Happy birthday ViburnumValley!

Hope you enjoy your day!

Enjoy the beautiful fall Viburnums! Happy Birthday

Happy, happy birthday, VV

HB VV!

Awww - you guys/gals...

I was driving to Richmond VA on my birthday, to attend the 65th Annual Meeting of the Holly Society of America (upon whose Board of Trustees I currently serve). It was a restful drive, with plenty of popping fall color through the KY/WV/VA mountain corridor of I-64.

It has been a fun conference so far. Monticello was today's tour, and the Maymont estate and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden await our visit tomorrow. Replete with a huge plant auction and wonderfully nice plants people...what else could a guy ask for?

Well, yes - I have had a few glasses of some nice local (and elsewhere) vintages. I'd recommend Barboursville Vineyards (VA) to anyone.

VV and TJ, hangin' at his crib...

Have a great time!

Say, TJ is lookin' at ya as if he ain't so happy yer in his crib.

(belated) Happy birthday!
What a great way to spend a birthday!

I believe taciturn is the expression...

He could be unhappy that I'm taller than he is, and that my shoes are two sizes larger.

Mostly, he probably is not pleased that both big old Liriodendron tulipifera that used to grace either side of his house are now gone.

It does look a bit bare there.

And that is one very large stump on the left side. You'd think they'd replant something quickly.

We asked that very question.

Most everyone here would likely be surprised at the reasoned answer. Think about it a bit, and I'll wait for some replies before posting.

If anyone thinks there is a better forum in which to offer this brain teaser - maybe Trees? - I'd be happy to redirect there.

Pay no attention to the previously posted "Duh-unce" reply. It appears - despite the assistance of some nice Virginia red wine - that I've failed to appreciate that I'm ALREADY in the Trees forum...

That's what I get for trying to use the Droid to post here - lost all peripheral vision.

I bet they said the stump is now a historic artifact or that the leaves were causing structural damages on the building or that the trees did not complement the historical building. I bet nothing can be added to the site. Do I win a doughnut?

They are cloning from the original tree and waiting for it to grow big enough.
(Doubt I'm getting the donut but had to try)

Since this is a National Historic Landmark, they do not want to grind out the stump because it will disturb historic archaeology of the site. They will wait till the stump decomposes naturally over a couple years, perform archaeological investigations to create the new planting site, and then plant a tree.

They didn't have the foresight to do this in the past, and inadvertantly destroyed a lot of information about how the site had been previously managed, planted, landscaped, etc.