Wintersweet is loaded with blooms and the sweetest fragrance in all flowers I ever smelt

So pretty against the snow

1-6-2025:

Being most of my trees were planted less than 10 years ago, my future 'all-stars' are still playing 'Junior Varsity'. :-)

But there is something, with the sun hitting evergreens/plants at such a low angle (21* here at noon) that makes their appearance 'light up' and look differently than during the growing season.

In the below picture, I call this my Red pine grove (P. resinosa) but if you notice third from the left is a white pine (P. strobus) and the fifth, although barely sticking above, is P. ponderosa. All in the 12-15 ft. range.

The picture below is my SW wind buffer. It shows 5 different genera of conifers, 7 different species. Can you name them? (eta: all native species).

To be fair, the one smaller tree in the middle, that isn't 'sky lined', is Picea Marianna. ;-)

Quercus ellipsoidalis, marcescent leaves, in the mid/late afternoon sun.

Fragrant flowers in winter? Sigh. That’s enough to make me want to move.

“But there is something, with the sun hitting evergreens/plants at such a low angle (21* here at noon) that makes their appearance 'light up' and look differently than during the growing season.”

Exactly! BTW, are the conifers in the screen indigenous to your area? Since I’m asking, are any of them deciduous?

All in the screen are native to Minnesota and all are inside my area except for one that shows it's a little south of me but grows well here anyways.

There is more than one of the same species showing in the picture and yes, one is deciduous.

HINT: There are only 10 coniferous trees native to MN and I've already named one in the picture.

;-)

Abies balsamea, Larix laricina, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Pinus resinosa, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis.

' Abies balsamea, Larix laricina, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, Pinus resinosa, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis. '

Close, maackia!

After I took the picture, I thought it would be fun to ask and thanks for playing!

It may be that I'm so used to looking at these trees, but the Abies b. form really stuck out against the sky to me, same for the Pinus strobus.

And being I gave away the only other native MN spruce, I figured that the other would be easy (4 specimens P.g. showing total). Same for the only deciduous conifer in MN.

The P. resinosa is our only tree with 3"+L. needles (far right) so I thought it wouldn't be to hard considering our native P. banksiana has a totally different look and much shorter needles.

The last one, I too have trouble with certainty at distance. It's Juniperus virginiana.

You have to live here to know that Tsuga c. won't survive a full sun exposure during our winters.

And the J.v. native range map shows the range ending about 75 miles south of me (just south of St. Cloud) but let me tell you, they exist much further north than that and are quite numerous and widespread in my area. BBS Menards sells them in Brainerd...

The rest of the MN native coniferous trees, missing from the picture are Thuja occidentalis, Pinus banksiana and Tsuga canadensis. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/trees/coniferous.html

:-)

tj,

have any of the lower branches ever rooted?

TJ, was that taken this winter? We have no snow on the ground now and no significant snowfalls this year. That Green Arrow wears it well.

Bill- nothing rooted yet.

Maackia- that was last winter. No snow here either.

tj

Hamamelis Jelena

That Witch Hazel pops against the green background. Rhododendron?

maackia - It is Magnolia grandiflora Edith Bogue.