a world without flowers or fruit or even coffee or chocolate for that matter. Thanks to the wonderful work of pollinators like bees, much of the food we eat and flowers and plants we enjoy are possible. And it’s not just bees that are doing all the work. Butterflies, birds, beetles, bats, wasps and even flies are important in the pollination process. But despite the importance of pollinators, they are taken for granted all too often.