Friday, September 30, 2016

Birch Bark,,,,,,,,,,,,,,




The leaves on my birch tree are still not turning color at this point of time. As the length of the days change the tree will be effected by it. I am looking forward to the yellow leaves that it develops but not to the loosing of the leaves onto the ground.

As a kid, I didn't see birch trees in southern Iowa.  It is not a natural tree for the area.  When my family would take a yearly summer trip to the Colorado area I would see this kind of tree.  I always thought they were so special.  The trinket shops out in the West of course always had small replicas of a canoe made out of Birch bark. It would be two pieces of bark cut into a canoe shape and laced together with a natural reed-like plant.  I remember owning one of those canoes as a kid. When I see the bark I do have memories of Native American's and early settlers using the tree to make their canoes.

Today I also have the great memories of the birch in Minnesota and along the North Shore of Lake Superior.  This tree is a sprout that I brought home 35 years ago and is probably the only birch tree in the area for miles.  The river birch and clump birch are everywhere now because of commercial sales but the strong true birch is still rare in Iowa.

6 comments:

Jeevan said...

Nice reading your memories relevant to birch tree and I could understand your interest on the tree to plant it at your home. Hope it turn colourful soon but I still like its white bark

Ginny Hartzler said...

I love birch trees! Yours is so pretty. There is a beautiful one on the corner of our block. Wonder why yours is not changing leaf color yet...

Cranberry Morning said...

That's so interesting, Larry. We have birch here, and I love its white bark, but the poplar is more common.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I'm with Ginny, I love birch trees. Beautiful! I bet it won't be long before the leaves change.

Valerie said...

My Birch will change colour pretty soon but as yet it stays that lovely green. Interesting to ead that the bark was used to make canoes.

Anonymous said...

I also love the birch tree. I always enjoyed the rustle of the leaves in the breeze and also the chickadees loved them.

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