Hi-Tech Extension Outreach - More on QR Codes

When Horticulture Educator Steve Bogash sent me the article on Alternatives to Impatiens for the local newspapers, that I turned into a blog post, he informed me that he had worked with Snavely's Garden Corner to get information and input from a retail point of view, in order to make the article as informative for the gardening public as possible.  It then occurred to me, we can use the QR Code technology to spread the word as far and wide as possible, by creating a flyer and offering it to Snavely's and any other interested garden center in the area, who want to inform their customers about the disease, and provide as much information as possible so consumers can make an informed choice about them, or other plants that do well in shade.

Result of that effort is the flyer pictured here.  Feel free to copy/print/laminate wherever you think it will do the most good.

The QR code, or the bit/ly link, will take the scanner to the Alternatives to Impatiens post.

April and Early May Workshops and Events

Stop and Smell the Roses! – 3 WORKSHOPS Saturdays April 6, May 11 and June 15 2013 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Roses 101: Getting the Best Out of Your Garden Saturday, April 6, 2013 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Learn how to plant new roses, prune old ones, and prepare your garden for a spring explosion. All hands on deck! Be prepared for a hands on workshop by coming with pruners, gloves and lots of energy!

Roses 102: Summer Survival: Getting your roses to thrive in the dog days of summer. Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Learn how to provide adequate nourishment for your roses, ward off pests, and propagate roses through cuttings the easy way! Please bring pruners and gloves for this hands-on workshop.

Roses 103: Grow to Show: Preparing your blooms to be winners at the county fairs. Saturday, June 15, 2013 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. After all of the work you've put into growing beautiful roses, you should share them with others! We will teach you how to groom your own blooms and take them to exhibit at the Franklin County Fair. Cost for the classes are $10 each or the entire series for $20. All Classes are held at the Redington Residence 347 Leedy Way East Chambersburg PA 17202

Bugs and Pollinators – Two workshops - Gardening for Pollinators - Saturday, April 13 - 9:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. Do you like chocolate, blueberries, apples, or almonds? Without pollinators these and many other foods would not exist. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators in our area need your help. Join us as Master Gardener Laurie Collins guides you through identifying pollinators in our area, why they are in decline and what individuals can do to help. She will discuss easy basic design principles, plant selections and gardening practices for creating a successful pollinator garden.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Thursday, April 25 6:30p.m.- 8:30p.m - You can’t tell the players without a score card. Only about 2-3 % of the bugs out there are considered pests in the home vegetable garden and landscape, and some of the ugliest are our allies in the battle against them. Come to our workshop, where Master Gardener Ray Eckhart will show ways to identify the good guys from the bad guys and things you can do to attract and keep the good guys around. Registration fee is $10 per class or $15 for both classes.

Victory Garden - Mondays, April 22 - September 16 - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. A season long, highly rated, weekly vegetable garden growing experience. Master Gardeners of Franklin County, led by Darl Hospelhorn and Linda Horst, will teach everything you need to know to grow great vegetables, beginning with spring garden preparation, and ending with the final fall harvest. Each Monday begins with a short class related to what is happening in the garden at that time. Participants will then work in the garden and be rewarded with a share of the harvest. Class meets from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every Monday from April 22 to September 16 at the barn across the street from the Extension Office. The fee for the whole season is $40.00. Wear your garden clothes and bring your gloves. We will provide garden tools.

Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers! - Saturday April 27, 2013 - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Located at the Master Gardener Clubhouse at the Horticulture Center Gardens.  Join Master Gardeners Linda Horst and Sally Dallago for this hands-on “make and take” workshop on growing plants in containers. After learning the techniques, apply them by creating your own container. Cost for the workshop is $25.00. Plant material and container is included in the workshop price.

Tomatoes in the Home Garden - Thursday, May 2, 2013 6:30-8:30 – Master Gardener Ray Eckhart will share his enthusiasm and growing tips for his favorite Big Berry. Heirloom? Hybrid? Determinate? Indeterminate? What does it all mean? Come learn all about them and why Guy Clarke, John Denver, and others can boast, “Only two things that money can't buy - That's true love and home grown tomaters.”

Master Gardener Spring Bus Trip -Saturday, May 4, 2013 - The National Arboretum in Washington, DC. This year’s bus trip will be hosted by Master Gardener Elmer Greey, who was a volunteer with the National Arboretum for over 15 years. The Arboretum will have its Bonsai Festival happening on that date. It is also the time of year when the Azaleas and Rhododendrons are normally in full bloom. Cost for the trip is $50.00 per person which includes bus fare and a catered lunch, which has a vegetarian option. There are limited spaces available, so register early. Leave at 7:00 a.m. from the Extension Office and Return approx. 5:30 p.m. To learn more about the National Arboretum, visit their website.

Magical Magicicada - 2013 Brood II Emergence

The periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim) A female inserting eggs with her ovipositor into the under surface of an apple twig - Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Via an article in the Smithsonian Magazine, I just became aware that 2013 will see emergence of one of Nature's more fascinating creatures, the periodical cicada, or Magicicada septendecim.  Franklin County is a little to the west of their expected emergence in the Northeast, but more eastern counties in Pennsylvania, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, and Wyoming Counties are predicted to see them, according to a Penn State Entomology fact sheet:

Map of Predicted 2013 Brood II Emergence.  Picture courtesy of Magicicada.org

Periodical cicadas are spectacular insects, often making sudden and dramatic appearances. Alexander and Moore wrote in 1962, "The periodical cicadas make up a truly amazing group of animals; since their discovery 300 years ago, the origin and significance of their extended life cycles have been a continual source of puzzlement to biologists. Their incredible ability to merge by the millions as noisy, flying, gregarious, photopositive adults within a matter of hours after having spent 13 or 17 years underground as silent, burrowing, solitary, sedentary juveniles is without parallel in the animal kingdom."

According to Dr. Gene Kritsky, Professor of Biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph, and author of the book,  Periodical Cicadas.  The Plague and the Puzzle 

• Cicadas emerge after the soil temperature exceeds 64º F, which is usually in late May.
• Only the male cicadas sing. They have sound-producing structures called tymbals on either side of the abdomen.
• It is easy to tell male cicadas from female cicadas. To do so turn the cicada over: the female will have a groove in which is found the ovipositor; the male’s abdomen will terminate with a square shaped flap.


• There are three species of 17-year cicadas, which will emerge in 2013. They are named Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini and Magicicada septendecula.

Magicicada - Picture courtesy of Gene Kritsky

Lots more here, including this bit, "Periodical cicadas are best eaten when they are still white, and they taste like cold canned asparagus. Like all insects, cicadas have a good balance of vitamins, are low in fat, and, especially the females, are high in protein."

Apparently, Brood II is a well-known brood of cicadas. Thomas Jefferson wrote of their emergences in 1724, 1741, and 1775.

I spent most of the day Wednesday (3/20/13), home sick nursing a cold, having bad thoughts about Punxsutawney Phil's poor prognosticating prowess, and perusing the Magicicada.org web site to learn more about these insects.

They are native to and only found in eastern North America.

There are 12 broods of 17 year cicadas, and 3 broods of 13-year cicadas designated by convention using Roman Numerals.

They can't bite or sting, and have minimal impact on plants and shrubs in your landscape, with the possible exception of young trees or shrubs where the female's egg laying organ can girdle pencil thick woody stems or twigs.  More FAQ's here.

And as a Math Geek, I also wondered why do these critters appear in cycles of 13 and 17 years?  13 and 17 are prime numbers - is there a connection?

Well, no one really knows for sure, but Predation Pressure is one thought.  See studies here and here.

I will definitely keep my eye out for any stragglers that appear around in this area, and may even plan a trip to my home state of New Jersey this summer, just to observe, and appreciate the show.

Update: Sunday, March 24, 2013:  Via the magic of Facebook, a 'Friend' coincidentally noted that Brood II was coming, and linked to this marvelous web page that I missed when I put this post together -  CicadaMania:

We are dedicated to providing news, video, audio, photos and information about cicada insects found all around the world. Cicada Mania was established in 1996 during the Brood II periodical cicada emergence, and since then we have continued to add content about Magicicada periodical cicadas, other North American species, and cicadas species around the world. 2013 marks our 17th year, just like the 17 year lifecycle of a Magicicada periodical cicada.

They have a Facebook Page, too, whose page I have 'Liked' and a series of 'YouTube' videos and sounds that will keep me occupied in the weeks ahead.

Enjoy! I know I will.

Update:  Sunday, April 14, 2013:  Here's a time lapse video of a Magicicada molting, courtesy of CicadaMania:



And Dr. Kritsky is asking for some help in veryifying his emergence prediction model, so anyone in the expected area, who wants to do some "citizen science" research, is asked to note when you saw your first cicada, and when they appeared in large numbers.  Send the information via email to Dr, Kritsky, along with your address.  Details here.  MG's, school groups, or any interested parties are encouraged to participate.

Update: Wednesday, April 30th.  Wonderful article by Kevin Ambrose writing for the Washington Post, with lots of good information, charts, and his memories of previous year's emergence.

Update: Thursday, May 23.  More on the Prime Number thing from Scientific American:

The fact that the surviving periodical cicadas have life cycles built on prime numbers may have conferred key survival advantages. A prime-numbered lifespan means that predators cannot match their own shorter life cycles to the availability of cicada prey. For instance, if the cicadas had even-numbered lifespans, a predator with a two-year life cycle could expect a cicada feast, and a subsequent population bump, every few generations, because all even numbers are divisible by two. As explained in 2001 by a trio of researchers from the University of Chile and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Germany, “a prey with a 12-year cycle will meet — every time it appears — properly synchronized predators appearing every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 12 years, whereas a mutant with a 13-year period has the advantage of being subject to fewer predators.” Prime numbers are still divisible by themselves and by 1, of course, but they have no other divisors. 

On the other hand, prime lifespans may relate to periodic overlaps between different cicada species, rather than overlaps between cicadas and their predators. The two prime-numbered life cycles of Magicicada ensure that asynchronous broods rarely interact where their geographic ranges overlap — a 13-year cycle and a 17-year cycle match up only once every 221 years. Those rare meetups may confer the advantage of preventing the two groups from mating and producing hybrid offspring.

Read more here.

Update: Friday, May 24.  More on predation saturation, "It's an idiot bug." But with evolutionary smarts, apparently.

Update: Wednesday, May 29.  Science Magazine Nature, tackles the prime number question, suggesting, counter-intuitively:

"...proposes that the masses of cicadas trigger long-term changes in the forest that end up causing bird populations to crash after 13 or 17 years. The mechanism remains a mystery, but Koenig notes that one factor could be the flood of dead cicadas, whose bodies are 10% nitrogen. The die-off sends a pulse of fertilizer into the forest that temporarily enhances plant growth but could later lead to unfavourable conditions for birds. “It’s a pretty weird hypothesis,” he admits."

2013 4-H Strawberry Sale - Not Too Late!

But getting close:

The 4-H Strawberry Plant Sale is going on now!

The Franklin County 4-H program is sponsoring a strawberry plant sale. For only $5.83 you get 25 strawberry plants. There are eight different varieties to choose from - early, mid, and late season, as well as day neutral everbearing varieties. Strawberries are perennial, so you'll have several years of production from just one planting. Strawberries take well to container gardening and can also be used in an ornamental pyramid planting. Here are some fact sheets from Virginia Tech and the University of Arkansas.

Plants will be available for pickup at the Franklin County Extension Office on Wednesday, April 10th, 2013.

1. Email orders to jlw69@psu.edu by March 26, 2013. Make sure to include the number of bundles, variety/varieties and the total cost as well as your name and phone number.
2. Follow up by mailing the above form and payment to:

Penn State Extension
Attn: Strawberry Orders
181 Franklin Farm Lane
Chambersburg, PA 17202

Here is a video on how to plant strawberries from the University of Maine.

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 6

“Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a shovel. By virtue of this curious loophole in the rules, any clodhopper may say: Let there be a tree - and there will be one.” 
   Aldo Leopold, "A Sand County Almanac"

As gardeners we know we can nuture small seeds into towering trees or tiny bits of creeping thyme. But have we ever considered that we possessed a power - a power to transform one state of being into another?

Aldo Leopold was one of the most ardent proponents of the movement to preserve the wilderness. An early incident in his life changed his perspective on nature, seeing it as a community where all things have value. His book “A Sand County Almanac,” highlights some events of nature that are important parts of the natural community.

Here’s a quote that moved me to find out more about him:

"A half-dozen other [wolves], evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings. In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy...

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes -- something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

If you are interested in learning more about Aldo Leopold, one of the top 12 environmentalists

Top 12 Enviornmentalists You Should Know
Aldo Leopold Foundation
Aldo Leopold Nature Center
About Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold WIlderness Research Institute

Save a Horse - Hire a Cowboy

On Sunday March 24, 2013, from 2 - 6pm at the Orchards Restaurant in Chambersburg, there will be merchandise (live and silent auctions) and service vouchers donated by local businesses and community members as well as ten local cowboys to bid on.  All funds go to support Franklin County Extension's Therapeutic Riding Center.





Susie

 “Just like last year, visitors can bid on local cowboys to tackle the odd jobs around their businesses, homes and ranches in the live auction as well as a large variation of items donated by local businesses and community members in the silent auction”, says Lindsay Lyons, volunteer organizer and auctioneer.

Woody

Funds generated from this event will help people with special needs to receive therapy, relax and build confidence through horsemanship. “Making therapeutic riding available to people with special needs takes more than just horses”, says Susan Rotz, FCTRC instructor. “We continuously need to raise funds to stock up our supplies and improve material support to our barn: A barn that is unique to Franklin County!”



Bridgette



Lots more pictures at their web site, and Facebook Page.

The fundraiser will feature live bluegrass music by Tuckahoe Ridge, Roy Pitz beer and food from the Orchards Restaurant.

Tickets are for sale at the Roy Pitz Brewery or by contacting 717-496-1307. Ticket prices are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The price includes participation in both auctions, music and food.


Stephanie J. Corum at 717-263-0443, Email: info@horseridingtherapy.org

Update: March 21, 2013 - The Chambersburg Public Opinion Newspaper did a feature article on the TRC and this fund raising event.

Shamrocks

Shamrock

Shamrocks are symbols of St. Patrick’s Day as legend has it that St. Patrick picked a hop clover with its three-lobed leaf to illustrate the holy Trinity. Shamrocks are associated with the country of Ireland, friendship, Christianity and good luck. What kind of plant is a shamrock? As Master Gardeners know, a common name can refer to several different plants and there are different plants that are called shamrocks; the defining feature on these plants is lobed leaves.

The official shamrock of Ireland is Trifolium dubium (try-FOL-lee-um   DOO-bee-um), a clover with yellow flowers and lobed leaves. The word Shamrock comes from the old Irish word "seamrog"
which means "summer plant."

Trifolium dubium

Since clover is very difficult to grow indoors, garden centers, florists and grocery stores sell varities of Oxalis, some with green leaves and others with burgundy leaves. They are not native to the United States.


Oxalis triangularis burgundy

The Oxalis acetosella (ox-AL-liss   ass-eh-TOW-sell-ah) plant, a member of the wood sorrel family, is grown from a bulb, has small dark green lobed leaves and grows about 6"high. It grows as a short mound in the pot with shoots sprouting upward and has small, white cup-like flowers with veins.

They prefer bright light but not direct sun and a consistently moist soil, not soggy. Don’t overwater. If the foliage turns yellow, this could be a sign of overwatering.


Oxalis acetosella

This plant needs to go into a dormant state two or three times a year. When the plant loses its vigor, stop watering and pull off the leaves as they turn brown. Put the pot in a cool, dry place for two or three months. To break the dormancy, resume watering and add a house plant fertilizer (10-10-10). The plant should start to revive and thrive for a few more months.

Another variety, Oxalis regnellii (ox-AL-liss   reg-NEE-lee-eye), is also sold as a shamrock. This plant is similar to the O. acetosella but has white star-like flowers. Care for this plant is the same.

Oxalis regnellii

Learn more about shamrocks
USDA Plant Database-  Oxalis
USDA Plant Database - Trifolium dubium
University of Arkansas-Shamrocks
University of Arkansas Plant of the Week- Shamrock
University of Vermont Extension – Shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day
Philadelphia County Master Gardeners Shamrocks and Fake Four-Leaf Clovers

Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia

I added a new site to the "Links to Other Sites" section to the right.  It's the website of the Master Gardener's of Northern Virginia.

They came to my attention via a comment in the blog post on our efforts on QR Codes, where they supplied a link to material they put together on their efforts and ideas for QR Code use, and a primer on how to go about it. I have already picked up new information.

For example, the code doesn't have to be black and white, color is OK.

And "outside the box" thinking is fine:

I feel like a trailblazer, cautiously hacking his way through an unknown wilderness, only to come across a well trodden path made by friendly fellow travelers - relief and reinvigoration in the hike ahead.

Update: March 7, 2013 - I added the pictures, and "for example" part.

The Beauty of Pollination

MG Mary Crooks sent me a link to this wonderful video by director and cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg. Here's his Wikipedia page, and Personal Biography.

You can view more of his work via his Video Website, Moving Art.

Learn more about Pollination by visiting our Pollinator Friendly Demonstration Garden or attending one of our annual workshops on the subject.  Penn State Extension also has created a Pollinator Friendly Certification Process where you can join an ever-growing number of people who have taken the steps to certify their landscapes as "Pollinator Friendly" and help to protect our pollinator friends in need.

There are lots of great pictures and information about pollinators elsewhere on the blog from Jenn Wetzel and Laurie Collins, our Pollinator Friendly Demonstration Garden MG Team Captain, that you can view by clicking on the links below:

What's in Bloom - June 2012, Pollinator Garden
Look What's Blooming - July 2011
What's Blooming - August 2011
The Last Hoo-Ra - September 2010
Uncommonly Beautiful Milkweek
Titillating Tithonia

Here are all our posts on butterflies, including a great series by MG Kathy Engle on "Gardens with Wings."

What Do We Think of "Paid Garden Writers"?

An open letter to some of the commenters at The Garden Rant, responding to this post by Susan Harris headlined, So, what do we think of "Master Gardeners".   I tried posting this in their comments section, but for some reason, perhaps related to the many links and html involved, it may have gotten stuck in their spam filter.

Susan graciously also tried to post it, but technology (or our limited understanding of such things) seems to have its own drawbacks, hence this post. I'm putting it up here, as a bit of rebuttal, in the category of "Response to the Minister of Controversy."

So, first, go there, read the post and the comments, and come back here to finish.  Rather anfractuous, I know, but I'm not sure how else to proceed.  Here's my comment:

My recommendation to all those out there ragging on volunteers, is to take the plunge and become one – you might learn something, and have a different perspective. And if we're going to question motivations - how about paid garden writers writing reviews of gardening books because they share the same book agent, or publisher?

Even a respected (and wonderful regular read for me) garden writer of the caliber of Margaret Roach still recommended putting coarse material like pebbles in the bottom of containers to improve drainage.

The garbage coming from natural organic enthusiasts about compost tea and its magical unicorn benefits is baffling to anyone who also reads the Garden Professors, and I’ve yet to hear natural organic enthusiasts ever acknowledge that “natural” pesticides (or fertilizers for that matter) can be more toxic for people AND the environment than their synthetic counterparts. Master Gardeners are taught, and try to provide to the public the science of integrated pest management, or IPM, not a gardening philosophy of naturalness, in all its Hobbesian savagery, which starts from an unassailable axiom that natural and native is better, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.

And one of the biggest promoters of planting invasive species are the Permaculture enthusiasts as Dr. Chalker-Scott noted discussing the highly praised book Gaia’s Garden. (See here, here, here and here).

And there are plenty of independent nurseries out there still making a profit from selling Butterfly Bush, as well as the Barberries, Japanese Spirea, and Burning Bush. And I’ll note, that the science of invasiveness is hardly settled, nor as black and white as some of the native-only, anti-immigrant fundamentalists would have you believe. I believe even Dr. Gillman and Dr. Chalker-Scott take different positions on the issue, as they’ve shared with the rest of their readers.

And while I share the snicker at Jerry Baker, the lone reference to Biodynamics on The Rant I could find, is hardly dismissive.

Pot, Kettle, folks.

So, I strongly urge you Susan, to try again in the University of Maryland system. Jon Traunfeld is an excellent manager of the program, and I’m sure your experience will be quite different than the DC one you've ranted about several times now.

This site for home vegetable growers, for example, is run and written entirely by its MG volunteers – Growit Eatit, and I doubt you’ll find better information elsewhere, even from people paid to write about the subject.

Update: Sunday, March 3.  Karen Jeannette of the eXtension Master Gardener blog responds to Susan in the comments section here.  And I should correct the misnomer that USDA has jurisdiction over the program, as Susan indicated.  As I understand it, each state, under the aegis of its Land Grant University college of Ag Sciences, in the department of consumer horticulture under Extension outreach, has jurisdiction, to varying degrees.  The fed's role, and the purpose of eXtension, is as an umbrella resource to bring together and share with the participants, best practices and ideas for fullfilling the outreach mission. 

And read through these posts to see how we go about recruiting folks to give of their time and talents in support of that mission.

Corn on Deck - Container Sweet Corn

Okay, I'm not promoting Burpee but when I saw this - well, I had to share. I like the PA corn from the market so I'm not going to try this. The information below is right from their Website.

Corn, On Deck Hybrid

The first-ever sweet corn you can grow in a container.
Burpee Exclusive

An now on deck ... sweet corn! Ever so tasty breakthrough bicolor bariety is perfectly sized - 4-5' tall-to spend the summer on you deck, patio or terrace, adding vertical interest as well as producing two to three delicious 7-8" long ears per stalk. This first-ever container-ready corn is a revolution-one you can enjoy from the comfort of your patio.

Simply plant 9 seeds per 24" container and get ready to harvest in about 2 months! Supersweet (Sh2). Special notice: Due to unprecented customer demand our seed supplies are running very low. To ensure every interested gardener can buy a packet we have reduced the seed per pack to 30 seeds and reduced the price to $3.95.

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/corn/corn-on-deck-hybrid-prod003168.html?catId=2013&trail=

Thoughts and Meditations on Gardening - 5

Not quite gardening, but certainly a meditation on nature's cycle of seasons, one of the things I like about the temperate zones.

Winter Trees

In changing seasons, changing scenes,
From sturdy limbs once clothed in greens,
The stately trees have loosed their hold
On leaves turned scarlet, orange and gold.

For some winter dulls the senses -
Blocking beauty, building fences.
But winter skies with clear blue light
Reveal a wondrous, classic sight.

Sleek silhouettes make earth and sky
A canvas drawing in the eye,
To see the form and armature
Upon which other seasons moor.

From afar a rolling ridge-line
Branches thick seem branches fine.
The lacy finger-fans of limbs
Look delicate, like dainty trims.

Near roadside more can now be seen-
A dearth of leaves, no hiding screen.
And so the ragged nests appear,
Like paint dabs spattered there and here.

Tapering trunk with spreading bough
Displays a waiting, watching owl.
And near a red-tailed hawk sits high
With turning head to scan the sky.

While spring, summer and autumn woods
Inspire in some creative moods,
A winter's stark revealing tree
Shows a beauteous world to me.