Tennessee - Strut Your Spring Stuff (lease, work, art)

[gemkeeper]

Originally Posted by bebette

Hi hik....yep, we're definitely stopping along the way!! We are driving two cars and eight hours is about a max for both of us in one day!! So, we will stop Saturday night somewhere around Cape Canaveral area, and Sunday night we will be around Columbia, SC and then we should arrive in Knoxville on Monday afternoon (hopefully before the 5 o'clock traffic time)!!!!!

I'm glad that you are taking that route, bebette. One of the news reports on an Atlanta news channel said that the GA State Police were asking Georgians to take alternate routes all weekend starting today rather than drive on I-75.

They reported that this weekend will be the heaviest I-75 traffic they have ever experienced. People from up north who winter in FL and all of the students and others returning home from Spring Break will be hitting that corridor very heavily all weekend.

(So, everyone stay clear of I-75 if you possibly can - even in the Knoxville area, I would imagine. If anyone drives I-75 this weekend, how about reporting back about the volume of traffic. I would be curious to know if the forecasters hit it this time.)

Drive safely, bebette and Mr. bebette! Enjoy the trip - you'll see some pretty scenes on the way.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by gemkeeper

One of the nice things about these Magnolias is that although the leaves fall in the autumn, they produce a flower pod that stays all winter decorating the bare tree. The pods look like large ***** willow puffs. So pretty.

Yes. They look exactly like that. One of the things I hated about SWFlorida is that magnolias could not grow there.

I loved the home I lived in, in Mass.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Maybe not. Those are not common trees you would see around a city or town unless in someones yard. You may however be seeing Red Buds (which are pink/purple and NOT red), cherry trees or you might have some dogwoods blooming out that way which can also be pink.
These blooms on the saucer magnolia (thanks allicat, we checked, it IS a saucer) are about 4-5 inches tall, the ones on the cherry is clump of blooms about an inch and a half or so. The Red Buds are little bitty flowers that climb up the branches of the tree. The Dogwoods are one flower that is about 2 inches in size.

If it stops raining today, Sunday or Monday I will grab my camera, photograph the pink things I've been seeing from a distance and let you guys tell me what they are. For some reason, I thought the red bud photos you all posted last year (before I arrived in TN) were magenta or a dark pink. These trees I've spotted (not many) are like baby pink. They aren't as plentiful as the Bradford Pears, either. There's one in the middle of the County Clerk parking lot, I think. I'll drop over as soon as my batteries finish charging.

[mbmouse]

Sounds like the ornamental cherry trees. But yes, please do take a picture.
This rain has me bummed, my plant order came yesterday and I can't get out and plant them!!!

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Sounds like the ornamental cherry trees. But yes, please do take a picture.
This rain has me bummed, my plant order came yesterday and I can't get out and plant them!!!

Okay, managed to get outside for about 1.5 hours between raindrops and found (gulp!) I think 3 different kinds of pink trees (in addition to magnolias). I'll do it in separate posts.

Here is the dark pink one that looks like it hasn't bloomed yet. If you notice in the second photo, it's behind the light pink tree in another location in town.

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[LauraC]

Okay, here is the second pink tree. This is the one I think I see the most around town of the pink trees. I'm sorry the second photo isn't sharper. These trees are not that tall so I'm thinking maybe instead of being different trees, they are younger versions of one of the others. Is that possible?

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[LauraC]

Okay, now this is the third pink tree. This one was growing in the park. It's a big tree. The first is a pull back so you can get an idea of what the tree looks like and the second is a close up of the flowers on it.


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Now, also in the park is a fully bloomed Bradford Pear, I think. I put that here just for compare and contrast. Are any of these trees, Dogwoods?

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[Kim Gallagher]

Originally Posted by LauraC

Okay, here is the second pink tree. This is the one I think I see the most around town of the pink trees. I'm sorry the second photo isn't sharper. These trees are not that tall so I'm thinking maybe instead of being different trees, they are younger versions of one of the others. Is that possible?

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LauraC I think this tree maybe a cherry tree. I had a weeping cherry tree on my property back in New York and it looked just like that.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Kim Gallagher

LauraC I think this tree maybe a cherry tree. I had a weeping cherry tree on my property back in New York and it looked just like that.

If it's a cherry tree I should be ashamed of myself having lived in the DC/MD area for 12 years. Thanks.

[Tinman313]

Beautiful !!!! as usual.... Yes Weeping Cherry Tree........

PlantFiles: Pictures of Weeping Cherry Tree, Weeping Higan Cherry 'Pendula' (Prunus subhirtella)