August 11, 2014…The Tulip Tree is still going strong, but is it possible some of the leaves are turning yellow?
According to an article in The Washington Post a long dry spell can cause the Tulip trees to shut down some of their leaves, which makes them turn a bright yellow. I’m not sure that we are seeing the beginnings of yellow leaves, but we have come through a long dry spell.
I read on the web sites that people love their Tulip Trees, EXCEPT when they rain sap. “Do not park your cars under a Tulip tree,” and yet I didn’t see much sap on the ground. Maybe the trees in the Pacific Northwest are better behaved. 🙂
August 11, 2014…baby leaves are still being produced.
We are going to have to wait at least another month before we see the inside of the seed pod. This one is still green.
I recently picked up a book by Daniel Chamovitz, “What A Plant Knows.” In the first chapter he writes, “Plants see if you come near them; they know when you stand over them. They even know if you’re wearing a blue or red shirt.” I wonder if the Tulip tree sees me coming by occasionally to see what’s happening?
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Tulip tree still fascinates me. Waiting for more info till next month then : )
We recently learned why we may have never seen any flowers on the tulip trees we had. We were told that unlike most flowering trees they bloom only at the top of the tree and we could not look high enough from the ground. Is that where yours has its blooms?
The tulip tree I’m following does not have an overly long trunk. I think the tulip trees that grow east of the Mississippi grow much taller than this one. I was able to reach up and touch some blossoms. On one occasion, I reached the camera over my head to shoot ‘down’ into a blossom.
The blossoms are all gone now except for the seed pod of which I’m impatiently waiting to see opening.
Does he mean the plant can sense the change in light intensity and there is a difference in the light reflected off different colours of shirts? Amelia
I think that’s what he means. Plants can tell the difference between blue light (short waves) and red light (longer waves.)
Blue light will make the plant bend towards it, Red light flashed during the night will fool the plant into thinking the night is shorter. (Plants don’t measure the length of the day, but length of the continual period of darkness…thus you can manipulate flowering by flashing a red light during the night.) That’s not explained very well, but the best I can do. 🙂
Lime Trees (Tilia) drip here – but that’s the honeydew from aphids, not sap from the tree. None the less, it makes a sticky mess on cars. Looking forward to the fruit ripening.
I’ve been raking the leaves of this tree for a number of years. They don’t fall until late November – early December. I hope I don’t have to wait that long for the seed pod to open up. 🙂 This is the first year I’ve even seen the seed pod…but also the first year I’ve looked for it. Thanks for the “Following a Tree” website that has encouraged me to look closely at what was once a ‘mystery tree.’
Lovely tree with such curious shaped leaves. I used to have one but it never flowered.
I wonder if yours will have viable seeds.
Really cool shape of the baby leaves.