Strange Tree July 2010

This guy has grown alot so far.  I am a bit suprised considering that we chopped the second trunk limb off and tried to dig him up.  He recovered nicely.

Strange Tree '10

Well, here is my first post of my little (or not so little anymore) tree for the year.

We lopped off the second trunk so it will straighten up and grow right. 

This was taken two weekends ago,  It had gone from swelling buds to this in one week.

This was taken last weekend.  What a difference a week makes!

The buds have sprouted and will be branches before we know it.  If it is a catalpa as we suspect, it is supposed to have a large canopy.  We will see as it grows.

Perhaps you noticed the digging around the tree in the previous photo.  WELL, if you look close, you can see the orange spray paint on either side of the hole.  Yep, planted it smak on top of the sewer line.  sigh.

We dug and dug.  The silly thing has a tap root several inches in diameter larger than the trunk.  That tree is not going ANYWHERE.  So our choice is to chop down the tree, or move the sewer.

Strange Tree September

Here is my little tree. It might be the last photo of the year. Maybe one more for October. It depends on when the leaves drop...

The leaves are a bit bedraggled, some creature has found them yummy and made lots of holes in them.

It has grown quite a bit this year. I have watched it closely, and we will prune it this winter, and make it a single trunk. The one limb is much more puny, so off it will come! It is starting to make shade, so I am excited for next summer and when it will begin to shade the house!

Strange Tree August

Well, you can see how much the little tree has grown this summer! The heat has taken a toll on the grass and without the rains, it is impossible to keep green in 100 temperatures. I am anticipating great shade from this guy and am thrilled with its progress, although I am still not exactly sure of what it is. The first leaves were much larger than these although these are still pretty big.

Strange Tree July

Here is the little trooper. My sister seems to think it is a Caltalpa tree from my description. She has never seen it. I looked at a Caltalpa tree online and it is hard to say. It is supposed to have flowers and seed pods. It hasn't had either, but maybe because it is still a baby. We will keep watering it and see what happens.

We have had three great rains in the past week and boy does the yard show it. You can never get the intense green that rain will provide.

Strange Tree June

All of these branches are new since the last post. They are about 4 feet plus so far. Now, this might not be anything interesting if you live in an area where there is rain, but here in the desert? It is nothing short of a miracle!

Comparison Shot for last strange tree entry

Yard is greening up nicely!! Summer is officially here.

Spring Sprung!

Desert Willow

Spring in the desert blooms are such a treat! The early blooms are beginning and I snapped some photos in the back yard yesterday. I also am posting an update on the strange tree. We had a late freeze and it froze the baby leaves. It has put out new branches. This is it's first foray into branching out and it has already grown 18 inches. The Mexican Elder has taken off this year also and grown new shoots about 6 feet into the air! (pecan tree looming behind it) As you can tell from the names, I have planted native desert plants and trees that can survive the intense sunlight. I have grown them all from seedlings taken from a friends yard where the sprout unbidden. I am quite proud of that . Most of the trees are 5 years this year (strange tree is 3), I planted them about the same time. The only one I don't know a pedigree for is the aforementioned strange tree. I should really give it a name. Like Fred. I love the blooms on the desert willow. They look like orchids.

Mexican Elder

Spanish Broom

Strange Tree.....