Well here is a sketch of the turpentine tree that the nut from my previous post comes from. Normally, I don’t take much notice of the tree as all I see looking out from the back veranda, where I like to sit and sketch, is the trunk. Actually the first time I realised how big and important the tree is, was when I looked at a google map of my house. The canopy of the tree, which is normally out of my vision, totally fills the backyard from the aerial photo!
The first branch is 6m in the air – I have never seen a green leaf from it...till this week, when we got some down to look at. It was so nice to see how those little nuts are arranged on the tree. I will have to do this again in spring when the flowers are out – naturally I have never seen what the flowers look like – or even been aware that the tree was in flower! My field guide describes them as a mass of creamy ovate petals fused to the globular heads (what a great description of what I am simply referring to as a ‘nut’)
While I was in the garden sketching I tracked down the final frangipani and sketched it on a new page (remember that being in Australia, I am in the opposite season to most of the rest of you) This afternoon, I went to my favourite tearoom and this lone flower (both in my garden and on a new blank page) got incorporated into a wild colourful eclectic journal page inspired by my café surroundings! You can see it here
Ha. I did the same kind of thing on a walk with my husband. I suddenly noticed how big the branches were on a local tree and said so. But it came out sounding so funny, "Hey, look at those branches on that tree". We had a laugh, but sometimes you don't see what's right under your nose, or in our case, over our heads. Heh!
ReplyDeletep.s. the name 'frangipani' sounds so exotic to my ears!
This sounds like a wonderful tree if it shades you and keeps the termites away! Also, it's got a lot of interesting features, like that bark and the nuts... Your wonderful sketch makes me feel like I'm in your back yard, enjoying the shade.
ReplyDeleteI love the layout on this page and the writing too. I had never known that a tree called turpentine exists, although I have used the oil sometimes. Frangipani's have such a delicate aroma.
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting into the shade in your backyard, Liz--SO glad you were inspired to take a closer look...
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