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 Poinsettias, Christmas cacti, Cyclamen, and Frosty Ferns are all classic Christmas plants you’ll find everywhere during the holidays. But while they’re popular in the winter, these poor things are actually tropical plants that need lots of sunshine and warm weather to survive. To help them out in our fickle Georgia climate, they’ll need some regular maintenance. Remove the WrappingFestive holiday plant gifts usually come in little plastic pots swaddled in shiny, metallic paper. One of the best things you can do for your new green friend is to get them out of that suffocating environment and give them some room to breathe!  Set in the SunFinding direct sunlight in your home isn’t always an option, but luckily, plants can make do with ambient light. Set your Christmas cacti up by a window that brings in a lot of light during the day (even if it doesn’t seem like “direct” sunlight), and you’ll have one happy plant! Mind the DraftMost Christmas plants prefer warmer weather, but what they want more than anything is consistent weather. Don’t place a poinsettia right by a door that opens a lot, or an air vent where your AC will come blasting when things heat up outside.  Water When NeededIt can be hard to set up a timed watering schedule for any plant, but for tropical ones, all you have to do is check the dirt. Stick your finger in about an inch or two. If it comes out dry, it’s time to water! If moist soil clings to your skin, then your plant has enough water for now. Don’t Forget Drainage!If the pot your poinsettia came in already has drainage holes, then great! But if it doesn’t, be sure to transfer it into something water can drain out of. Without drainage, the soil will stay waterlogged, which can rot the roots, grow mold, and overall kill your plant.  For more in-depth tips for your specific Christmas plant, check out HomeStead Gardens handy guide! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.
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 As we near the end of the holiday season, many people are ready to take down their ornaments and get rid of their tree. But wait! Before you toss that dying fir out with the garbage, have you considered recycling it? Bring One for the Chipper is a nation-wide movement to recycle as many Christmas trees as possible. Why should you recycle your Christmas tree?Throughout the month of January, landfills are often overwhelmed with the number of Christmas trees they receive. As you can probably imagine, depending on the size and health of the tree at the time of disposal, those babies can take up a lot of room. Bring One for the Chipper’s mission is to reduce the number of trees that end up in our landfills, and help out the environment along the way! What happens to recycled Christmas trees?Like the name suggests, most trees in the Bring One for the Chipper program go through a woodchipper. This generates mulch that can then be donated to places like public parks, public and private playgrounds, city scaping projects, and even individual yards.  In some locations, a few trees will be saved from chipping to instead be sunk into local lakes. This creates new habitats for fish and other marine life to flourish! How can you recycle your Christmas tree?Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful is partnering once again with Bring One for the Chipper to make recycling your Christmas tree easier than ever. This year, the event kicks off at 9am on Saturday, January 8th. From 9am until 1pm, you can bring your undecorated tree to one of multiple drop-off locations:
If January 8th isn’t a good day for you, never fear! Check out the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation’s list of statewide drop-off locations.  Be sure to remove all ornaments, Christmas lights, and any other decorations from your tree before you bring it for chipping. This year, you can also drop off wreath metal and light strings to be recycled as well! To learn more about this initiative and how you can participate, check out Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  Whether you’re an avid insect enthusiast or just a casual observer, pretty much everyone knows what the Monarch butterfly looks like. Their bright orange wings are easy to identify, and most of us learned about them and their unique migration pattern in elementary school. Monarch butterflies are sensitive to temperature, and can’t survive the cold of North American winters. So each year, they travel from their homes in Canada and the northern states down to warmer weather, usually settling in Mexico or along the coast of California.  Did You Know?Monarch butterflies use air currents and the Earth’s magnetic field to propel them on their journey Their actual departure depends on any given year’s weather, but on average, Monarchs head south around October, and return home around February. It’s this return trip that makes their migration pattern so unique. Monarch butterflies are the only species of butterfly known to embark on this kind of two-way migration. Two-way migration means that a single generation of the species in question travels from one location to another, and then back again. Monarchs, in this case, travel south for the winter, as they can’t survive colder temperatures. Once things warm up again, they head back north to their normal habitat.  The Monarch migration is also noteworthy for its span – the Monarch migration route is one of the longest in the animal kingdom, covering over 3,000 miles. Along the way, Monarchs make many stops for food and rest. Here in Georgia, the Monarchs we see are just passing through on their way to their overwinter destination. What is the Monarch Butterfly Count?Every year, conservation organizations like Monarch Joint Venture and Western Monarch Count band together to monitor the Monarch butterfly population. This process can vary, but the general idea is to get a count of how many Monarch butterflies stop by a certain location so we can track their numbers as they migrate to and from home.  Counting butterflies is no mean feat, but it’s important. The Monarch butterfly is endangered, with its population decreasing every year. Keeping track of both their migration patterns and their numbers each year helps conservationists and environmental scientists learn how best to support the species so they can thrive. How can I help?One of the biggest ways you can contribute to the preservation of Monarchs is by giving them a place to rest on their long journey. Plant a variety of native nectar plants for them to choose from, and make sure to include lots of milkweed, their preferred host plant. With the food, shelter, and water these plants provide, the butterflies will have everything they need to keep going. Even if all you can plant is a single pot with one milkweed plant, you’re still doing your part! Every stem counts.  If you’d like to get involved even further, check out these resources from Monarch Joint Venture to find conservation efforts near you. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  Most people know that you can tell how old a tree is by counting its rings. It’s a fun fact to wow kids with, and a cool way to visualize history. But the study of tree rings is actually a much wider field than just counting some lines. First, those tree rings are scientifically called annual growth rings, and the official term for the study of annual growth rings is dendrochronology. According to the Oxford dictionary, dendrochronology is “the science or technique of dating events, environmental change, and archaeological artifacts by using the characteristic patterns of annual growth rings in timber and tree trunks.”  Let’s start with the basics. When you look at a tree’s growth rings, you’ll see that there are dark circles separated by lighter sections. A common misconception is that only the dark rings count towards a tree’s age. In fact, a full annual growth ring actually includes a dark and a light section. Every year, a tree gets not only taller, but also wider in diameter. Springtime is the ideal growing environment, and so trees grow their fastest during these months. Because they’re growing quickly, the individual developing cells are larger and have thinner cell walls. This results in wood called springwood, or earlywood, that is light in color. Towards the end of summer, trees start to slow down. Cells that develop during this slower period are smaller, and have much thicker cell walls, resulting in darker wood we call summerwood, or latewood. Every year, a tree will grow a new light and dark section. Therefore, these two-part rings can be counted to learn the tree’s age in years. But that’s not all we can learn by looking at a cross-section!  Diameter growth in a tree is highly sensitive to environmental factors, like whether or not the tree gets enough water and sunlight. A thicker annual growth ring indicates a bountiful growing season, where the tree had everything it needed to flourish. A thinner annual growth ring may therefore indicate a poor growing season, with not enough (or too much!) rain, sun, or warm temperatures. Now, not all trees are created equal. To determine whether any given growth ring is considered “thick” or “thin,” you’d have to research the average growth ring width for that particular species. You’ll also want to keep in mind the climate of the area you’re in – the growth rings of a pine tree in Georgia may differ from those of a pine tree in Vermont! Looking at a tree’s growth rings can also show you any trauma the tree experienced in its lifetime. For example, a fire might result in blackening along at least part of that year’s ring, depending on how much of the tree was burned.  Knots in a tree’s growth rings can indicate where a branch used to be, or where insects or other pests caused damage. Lopsided rings that are thicker on one side than the other can indicate that the tree spent some years growing at an angle, and one side of the tree had to grow more than the other to accommodate the change. Trees that are exposed to high winds on one side may even have their ‘heart’ off-center as the buffeted side of the tree is unable to grow at the same pace as the other. The study of annual growth rings can tell us so much about a tree’s lifetime, and can be used to not only give us a peek into the past, but also to confirm historical events, like a forest fire, or corroborate the age of an artifact. Dendrochronology is a rich field of study, and plus, it’s just plain cool! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  Sourwoods, scientifically called Oxydendrum arboretum, are native to North Carolina, but can be found today all throughout the southeast. The common name for this species comes from the sour taste of the leaves and sap. Other names for the sourwood include the sorrel tree, sorrel gum, sour gum, arrow wood, elk tree, and lily-of-the-valley tree.
This last name comes from the fragrant white flowers the tree produces in early summer. The bell-shaped blooms dangle from drooping stalks and very much resemble lilies-of-the-valley, though the two aren’t actually related. Each flower yields an oval-shaped fruit less than half-an-inch in diameter. The fruits in turn yield dual-winged seeds that float away on the wind.  Sourwood flowers stand in stark contrast to the tree’s oblong, dark-green leaves. Each leaf spans 4 to 8 inches in length and features fine toothing along the edges. They grow in an alternating pattern, and often remind onlookers of laurel. The color doesn’t end with summer, though. Sourwoods also offer a showy display of fall foliage when the weather cools that can include crimson, burnt orange, purple-red, and even golden yellow. In the months between autumn and spring, sourwoods still offer visual appeal with their ridged, reddish-brown bark.  In addition to their ornamental value, sourwood trees grow fairly quickly, and can add up to 2 feet of height per year until they reach maturity. Once fully-grown, the sourwood’s trunk can average 8 to 12 inches in diameter. Wild trees in their native habitat can reach heights up to 60 feet, and crown spreads of nearly 100 feet. However, when grown domestically, they top out around 25 to 30 feet tall with a crown spread of 20 feet. This makes them ideal additions to backyards, parking lots, city sidewalks, public parks, and more. Sourwoods are also an ideal choice for landscaping thanks to their tolerance. They can grow in most kinds of soil, so long as it’s well-drained, and can handle moderate droughts. The only caveat to keep in mind is their sun requirement: sourwoods prefer full sun exposure, which means at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day.
If you are considering adding a sourwood to your property, remember that these trees are incredibly long-lived, with average lifespans between 100 and 200 years. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving on the rise, there are only 7 more weeks until Christmas! That means it’s time to get a jump on the holiday shopping. If someone you know is an avid gardener, outdoor enthusiast, or just really, really likes plants, check out a few of our gift ideas! Most of the products listed below are produced by small businesses, like ours, so go show them some love! Note: Classic City Arborists is in no way partnered with any of the brands or sellers of these items, and receives no monetary incentive for choosing them. Bee Drinking Garden Ball  The textures of these pretty glass decorations catch water droplets to hydrate busy pollinators. A few of these in any garden will not only add some colorful appeal, but also help out the very important bee population! Personalized Family Signpost  If you’re looking for something a little more personal, consider this cute and customizable family signpost. Whether family members live near or far, this sign will bring all of them together. Gardener’s Tool Seat For the avid gardener who needs to be a little nicer to their knees, check out this lightweight, folding garden stool that comes with all the pockets they’ll need to keep everything within arm’s reach. One-Handed Dirt Digging Tool  Whether you want to make your favorite gardener’s life a little easier, or help out someone with arthritis or another mobility limitation, this one-handed dirt digging tool is definitely a winner. Gardening and Florist Tool Belt Keep all your tools right where you need them with this handy tool belt made of water-resistant canvas. The adjustable belt means it will fit most anybody, and the large pockets will fit all your favorite tools! Garden Markers  These minimalist wooden garden markers will help any gardener keep track of what they planted where – and the best part is they are sold individually, so you can select only the ones you know they need! Self-Watering Dinosaur Planters  The younger gardener in your life will love how these cute dinosaur planters stick their tongues out to water themselves! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  We’ve featured a lot of oak trees as our Tree of the Month, but it’s high time we feature Quercus georgiana, the oak tree named after our fair Peach State! Despite the familiar moniker, you may not have heard of the Georgia oak before. These deciduous red oaks are pretty rare, and are actually on many conservationist watch lists, as their population borders on endangered.
Of course, some Georgia oaks will follow a more stereotypical “tree” growth pattern, and reach heights upwards of 50 feet. Domestic specimens, such as in landscaping, are also often pruned and guided to grow this way. If you’re willing to wait, they make great shade trees in the summer! Georgia oak leaves follow the same 5-finger pattern of other oaks, though the lobes are less defined than other species. The bright green leaves are shiny and waxy on the surface, with hairless, pale-green undersides. In the fall, these leaves will change to rust-reds and warm browns, making them a colorful addition to Georgia’s autumn foliage displays.  The bark of the Georgia oak can range from light gray to light brown in color, and will mature from smooth to scaly as the tree ages. New twigs and leaf buds appear reddish-brown. Georgia oaks are monoecious, which means both male and female reproductive organs are present on a single tree. However, the species is self-incompatible, which means that they require another of their species to cross-pollinate with in order to reproduce.  A properly pollinated Georgia oak will grow small brownish-gray acorns that reach barely a half-inch long on average. These acorns are a treasured source of food for the surrounding ecosystem, but may be a nuisance in your backyard, so be sure to weigh the pros and cons before adding a Georgia oak to your landscaping! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  Whether it’s the sugar maple in your neighborhood with the stunning yellow leaves, or the mottled mountain ranges with more colors than you can count, Georgia’s fall foliage is a sight to behold! If you’re interested in creating a seasonal spectacle in your own backyard, check out this list of the best trees to plant for decoration in Georgia. Maple Trees Maple trees are the poster children for fall color. Depending on the species, they can range from brilliant reds to deep golden yellows, and everything in between. Maples come in a wide variety, so you can pick what works best for your yard. Shumard Oak Shumard oaks are hardy and adaptable, making them a popular landscaping choice in neighborhoods, city streets, and parks alike. The fact that they show off dappled oranges and yellows in the fall is just a bonus! Sweetgum Trees Though the gumballs can be a nuisance, many find them a small price to pay for the beautiful reds, oranges, purples, and yellows the sweetgum tree turns in the fall. Dogwood Tree The dogwood is known for its lovely white and pink flowers in the spring, but did you know these trees also offer some gorgeous color in the fall? In addition to bright red berries, dogwood leaves turn a deep reddish-purple as the weather grows colder. Ginko Tree With their uniquely-shaped leaves, ginko trees are already a statement piece. But in the fall, those fan-like leaves turn a uniform light yellow, making them even more beautiful to look at. Sassafras Tree Sassafras trees also have pretty unique leaves, shaped like little mittens. Any given sassafras tree may turn yellow, orange, red, or even purple in the fall, making for a fun colorful surprise. Black Tupelo The native black tupelo tree offers an especially spectacular fall display. You’ll find yellows, oranges, reds, purples, and more all on the same tree – often all on the same branch! River Birch River birches are beloved for their white and grey peeling bark, but are also adored for their golden yellow leaves in the fall. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  It’s October, which means Halloween is right around the corner. And whether you’ve put up decorations or not, most houses still look the part – thanks to some large golden spiders and their larger golden webs. These creepy crawlies are Joro spiders, an invasive species that’s been spreading across Georgia (and the Southeast) for the last few years. The Joro InvasionUnlike most invasive species, which can be detrimental to the environments they invade, Joros are actually pretty harmless. They don’t prey on any crops, and don’t have any special preferences for their meals, so they aren’t likely to decimate any native insect populations. In fact, Joros have actually aided in reducing the number of brown stinkbugs.  The main drawback of the Joro invasion right now is the sheer amount of them. Their population keeps growing exponentially season after season, but luckily, leading scientists studying them believe that their numbers will level out with time. Thankfully, Joro spiders don’t present any danger to us humans. While they look pretty scary, and can definitely be a nuisance when they build a web right outside your front door, they are unlikely to try and take a bite unless provoked. Even then, their mouths are so small, they can’t really do any damage. As with most creatures in nature, if you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone. What do Joro spiders look like?As with many arachnids, the males of the species are diminutive and less noticeable. Though they can often be found along the same web as the female Joros, you likely won’t be able to spot the males at all. Their muted, orange-ish brown coloring helps them blend easily into their environment.  The Joro spiders everyone’s talking about are the females. With their thick abdomen and long legs, female Joros are easily one of the more intimidating arachnids in our area. Their bodies are striped with a bright yellow and a muted greenish black, and their legs are shiny black with golden bands. The splash of red on the underside of their abdomens makes them even more intimidating, as red coloring is nature often means “Danger!” Aren’t they just banana spiders?Female Joro spiders are often confused with banana spiders thanks to their yellow coloring, and that moniker isn’t 100% incorrect. “Banana spider” is a term used to refer to at least five different arachnid variations of orb-weavers. The Joro spider is also an orb-weaver, and is very similar in appearance to the classic banana spiders.  The easiest way to tell the difference between a Joro spider and a banana spider is the web. Banana spider webs look just like you expect a classic one to, with each strand nearly invisible from how thin it is. Banana spiders usually create a single thick zig-zag line bisecting the center of their web that earns them the nickname “writing spiders.” Joro webs, on the other hand, are made of thick golden strands that appear much more half-hazard than standard spider webs. This, along with their sheer massive size, make them fairly easy to spot, and therefore fairly easy to avoid. What can I do to get rid of them?Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot we can do right now to reduce their numbers. Right now, they’re almost like hydras; for every Joro you kill, two more will take its place. But they won’t be around forever. Most Joros will have died off by the end of November. Leading UGA entomologists encourage you to leave them be. While they may not be a joy to have around, they do help control the pest population, and can decrease the number of bugs you see in your home as the weather cools.  In the meantime, their webs all over your porch certainly make for a spooky Halloween decoration! AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio.  Quercus nigra, more commonly known as the water oak, is a highly adaptable oak species native to the southeastern United States. These handsome trees have also been called names like the spotted oak, duck oak, punk oak, orange oak, and even possum oak. Though naturally found in swampy areas along ponds and river beds (which is why we call them water oaks!), this species is surprisingly content with almost any soil composition. Water oaks can handle well-drained conditions, and even grow well in compacted soil, meaning they get on just fine in the hard red clay Georgia is known for.  This adaptability doesn’t extend to sun exposure, though. Water oaks require full sun, which means at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day. Some trees will tolerate light shade, and most can weather occasional cloudy, rainy days. But too much shade can be fatal. Luckily, there’s no shortage of sunlight in the South! Water oaks are one of the fastest-growing yet shortest-lived oak species. They can easily add more than 2 full feet of height each year until they reach maturity, when they top out at around 50 to 80 feet tall. But they live only an average of 60 to 80 years. The sprawling canopy of these trees generally spread just as wide as they do tall, making for excellent shade from the summer sun. These canopies vary in overall shape, with some staying more rounded while others grow more conically.  Though the canopies are visually attractive, and often lead to these trees being used in landscaping and cityscaping, water oak wood is notoriously weaker than other oak woods. The limbs are liable to break and snap under their own weight, and are especially at risk in high wind conditions. The main trunk of the water oak is often slenderer than one might expect for its size, reaching only a few feet in diameter over the course of the tree’s life. The bark on these trunks starts out smooth and creamy brown. As the tree ages, rough and scaly ridges appear, and the color fades to grayish-black.  Water oak leaves can be anywhere from 1 to 5 inches long and ½ an inch to 2 inches wide. They can feature as many as five gently-sloping lobes, but may also be smooth with no lobes at all. Their color ranges from dark green to bluish-green on top. The underside is generally a pale bluish-green with rust-colored hairs that run along the leaf veins. Despite the wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, water oaks are very easily identifiable by their leaves alone. All water oak leaves feature a rounded lobe at their tip that looks almost like a drop of water.  In the fall, water oaks offer a showy display of yellow foliage that they hold on to well into the winter months before finally shedding. Cylindrical male flowers and female spikes lead to an abundance of acorns that average a mere half-inch in length. These acorns are often striated brown and black, and are topped with a shallow cap. They require two seasons to mature before they can grow into their own tree. As with all oaks, water oaks are susceptible to oak wilt, an often-fatal disease. Their softer wood is prime real estate for pests such as nut weevils, leaf miners, oak lace bugs, and other borers. If you suspect your water oak (or another tree) may be infested or infected, check out our article on the signs of decay! For more species spotlights, browse our collection of Tree of the Month articles. AuthorEmily Casuccio is sister and sister-in-law to Rebekah and Scott Rushing, and has over half a decade of experience in copywriting, copyediting, proofreading, and developmental storyboarding. She's worked with both published and undiscovered authors on both fiction and nonfiction, and takes pride in supporting local businesses. Her passion lies in the written word and helping authors of all capacities realize their dreams and achieve their fullest potential. To learn more about her, read samples of her work, or contact her, visit her online portfolio. |
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23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24