Magnificent magnolia

Magnolia trees are in full bloom in gardens and parks here.  I found this one in the centre of Shipley, just opposite St Paul's Church.  They always amaze me - they look far too exotic for this cold little country and far too exuberant to bloom in early spring.  In fact, many years they get blasted by frost and soon go brown.  The pink camellia also in the photo is a little bit scorched in parts.

Here's a little known fact (well, according to Wikipedia anyway!) - the Magnolia genus is so ancient that it predates the appearance of bees, and evolved to be pollinated by beetles.

Candyfloss

My colleague - a keen gardener - came back to work after lunch the other day, enthusing about this tree in Shipley's market square.  He was so lavish in his praise that I just had to make a detour on my way home to have a look - and photograph it of course.  He was right in saying that it is absolutely laden with blossom - so much so that it reminds me of one of those sticks of pink candyfloss you can buy at funfairs.  Isn't it glorious to have this exuberance of natural beauty right in the middle of the shopping centre (an urban desert if ever I saw one)?

With the storm clouds overhead, it might be only a matter of days before the blossom is dashed to the ground with wind and rain, but here it is captured, a lovely reminder of how spring-life suddenly bursts forth from winter.  Maybe gardeners would correct me, but it seems a bit counter-intuitive to me that after a long and harsh winter we should have blossom earlier than usual and in such abundance.  Still, I'm enjoying it.

The Monkey Puzzle tree

This large Monkey-Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) is an exotic addition to a small Saltaire garden.  Native to the south-central Andes in South America, the trees nevertheless grow well in northern Europe's temperate climate.  The genus can be traced back 250 million years to the Mesozoic era and its spikey leaves probably developed to fend off grazing dinosaurs. (It seems to have worked well in Saltaire.  I haven't noticed any dinosaurs lately.)

The tree was first brought to Britain in 1795 and was grown as an ornamental specimen tree in botanical gardens, becoming popular with the Victorians.  It is believed to have come by its name when a visitor to a garden in Cornwall remarked that "it would puzzle a monkey to climb that".  This tree in Saltaire, the only one in the village as far as I know, must be quite old and was probably planted quite early in Saltaire's history, in the late 1850s.  It must have had a great deal of novelty value at the time; the trees are still quite a rarity in domestic gardens.  It looks a beautifully healthy specimen.  If the Health and Safety people don't have it felled (as the needles are believed to be 'as sharp as syringes' and therefore a danger to children) then it might last a good few years yet.  Some of the native trees are thought to be 1200 years old!

Perfection revisited

Some of you may remember that a long time ago I posted a picture of what I always think of as "the perfect tree".   It's a type of rowan and has white blossom, followed by red berries and then the leaves turn an attractive red before falling.  But more amazing is that it retains a neat 'storybook tree' shape, without being trimmed or pruned.  I love it, and I like its location with Saltaire's Salts Mill in the background.  Being stripped bare of leaves, winter reveals its inner secrets - not just one bird's nest but three, hidden deep in the branches.

An English wood in autumn

I've been away for the weekend, visiting my mother who lives in Nottinghamshire (about 70 miles/112 km south of Saltaire).  It's an area with a very different visual character from my own locality.  The hills and moorland of Pennine Yorkshire give way to more gentle, rolling farmland and woods.  The weather for much of the UK has been glorious - cold, crisp sunshine - and the autumn colours seem to have peaked.  Beech trees in particular have especially vibrant red-golds this year.  I disturbed a cock pheasant when I stopped to take this photo.  It's a pity it clattered off in alarm, as it would have added a bit of extra interest to the image.

THANK YOU....
I'm very appreciative of all you lovely people who voted for my photo(s) in the 'Yorkshire Landscapes' competition.  Thank you!  As I understand it, they will count up the public votes and use them to draw up a shortlist, from which a panel of judges will then select the overall winner.  Some of the photos will also be featured in a book and a calendar, so even if I don't win it would be good to see a photo of mine in print.  There is no timescale given - but I will of course let you know the result when I find out.   Here's hoping...!

Russet & stone

I liked the combination of colours here.  I pass this almost every day as it's not far from where I live.  The little tree really earns its keep.  I think it is some sort of flowering cherry, so it has pretty spring blossom as well as this lovely autumn colour.  It sits at the entrance to one of the local primary schools, Wycliffe Church of England Primary School.

(TWO days left for voting in the 'Yorkshire Landscapes' Competition!  I would love to make the final shortlist, which is decided by public vote.  So - if you haven't voted already, please do!  For more details, see my post last Saturday or click here to vote.  And huge thanks to those of you who have already voted.)

Hanging on..

This lone tree on a ridge above Dowley Gap, silhouetted against the sky, has often caught my eye.  It has a rather pleasing shape and seems to be hanging on to its leaves, when all around are losing theirs.  (A touch of Rudyard Kipling here, perhaps!)

Golden tones

I set off in search of some autumn colour at the weekend and was slightly disappointed on two counts. Firstly, the trees here are generally not yet showing a great deal of colour - certainly not in comparison with some other countries, as seen on various blogs.  Secondly, what looked like a promising day - bright sunshine when I left Saltaire - clouded over and became quite dull.  Undaunted, I had an enjoyable walk up on the moors above Ilkley, past the famous Cow and Calf rocks... of which, more later.

My photo shows Ilkley Tarn, a pretty little lake just above the town.  It's man-made, I think, probably intended as a destination for Victorian ladies visiting the spa to take a gentle walk round.  I can just imagine them in their crinolines.  I don't know how I've managed to miss it in all the trips I've made to Ilkley, but this is the first time I've seen it.  It makes a very pleasant stroll and I shall definitely go there again.  And next time I'll take some bread for the ducks, as they all swam over to inspect me and seemed very insulted that I was empty-handed!

A touch of autumn

Our weather is very Octoberish, though much warmer than is seasonal.  Mornings of mist, dull dank damp days and an occasional outburst of exuberant blue sky and sunshine.  You can see from this shot the gradual autumnal colour creeping into the trees.  For newcomers to my blog, the building is the huge Salts Mill, opened in 1853 by the Victorian paternalist Sir Titus Salt as a mill to produce fine wool worsted cloth.  He then proceeded to have an entire village - Saltaire - built around it, to house his workers.  Regular readers have seen many views of the building (for more, click the Salts Mill label) but I hope that you don't tire of its industrial grandeur.  I never do, though I see it every day.