Tulip Poplars

The tulip poplars are in bloom.

It's hard to see them on the tree because they are so high up.

But it's easy to spot them on the ground when they fall.

 

First leaf to fall

The tulip poplars are the first leaves to go.   They let us know that this hot summer will end soon.

 

Tulip Poplar

Tulip poplars have the prettiest flowers. But you never see them except fallen on the ground.  The trees are tall, and the flowers sit at the top.

 

Mid-summer fall

It's only July, but some of the trees are already giving up their leaves.  The tulip poplar is one of the first to drop its leaves.

Theme day: Change

The theme this month is CHANGE.  For those in northern climes, the leaves will be already changed.  Here in North Carolina, I looked and looked and finally found one leaf on one tulip poplar that has turned yellow.  Another month of summer here...

Tulip Poplar

The Tulip Poplars are blooming again.  You'd never know it from the ground, the flowers are way up on the tree.  Luckily, our second story looks across to a very prolific tree.

Never give up

I'm always amazed at the life force in trees.  This tulip poplar must have fallen years ago.  the original trunk on the ground has pretty much disintegrated.  But it sent up four shoots that turned into trees in their own right, out of the trunk of the fallen tree.  

Tulip Poplar

The tulip poplar trees have strange flowers.  They do look like tulips, but they grow very high up on the tree so they're hard to spot.  Usually all you see are the flowers after they fall to the ground.  I have to get way above them to look down and take the picture.  These flowers were probably 20 feet in the air.