When the Goldfinch visiting the seed heads of our garden begin to lose distinctive color I know summer is waning. Our garden is very noisy at the end of summer as the abundant floral display of prairie type plantings draw huge numbers of insects and birds. I'm sitting here right now listening to cicada rhythms winding up and down.

I pull out my field guide for all but the more common birds...I know a lot, but there are plenty mode that I've yet to learn.

My tulip tree has yet to bloom...perhaps next year. The funny thing is, the neighbor just a little down the road from me has an enormous, mature tulip tree that I would expect to seed all through our second acre--in 9+ years, I've yet to seek any seedlings! :( (Same goes for my own mature serviceberry.)

I know tulip trees are fast growers, but I don't want to wait for seedlings to grow up. I think I'm going to have to buy one or two--even if they are 2-3 year old seedlings.

That is a positive view of summer ending...I guess it is leading up to a bountiful fall and a lot of activity.

All my tadpoles are gone. I have been keeping a pool of water by the barn filled all summer adding water when we had no rain. There were always tadpoles in it.

Aw...that sounds so sad. Such a great experience, but sad that it is over.

I find myself realizing that I'll have to wait until next year for some things--flowers to bloom, trees to finally make berries, birds or other creatures to come back. I try to enjoy each season as it comes--and I think I do...but there are some favorites that I can't seem to wait for.

My meadow will be older and larger each year...same with the trees I've planted. Sometimes I'm fine; other times I get impatient.

Yes dap, When it comes to gardening it is definitely about patience. I try to focus on successes while waiting for the smaller plants to grow

I try to do the same.

One of my three oldest black gum trees is really getting full and is now probably 7 feet tall or more. I want to find pictures of it from past years to show how much it really has grown. I also want to start taking a picture of me standing beside it each year. I can't wait until it blooms--not sure, but I suspect it is male...time will tell.

Too bad the other two, although they are growing fine, are a bit behind this one, so I doubt I'll have berries for a while. :(

Also, originally I planted 5 of them, only these three survived. I've added more bareroot seedling black gums...none seem to haveat taken off...and some have disappeared (overgrown areas). My latest ones are growing in a starter bed...I hope they will transplant well.

Aside from these trees, my sassafras is starting to take off...and us making berries for the first time this year.

I vacillate between frustration and exhilaration...lately, I am really starting to think that the next 2 to 3 years will really begin to show the transformation as things grow in an mature, and seed production will begin to increase exponentially, allowing me to grow more and more individuals from seed.

I've said it before that I just need a few more years, but I'm much more confident that it will happen in the next 3 years. Perhaps I should take pictures of me out in my meadow as well! :)

Yes, pictures please! Waiting for trees to grow is like waiting for the water to boil, only a lot longer! Happy to hear your sassafras is producing berries this year, that's good news.
We have three blackgums that we planted also, one about as big as yours and two tiny ones all from the local Arbor Day giveaway. We did put wire mesh around them so we could find them out in the tall grass of the field and to keep the deer away. Once in awhile we'll go out and whack the grasses from around the wire cages to keep the seedlings from being shaded out.

I think 10 years is a realistic period of time to see significant growth in trees, maybe less in some like tuliptree and sycamore or longer in trees like blackgum and white oak. Yellowwood was one of the first trees we planted here a dozen years ago and now it is a young adult and looking fine. On the other hand the white oak Jason transplanted from another part of the field around the same time is still only about head high.

I'm thinking that after 10 years (I agree that is a reasonable time frame) they should start shooting up and filling out more each of year.

Now that I think of it, it hasn't yet been 10 years.we will *start* our 10th year here this fall, but we've only had 9 growing seasons...each year, I have tried to add more trees, so, after the first 3 years, they should start putting on growth (1st year they sleep, second they creep...)..and each year I will have something going to look at as it leaps. :)

Hmm...I'll have to take more pics...or sort through the tons I took for something showing the progress. For now, I can share the berries of my sassafras--the first year they produced! :)
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Now I see that I have new tadpoles in my water pool. Summer is hanging on. I thought I was finished adding water to that pool. Not yet