Tag: plant

American mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) growing on honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Please click any photo in the set for full views.

When my father and uncles were boys they would borrow my grandfather’s rifle and shoot mistletoe clusters out of trees on the swampy banks of the Chowan River in eastern North Carolina. Then they would drive sixty miles (96 km) to the city market in Portsmouth, where they sold the mistletoe on the sidewalk for 25¢ a bundle for Christmas spending money.

American mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens) growing on honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Please click any photo in the set for full views.

When my father and uncles were boys they would borrow my grandfather’s rifle and shoot mistletoe clusters out of trees on the swampy banks of the Chowan River in eastern North Carolina. Then they would drive sixty miles (96 km) to the city market in Portsmouth, where they sold the mistletoe on the sidewalk for 25¢ a bundle for Christmas spending money.

The Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday: sunny and unseasonably warm (80°F/27°C), leaves.

Today: cold and damp (40°F/4°C), leaflessness. 

In past years my burning bush hedge (Euonymus alatus) has held its leaves until the new year. This year it surrendered early, succumbing to a cold front that passed through last night. In Portsmouth, Virginia. 

The Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday: sunny and unseasonably warm (80°F/27°C), leaves.

Today: cold and damp (40°F/4°C), leaflessness. 

In past years my burning bush hedge (Euonymus alatus) has held its leaves until the new year. This year it surrendered early, succumbing to a cold front that passed through last night. In Portsmouth, Virginia.