Trees produce a vast array of volatile chemicals for their own purposes. Many of these chemicals provide pleasant scents to humans. More importantly, we now know that these scents can improve our cognition and even reverse serious neurogical disorders.

In the glory of spring flowers, it is often worth a closer look. Sometimes a flower is not what it seems. Have a look at Our Trees.

Yesterday, we showed you some spring tree pictures at Our Trees. Several of you were able to identify some of the trees. Here are all of them. How did you do?

This is a terrific opportunity for a sharp undergrad to work in a top-notch lab. I was able to take a year working as a lab tech before grad school, and it was a great decision. Highly recommended.

Let's celebrate Spring Trees. Today, we begin a week of spring tree stories at Our Trees. Have a look!

Trump is destroying the US Forest Service and firing its employees. This picture appeared in the NY Times today. It appears to show Trump teaching Rubio how to measure tree diameter so he can take over managemnt of our forests.

Everyone is going to want to read this. Available in November, but worth ordering soon.

It feels like it's still winter, doesn't it? To trees, it is not. Tree dormancy is not caused by weather but by internal chemical signals which protect trees from cold. Now, most trees are ready to grow as soon as it warms a bit. This photo shows the tremendous flow of sap. Read more at Our Trees.

I should be writing, but it's warm outside and the soil is wet. I'm going to go spread my seed.

Here is an Andrena bee gathering pollen from a bur oak. Pollinator insects are busy as flowering begins. Honeybees get all the attention, but we should know this: There are over 4000 species of native bees busy pollinating; and honeybees are not native to North America, but are imported livestock.

To celebrate The Year of the Horse on Lunar New Year, here is “Sai Ma,” Horse Racing, performed by Lang Lang, piano, Yun Zeng, viola, and Diayang Mai, horn. The latter two are 1st principals of the Berlin Philharmonic which has a long relationship with Asian countries, composers, and performers.

Today is the birthday of Charles Darwin, the discoverer of evolution by natural selection and perhaps the most influential scientist in history. Here is a brief reflection on his life, his contributions, and his amazing family.

It has struck me that the good people of this nation are showing us joy, humor, and art, while the ruling kakistocracy and its rich protectors are grim and miserable. We can help ourselves by being joyful and optimistic, and we will prevail.

Our Trees is now offering an opportunity for you to ask about trees now that Spring is arriving. Become a paid subscriber to Our Trees at our reduced rate, and join the conversation. It will be fun!

Don't you think it is more important to stay safe on the water before drowning?

A story about the amazing viola and two of its most notable performers. Some thoughts after watching Rebecca Albers perform a new work for viola and orchestra.

Technology is taking away our connections to each other and to the natural (i.e. real) world. @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social offers an insightful look into what is wrong and how to fix it. I hope everyone reads this.

I just got a delivery that has taken more than two weeks to arrive. I suppose the weather is to blame. The order was for what in my family is known as Vitamin M and for which there is no substitute. The package arrived just in time to prevent serious consequences. Now for some vegan pancakes.

Here is an ancient bur oak next to a young loblolly pine, on left in midwinter, and on right in summer. Today is a deeply cold winter day but the oak and pine are no longer dormant. A cold period has eliminated the inhibitors that prevent growth. The trees are ready to grow when it is warm enough.

Many of us are about to be visited by complex weather, possibly including ice storm. Ice can do major damage to trees, even kill them, but an ice-covered tree is hazardous to you. These trees should not be touched. Here are some simple suggestions for managing ice-covered trees.

This free book is an excellent introduction to climate science for everyone.

If you are an undergrad studying science, here is a great opportunity to spend the summer at Johns Hopkins doing molecular and cellular research in neuroscience. This could be the launch of your career, so check it out.

I begin my days with 4 cups of very good coffee. There is no doubt any more that coffee is a health drink. The challenge is to find ethically produced coffee. There are coffee roasters who buy directly from the producers, who are assured of a fair price. I like Little Waves, but there are others.

While we wait for the trees to start their spring burst of growth, it is worth looking at winter details. The intricacy of the bark of this Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, is worthy of study, as is the bark of most trees. The coffeetree twig, stout with tiny buds, is very unusual.

A stand of young chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii, basking in the winter sun. These trees are no longer dormant and are prepared to burst into growth on warm days.

In winter, when deciduous trees are bare, we can really appreciate the form of a tree. Here is a chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii, on a ridgetop in Nashville. It is now surrounded by young forest, but you can tell by its branch pattern that it grew in an open woodland pasture.

Like many of you, I like to give my favorite trees names. This is Eileen. This oak is stable, but in karst topography, the underlying rock is not. As the rock shifts and sinkholes open, an old tree has to adjust it roots. You can see by the changing branch angles that this is a slow change.

I'm not pining for Spring. Yet. I do want to hang out with my bison friends soon. American bison, Bos bison bison, were abundant in the Bluegrass in ancient times. They, helped by drought, created the woodland pasture habitat that makes the Bluegrass landscape distinct.

This is a great opportunity for a forest ecology PhD.

We mostly talk about real trees here and at Our Trees. Here is a brief discussion of the Tree of Life and its first use in 1837 by Charles Darwin to describe evolutionary relationships. Have a look.

It is still winter but many trees have already had their dormancy requirements met. On slightly warm sunny days, trees can absorb enough heat to stimulate sap flow. This cut maple branch dripped a lot of very sweet sap. Delicious. More to come on this important topic.

One of the reasons that trees are the longest-lived organisms is their remarkable ability to rebuild after stress or injury. This bur oak, growing in a woodland pasture, was struck by lightning more than 50 years ago. It has built a new crown and is growing with vigor.

My friend Kate Armstrong, @brainchain.ca, asked us to post pictures of roses, #PostMoreRoses, but in my catalog of over 200,000 botanical photos, there is not a single one of a rose. If we broaden to the family Rosaceae, we have this nice pear flower in the rain.

In nature, an organism may be both beautiful and terrifying. Take this sparkling emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis. The adults are ready to emerge in spring to wreak havoc on ash trees. More terrifying than a king cobra, but that is a story for next week.

Most of our trees are still in dormancy. Some of our earliest flowering trees, though, have minimal cold requirements to overcome dormancy. This male red maple flower is already showing off its stamens. Early flowers can be important sources of nutrition for insects that are active now.

It takes only a couple of days of warmish weather and we all start longing for spring plants, don't we. Gardeners are guilty of this and so are naturalists. But we must be patient. Here is a sassafras inflorescence to remind us of what is to come.

Happy New Year! As I get back to writing, I'll tell you my little secret for concentrating. As a musician (violin, horn), I don't tolerate background music. Music prevents me from focusing on anything else. So I use train videos to help with concentration. RailCowGirl is my favorite.

Next week will be warm enough that I can sit at my favorite writing table between these two venerable trees (bur oak and blue ash) in a nearby park. In 1980, I began discussing climate change in all my public lectures and have continued while the world, especially the US, has failed to act.

I was reminded this morning by @grrlscientist.bsky.social that 2026 is the Year of the Horse. Since I live and work in the Bluegrass, I want to acknowledge the horses that share our habitat.

This would be worth attending if you are in Milwaukee.

The New Year marks a transition for this author: My first book sold out in 2025. I will complete my second book in 2026. Both are about trees: it's what I know.

We probably don't often plan to snack on tree bark, but we certainly do. Cinnamon is tree bark. There are five species of cinnamon from different geographical locations with distinctly different flavor profiles. This one is Cinnamomum verum, Sri Lankan cinnamon. Eat some bark today!

Why are these fir trees floating in a lake? These are Christmas trees pursuing their second career creating fish habitat. Fish and wildlife managers are improving fish management using trees. This is a great use of our trees after their retirement. Read about it at Our Trees, ourtrees.substack.com

Where do our Christmas trees go after the holidays? If we live in the right place, they may have a new career as fish habitat.

This sycamore fruit would make a fine holiday tree decoration, but it is only available in May. Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis.

Here is the fruit of one of the most spectacular trees in our flora, kingnut, Carya laciniosa. With the largest fruit of any hickory, it was called kingnut long before somebody slapped onthe name shellbark hickory. We should restore the original, appropriate name of this tree: kingnut

Another tree that decorates itself for the holidays is oak, not just one tree but over 500 species mostly in the north temperate zone. Acorns were an important food source for people before we invented agriculture, and there were large acorn-processing factories all over the world.

@acidlich.bsky.social A little joy of nature that might brighten your day. Ponderosa pine forest with Humphreys Peak in the background. Coconino National Forest.

Another tree decorated for the holidays is honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos. It's not only decorative, but settlers combined it with persimmon fruit to make beer. The gum inside the legumes is sweet and a good thickener. 1/3

Many trees are wearing their holiday decorations, like this pond cypress, Taxodium ascendens. Happy Holidays!