I have just been out for lunch. Now when I say out for lunch I don’t mean anywhere posh or even anywhere where you sit down to eat. In fact I have been to the chippy. I bought a bag of chips and a can of coke and sat in my car parked amongst the horse-chestnut trees on Burley Hill and gave my cholesterol a little nudge upwards. Whilst sitting there listening to Jeremy Vine setting callers up against each other in a lunch time debate I got to contemplating which tree is my favourite. I can now announce that the horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) is my favourite tree in the whole world. There you are, I’ve said it now.
Everything about the horse-chestnut is big and bold. It is one of the first trees to do anything in spring when its sticky buds swell allowing its huge leaves to dramatically unfurl. For a week or two the whole tree appears to have candles at the end of its branches. When the leaves come out they are big and bold and as close to perfect green as any leaf. Throughout the summer the tree is heavy with leaves blowing gently in the wind. When the flowers appear even they are big and bold, standing erect and proud on the ends of the branches. They could almost be plants in their own right. Finally, the ever familiar conkers appear. Not just a few, but hundreds and hundreds of them. Some of them stubbornly protected in their spiked shells, others fallen free to the floor, where, when undisturbed, they lie in a perfect circle at the base of the tree. Then the leaves shrivel and brown before falling. Often the first tree to turn brown in autumn.
What I want to know though, is what has happened to all the horse-chestnut trees this summer? All the horse-chestnuts around the country this year, not least in Lincolnshire, have looked terrible since July. Tired ravaged, diseased. Their leaves prematurely browning, but still refusing to die. Have they been diseased? Have they been the victims of a shortage of rainfall?
What has happened to my favourite of all tress?
I’d have to go along with with you one this subject. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to speak my mind!
My site is about [url=http://www.businesstraveltours.com]Travel Tours[/url].
This Blog was most helpful, your ideas are straight to the point, and the colors are cool too.
My website is about [url=http://cholesteroldiet.blog.fc2blog.net/]Healthy Cholesterol Diets[/url].