TREE WATCHER'S TREE FOLLOWING POST FOR NOVEMBER - MAGNOLIA

Changes in the Magnolia have been happening for sure since the last report. As the nights grow colder, the leaves are turning color in mass now as evidenced in the first two photos.

This is NOT a particularly beautiful tree in the fall, as the leaves go quickly to brown after passing briefly through yellow, then drop to the ground. It takes awhile to go completely naked! The beauty of this tree manifests itself in the spring with a full covering of lovely pink tulip like flowers.

The ground is covered with more and more leaves every day and it is a challenge to keep them raked up.

Nearby, the old stump is falling apart in large chunks. It has taken quite a few years to get to this state.

Small insects make their home here and a network of webs decorate the stump as seen here.

Moss is especially happy when the rainy season comes as seen on this small retaining wall in the front garden. It also grows very readily on the roof where it has to be removed at times. Yeah, the joys of living in a wet climate. It does leave it's beauty stamp, however!

The canopy of the Magnolia will soon disappear completely and gazing up into the branches will reveal fewer to no leaves, seeing only sky. It will be interesting to see what early December brings. A violent windstorm came through last night, taking down even more leaves. These photos were taken a couple of days earlier.

The approaching winter skies seem to be in competition with the colors of the trees, giving radiant glows at sunset. In just a few short weeks it will be time for another report. This is like being back in college again, trying to keep up with my zoology and botany reports! Reminds me of Ernest Haeckel's theory that "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" which has stuck in my brain after all these years after graduation. But that is a topic for biology, my major, and doesn't fit into the plant kingdom, although I love both subjects!