On September 3rd 2016, after 3 weeks of rainy weather (12.6 inches since August 13th according to my rain gauge) spawned thousands of voracious mosquitos, I ventured out to take a few pictures of the Blackgum as some of its leaves had already started turning red. The lawn was damp and a little boggy and the mosquitos were thicker than I'd ever seen.
This is what it looked like on September 17th 2016
In early May 2017, the tree started to leaf out again, some of the leaves getting twisted by fungus. Below is a picture of the tiny green male flowers.
Here was the same flower on May 13th 2017.
On July 16th 2017, the Blackgum had not leafed out fully and looked pretty scruffy - certainly worse than 2016 - seems to be declining each year.
On May 6th 2018 the Blackgum was covered in flowers, way more than any previous year. In July 2018 the Blackgum was as usual looking fairly sparse and the leaves were covered in brown fungal spots. Some of the leaves had already turned red.
Same story in 2019, except the tree also got infested by Fall Webworm (around May). |
Blackgum (early July 2020)
Blackgum (end of June 2019)
Blackgum (July 2018)
Blackgum (July 2017)
Blackgum (July 2016)
Blackgum (August 2014)
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