Smoke tree

Wyatt and Stanzie's mom, who can identify any plant you throw at her, told me this tree in the front yard is called a smoke tree (Cotinus). Some years the leaves are brighter than other years, depending on the weather; but one thing I can always count on is a multitude of shades on the one tree.

This tree branches out in all sorts of directions instead of growing up like a regular tree. Come to think of it, I have several trees in my yard that grow in individual, undisciplined ways.

I'm afraid I just gravitate toward that sort of thing.

Tree worries

Normally I write about animals but am posting my tree worries in the hope that someone who knows more about tree care than I (which is pretty much everyone) might offer helpful suggestions.

Yesterday’s rain brought down little fringy leaves from the tree whose trunk looks like the Whomping Willow at Hogwarts. I’ve seen leaves dry up and drop prematurely due to drought but this tree is neither dry nor drowned, so I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe somebody else knows why leaves would suddenly fall off in the middle of July? Could this be due to the sudden temperature change last week from 60 to a few days of over 90 degrees F?




In the same section of the yard, my droopy pine, which has been growing mightily, is turning brown. This began before last week. Last winter Miró dug one hole near the base of this tree but it was such a shallow hole that he didn’t even expose any roots. There has been no spraying or any other change around these trees.


The hydrangea isn’t too happy, either, but that problem looks like drought. The hydrangea is on a side of the house partly sheltered from this summer’s ample rainfall, so I watered it and will hope it isn’t protesting my having trimmed it back last winter.