Then we have trees around the old neighborhood, personal friends. The first picture shows linden trees. They were planted when I was in Junior HS, so they have been there about 45 years. The bigger one was planted second. Kids broke the smaller one off and they replace it. But the smaller one grew back from the roots. Interestingly, it never quite caught up.
Linden trees have a wonderful smell and they are flowering now, as you can see in my second picture. Lindens are European trees. They flower a little later in Europe. In Poland, they call them “Lipa” and July, the month when they flower, is called lipiec after them. Berlin’s great street is called Unter den Linden, under the linden for the trees that line it.
The American variety of this tree is called a basswood, It is taller than the linden and its flowers are less prominent, but its leaves are bigger. Otherwise, they look alike. It is like the Norway and sugar maple relationship. It is hard to see the picture, but in #3 you see the basswood tree I planted in 1972. It had only two leaves. I had to put a basket over it on hot days to keep it from wilting, but it has subsequently done okay.
Finally, is our old house. I planted the horse chestnut in front in 1966 from a chestnut I gathered from tree on the next block. That is evidently about as big as it will get. I had a few more, but the old man mowed them down. He didn’t like anything that blocked his mower. This one was spared because it used to be near a big, prickly bush, no longer extant.