When I was a girl, my uncle brought us some Bur Oak Acorns from Victoria, Texas. It is a lovely thing - giant with a hairy cap. I've been fascinated by them ever since.
The Bur Oak tree is a massive thing, but they are slow-growing. You must have patience.* The leaves are lobed. I don't think it is as pretty in the fall as the red oak, but there is something about the acorn...
A few weeks ago I took Zelda for a walk in San Gabriel Park. Bur Oaks were all around and the acorns were scattered on the ground. I gathered some. I suspect I was thinking about planting some, but they stayed in the black plastic bag.
This morning I was starting on clearing a little clutter and decided to transfer them into a clear bag and store them with the other seeds I've been saving for the motivation to garden. It seems the Burs won't wait. Of eleven acorns, 7 sprouted while resting in the moist darkness of the "doggy bag."
I'll finish breakfast, find 7 plastic pots, and get these in the ground.
Let's see what happens.
NOTES:
* Our former neighbor across the street planted two when he was a child. He has been gone many years so I know the trees are older than me and they are still pretty small, for oaks. We planted one in the side yard about 20 years ago and I suppose I would consider it still a sapling. I've seen one acorn on it. We decided on a Bur Oak because of the acorns and because they are oak wilt resistant.
The Bur Oak tree is a massive thing, but they are slow-growing. You must have patience.* The leaves are lobed. I don't think it is as pretty in the fall as the red oak, but there is something about the acorn...
A few weeks ago I took Zelda for a walk in San Gabriel Park. Bur Oaks were all around and the acorns were scattered on the ground. I gathered some. I suspect I was thinking about planting some, but they stayed in the black plastic bag.
This morning I was starting on clearing a little clutter and decided to transfer them into a clear bag and store them with the other seeds I've been saving for the motivation to garden. It seems the Burs won't wait. Of eleven acorns, 7 sprouted while resting in the moist darkness of the "doggy bag."
I'll finish breakfast, find 7 plastic pots, and get these in the ground.
Let's see what happens.
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| Bur Oak acorns - unwilling to wait for me to plant them. |
* Our former neighbor across the street planted two when he was a child. He has been gone many years so I know the trees are older than me and they are still pretty small, for oaks. We planted one in the side yard about 20 years ago and I suppose I would consider it still a sapling. I've seen one acorn on it. We decided on a Bur Oak because of the acorns and because they are oak wilt resistant.
10-26-21 UPDATE
A few trees grew from these acorns. I refused to plant any in the ground. I wanted to move and saved plants in pots for the "new yard." We moved in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. We "built" a garden with the help of friends and siblings. One of the Bur Oak trees was planted first - part of the skeleton, the structure of the wild space in the small back yard. It grew from about 2 feet to 6 foot tall in a year. It's an anchor and will help me to stay here.
One of these acorns grew into a nice little oak. The tree is planted in the wild garden at the new house. Then a few months ago our neighbors planted a Bur in the old neighborhood park in memory of DH. I need to water it tomorrow. Ah, memories are everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe oak mentioned above that was planted at this new house went from about 18 inches to over 12 feet in 6 years. It had been in a pot for 5 years so I guess it was ready to stretch out its roots. It is probably a little too close to the edge of the garden, but it won't reach its full height until I am gone, I suspect. We shall see.
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