Pacific NW

Douglas squirrels are going nuts!

Do you hear frenzied scurrying in the conifers? What are the squirrels up to?

What are those tiny brown cones that are covering my driveway?

I’ve been sweeping zillions of tiny, brown, cone-like structures off of my driveway. They are male pollen cones from Douglas-firs, Pseudotsuga menziesii.

The wonder of big trees

Old-growth forests, at least in large swaths, are nearly gone from the Pacific NW. To even try to restore old-growth forests will take hundreds of years of careful stewardship. But small tracts of old-growth and individual big trees occur sporadically throughout the Pacific NW, especially in parks. Have you seen a big tree? Do you know where to look? Prepare to be awed!

Maple seeds: nature's helicopters

This is the season that winged seeds of maple trees helicopter down to the ground. What advantage do the whirling seeds provide to maple trees?