Some of the things I love about them is how huge they are. And the sound that the leaves make when the wind blows. And the great shade they provide. And the way they look leaning over the water...
Awhile back, I looked up information about the tree and discovered a lot of history behind it!
Here are a few things regarding the cottonwood:
- It is the State Tree of Kansas and Nebraska.
- There are many legends and mysteries and love stories involving cottonwoods.
- They can grow over 100 feet high.
- There are male and female trees.
- Cottonwoods can become rotten and it is unnoticeable -- until the tree falls.
- They prefer to grow by water.
- They were a sight for sore eyes back in the pioneer days on the plains. They provided shade and wood for fires. And because they like to be wet -- water was usually found nearby.
- If you cut a branch from a cottonwood tree, there is a shape of a star inside. There is an old Native American legend that the stars from the skies were hiding inside the trees because they liked to be near people on earth.
I love seeing the cotton in the air.
But on the flip side, I loathe seeing the cotton in the air. It makes a mess and sticks to everything and worst of all, I am apparently allergic to the cute little fluffs that float around.
It happens quite a few times throughout the spring, summer and fall. Sigh...
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| Cottonwood trees along the shore of the lake. |
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| You can see the cottonwood seeds against the house -- looks like snow! This was a very light amount. |
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| A branch with the seeds attached. |
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| Cottonwood in the water. See how it clumps? |
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| This cottonwood tree came down during a storm a few years ago and crashed through our neighbor's house (two doors down). They rebuilt after this! |
As much as I dislike them sometimes, they are truly beautiful trees! As I am writing this blog, the late afternoon sun is shining through the trees -- and combined with a nice breeze blowing, they are making the leaves shimmer and I can hear the very distinctive rustle of the leaves.
Thanks for visiting!
7 comments:
I know, you have to love them and hate them! There are a couple that are down the street from us. I love to hear the leaves when I walk by (reminds me of aspen trees), BUT i HATE all the terrible cotton that floats around and gets in my screens!
Jodi
One of my main allergies is to the cottonwood. I greatly dislike them. You should hear it at my work. It was like a symphony orchestra of sneezes and several with worse symptoms. We have them everywhere around here and they make us miserable.
Oh, and they are pretty too.
We live in the woods and I have a love/hate relationship with our trees too. They are beautiful, they shade the house in the HOT summer, they are gorgeous in the Fall.....BUT.....they arte SO MUCH WORK! They are constantly dropping something, I sweep and blow our 3 deacks constantle. In the Fall and Spring we spend many weekend raking, blowing and hauling tons of leaves. And they clog up the downspouts and gutters. There is no gutter made that can keep clean here. So, I feel your pain:):) XO, Pinky
I live close to a river, so I'm very fond of these trees - especially since we don't have any on my actual property! But they truly ARE beautiful. They're huge and something about their leaves looks shimmery, even when they're not producing 'snow'. They're gorgeous. Those are some really cool facts about them too - I didn't know. I'm so sorry for your neighbors though. =(
Their size is impressive. Perhaps that is one of the trees that stirs my allergies.i had heard of a Native American lore that they hold your soul.I found one for mine near Okibodji.
I get the love hate thing too. We have so many trees with leaves that leave a mess! I hate that but when it gets into the 90's as it's been here for awhile already I totally love their shade. I've heard of a cottonwood tree but never seen one either. Thanks for your post, now I've seen one. LOL!
wow , tahts really scary,, hopefully no one was home at the time
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