Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tulip Poplars


There are so many flowers in the side garden that the surrounding fields and trees provides a restful backdrop for all of the color. But even these big trees are blooming! Usually you don't notice tulip poplar flowers until they start to drop onto the ground, prompting you to look up, but as these trees are on a rise the flowers are more apparent. The trees are at the edge of the neighbor's pasture, opposite the horses' paddock and visible from the kitchen window.


The flowers are beautiful if you take the time to look at them. I especially appreciate them since they're the only tulip flower on the farm. Tulips would take a lot of effort to grow here. The voles are having a party in the garden and all the cats do is lounge on the couch and beg for food. lol However, there are a lot of snakes around... useful as well as beautiful creatures. (I love my cats but they don't find it necessary to earn their keep, especially not in the recent heat.)


There's also a stand of tulip poplars between our house and neighborhood and along the edge of the woods down to the floodplain. There's some in the floodplain too, but there they are mostly replaced by red maples, sweetgums and loblolly pines.


23 comments:

  1. I've heard of this tree but had never seen one. Very pretty! Had to giggle about your lazy cats. I have 2 cats and a mouse in the house! I've been lecturing them but they don't have a very strong work ethic... :)

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  2. I like the Tulip Trees! My sister has some of these and I really like the blossoms!

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  3. Those are magnificent trees! And what a lovely flower.

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  4. Beautiful trees! Did you get a lot of rain? We got about 2 inches! Carla

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  5. Great trees and you are right about the flowers... they are familiar to me but it is long since I have seen one. My kitties did not ever do much about the voles either. They always preferred the birds!

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  6. A great post about a great tree... literally, they get so huge. My tuliptree is growing gangbusters, and I'm anxious to see the flowers. I love how yours hide in the deep green foliage, with the sky backlighting them in your photo.

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  7. What a beautiful tre! I have never seen onoe of these before - thaks for sharing, Paula in Idaho

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  8. I have never seen such a tree. What a beauty!

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  9. These are magnificent trees, and their blossoms are very pretty. I almost wish the trees would stay small, so people could see the flowers better!

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  10. What a coincidence! I was admiring the tulip poplar planted by Mr.Washington just a couple days ago. We toured his Mount Vernon estate with 5th graders. Magnificent tree!

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  11. Aaahhh yes, one of my favorite trees. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment.

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  12. I've heard of these trees before but didn't realize how large they were! Lovely blooms, but I can see why you have to look up to see them.

    Toby is our resident lounger, but the three other cats spend more time outdoors and are pretty good about earning their keep. I think they may be more responsible for keeping down the rabbit population here than Sophie is. I've always said, though, if there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as a cat--the couch-sitter type, of course:)

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  13. You just brought back memories of my childhood SB!! We had a huge tulip popular tree in our front yard ~ I used to love the flowers even tho I wasn't into gardening then. I haven't seen one since moving west ~ I wonder if they don't do well out here?

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  14. I don't think I've heard of tulip poplars before. They are cool looking trees!

    You asked if my amsonias are fragrant, and I'm not remembering. I'll have to go check.

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  15. They are very pretty. Our state tree here in Tennessee. My neighbor has two and boy oh boy, they are mighty difficult to garden under. I do enjoy the flowers though.

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  16. There are wonderful trees and I wish I had one in this yard~The flowers are fascinating and I love finding them on the ground when we walk in the park...gail

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  17. Ihhh, I just focused on reading ..lots of snakes around.. and felt how scared I went, How on earth can anything that awful be beautiful? I hate them, makes me shiver..
    Your tree with it's tulips flowers is nice though :)

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  18. Hard to imagine that the flowers could be missed -- so, so pretty and I can't believe how big they grow. So, your cats beg for food, too?

    donna

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  19. Your plants are so different from mine! Nice view of the trees.

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  20. I've never seen these trees either, I know I've heard of them though. They really are very pretty.

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  21. Real showstoppers, absolutely beautiful

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  22. Beautiful trees. I love the tulip-like flower.

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  23. We have tulip poplar trees, too, and our bees make amazing honey from their pollen and nectar. I always thought it interesting that there were these astounding flowers, but they were so high up in the trees that they couldn't really be appreciated fully.

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