Thanksgiving Tree

Who needs a Christmas tree when you can have a Thanksgiving tree? 

I'm so thrilled to welcome a new chinquapin oak to our back garden, which replaces the xylosma that I removed a few weeks ago. The oak is perfect, and I can't wait for it to grow larger and provide us with shade from the hot summer sun.

Oaks are some of our most important trees for wildlife. They are hosts for tons of species of bugs, which means they are great sources of food for birds. The acorns are important for a lot of species too, such as blue jays. Even early settlers and Native Americans ground the acorns into flour. 

Great trees.

An added bonus is that this tree already looks like it belongs here in our deep black clay, near our creek that's in the Colorado River watershed. The xylosma never did. Something about it just seemed out of place, even though it was a nice specimen of a tree. The chinquapin looks at home. 

I'm thankful for this tree. Yes indeedy.