Wild Black Cherries

Wild Black Cherries
Wild Black Cherries

The wild black cherries were just beginning to ripen when the tree came down two weeks ago.The day it fell was sunny, hot and still, rain fell overnight and the next day was drizzly and cool. We could use a little of that cool now. Now that all the trees have been removed or groomed, bring on the storms.

I know all the birds will miss this tree—the berries for the next month as they ripened, providing moisture and food in the hottest month and as birds began to migrate, the woodpeckers in winter hammered away at the bark top to bottom, crows gathered at the top, and the hawk regularly perched there to observe the yard and the neighborhood. And most years there was a Baltimore oriole nest hanging at the end of a branch somewhere. I know I heard them this year, but I hadn’t yet found the nest. Their sounds have been absent since then, but I think the littles would have fledged before the tree fell.

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6 Comments

  1. So sorry to hear that you lost your tree; they are so beautiful and, after oaks, the most important tree for pollinators. I have a young one over my patio and hope it stays around for a very long time.

    1. Lynn, I loved that tree. It was another “weed” that sprouted when the yard was unkempt and was at least 40 feet tall when I moved n 26 years ago. I’ve been aware of its fragility for a while. The wood is full of sugar that is so attractive to all the insects that live under its bark, and it always feels a little damp. It’s dropped a few branches over the past few years and was hit by lightning two years ago, but it was the living portion of the tree that fell.

      Poignantly, I also lost my brother around this time, and thought of you who also recently lost your brother. I am going to share the post about him here now too.

    2. Another observation of the passing of the tree. I cleaned up a little more of the side yard and realized it’s pretty much as it was when I moved in and the cherry was small–good sun but north facing. I can rebuild my bioswales and replant my cottage garden among the rocks, and maybe remove the lilac I’d only intended to heel in and replace it with the dogwood I really wanted there, by the bird feeder. That corner of my vegetable garden can thrive now.

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