Let's go native!

Either way, I like the seed balls. Most think they are a pain but I think they add to the decoration of the tree. No worse than conifer cones.

I was thinking how amazing they are when I took a close look at them, but then, I do that with a lot of seeds and pods...or anything that grows really. Oops let the cat out of the bag...okay, I'm a plant nerd! ☼

You can decorate with the balls, too; I've seen them used in wreaths. But they do make what passes for a lawn at my house look very messy.

Fraxinus Profunda (Pumpkin Ash). I've seen our state champion, it is also the national champion, it's a big tree. It's 150 feet tall, it's on the first page of this site. - http://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/resources/2010/05/missouri_state_champion_trees_03-27-14.pdf

Yes! The swell butt tree.

Greenhouse_gal, what a novel idea. I wonder why didn't I think of that.

Whenever I hear the term "spiky balls," it always seems to be associated with Liquidambar. I've never understood the animosity directed at plant seed pods or fruit. It's kind of like saying I like babies, but their tendency to poop is so annoying.

Hahaha Mipii! Every day during the growing season I come home and do a yard tour and stare at everything. Right now, I get down close to the soil in my perennial beds and stare closely at the soil to see if anything is cresting the surface...I am indeed a super plant nerd too. I think a lot of us here are.

Lol....Pseudo

OMG Sequoia, I do the same tour every day too, more if I think I missed something...lol. I am not alone! I'm not weird, I'm just a plant nerd!

Pseudo, I agree, half the fun is watching what the plants produce...if you get pods, that's pretty much of a jackpot.

Yup, berries, pods, cones, nuts, flowers...bring 'em on! I also enjoy the reason to be outside and the work-out too. They're a cure-all lol!

Amen to that Mipii!

y'all know I am right up there plant nerdiness. But let me say- you spiky ball fans, have you LIVED with Liquidamber on the lawn? I did for a short time. And I am glad I do not now, yet have access to plenty of Liquidamber in the woods around here when I want.
Let the record show I do have 2 Sycamore with their hard bumpy seeds. But they tend to fall over winter and break up. You don't have to rake them.

Okay Sally, I'll let the record keeper know you matched the Liquidamber and raised us two Sycamores!

You guys/gals need to suck it up, and tolerate the best of the best of the "crowd control" species...

talk about SPIKES- yikes

Hey, where is postmandug these days? His hearts a burstin is doing great. It was a little sprig in a box a couple years ago. I think I sent him some Calycanthus floridus.

Now there's a tree that means business! Even deer would have to respect those thorns. They look like they're filled with blood.

Is that Black Locust?

Shooting from the hip here. Osage Orange is the first spiked tree that comes to mind. And my favorite

Edited to add Honey Locus?

This message was edited Apr 24, 2014 6:25 AM

I'll go with Gleditsia, which is one of the more enjoyable botanical names to pronounce.

Sally- I shot Dug a Dmail a few months back, as I missed him too. He was retiring from Postmaning, setting up a landscaping-gardening business. Sounded happy and busy.

Yes, Common Honeylocust - Gleditsia triacanthos.

The other species mentioned (Maclura pomifera, Robinia pseudoacacia) are relative pikers in the thorn department compared to this one.

The College of St Benedict, which is a small liberal arts college for women, is located in the town of St Joseph, MN, in the central part of the state roughly 70 miles NW of Minneapolis. TMI? Anyhow, the main square as you enter campus has several seedling Honeylocust planted on the perimeter, and they look a whole lot like what ViburnumValley has shown us. Maybe not quite so ominous, but close. Isn't that just perfect for an all women's college run by the monastic Benedictine's? I'm just saying...

Gleditsia is a delightful sounding word I agree.
Thanks mlm...I hope that works out well for him!

Speaking native- native Cornus about to explode all over our woods and yards

Forsythia here. Yeah baby! OK, not as nice as Cornus, but it's a start.

Hilarious observation Pseudo