English oak is "the oak" here, growing wild everywhere and also planted. Other than that, few white oaks are planted. Rarely I see some Quercus Cerris also, but they are from yet another subgenus.

Maakia, for some reason I can't seem to get the picture to load.

One trick when trying to load pictures that are high definition to this forum is to open the picture on your phone first and take a screenshot of it. The screenshot is usually pretty small in size and doesn't lose all that much information. Then when you post a picture use the acreenshot instead.

Big Q rubra in Hagerstown, MD:

That tree looks magnificent, beng12! I'm just probably obsessed with oak trees way too much, but it really looks great in my opinion, haha. I wonder how old it is. :)

Not sure, but I'd guess not as old as one might think -- maybe 80 yrs. This is close to where I grew up, and there's another red oak nearby that's almost as big and I know it was planted when that particular house was built in the 1940s.

Probable Acer x freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’

Quercus palustris (I’ve never seen that much true orange on a pin oak!)

Japanese maple from seed. Acer palmatum.

Downeast Maine, taken this morning.

That pin oak is stunning, hairmetal4ever.

Mike, I love your garden. Are you in Washington?

Three more taken this morning. The middle photo is a couple paperbark maples. The top photo in both sets is a Fireglow Japanese Maple, a tree I love so much a second is arriving on Saturday. I have 30 Japanese maples, soon to be 33.

It’s my neighbor‘s tree, Molly.

It usually colors well, but this year is interesting!

White oak. This particular specimen always colors pretty well, even in “off” years.

Molly..beautiful Japanese maples..I love them too..I have 14..

Thanks, nicholsworth! Here's a G-Seedling, which has bronze leaves in the summer, a Margaret Bee, which is one of my faves, but I can't photo it well, for whatever reason, and a tiny, pretty Abbys Weeping that's been red for two months.

nicholsworth, you sure have an artist's eye. Your photos are beautiful.

I have just one threadleaf..it's very cute but so short..my big trees are so tall I wanted taller understory trees.. most of them are Bloodgoods..a couple of Red Emperor..

Molly..I take lots of shots and delete the duds lol..it's a pretty lot and we've worked hard since March 2005..it's pretty here now..

Wow, nicholsworth! I too have a woodland garden. I had a state forester visit last week and he said I have an arboretum. I've planted some moosewood/striped maples for understory trees, 17 sugars maples, and I just planted an American hornbeam/musclewood too. They all like some shade. I didn't like the pic of my paperbark maples, so I took a couple more and like these more.

these are some of the trees that I know we have..22 ash trees (treated since 2012) 6 ash were removed..3 of them were small..burr oak, sugar maple, hickory, hornbeam, tulip poplar, linden, hackberry, mulberry, elm, box elder(ugh), redbud, beech and buckeye..there's probably others I don't know..we've planted Japanese maples, Kousa dogwoods, Amur maples, 1 Autumn Blaze maple and 1 Forest Pansy redbud (died)..I would love a visit with an expert..I should check into that..

The visit was free. He was a state forester. I emailed him one day and he came the next, spending three hours teaching me. You have great tree variety. Here are mine: white pines up to 150 years old, red spruce, white spruce, cedar, various oaks including two scarlets that I planted, red, sugar, Japanese, amur, and paperbark maples, Kentucky coffeetree, elm, black cherry, black walnut, hybrid chestnut, larch, balsam fir, hemlock, beech, sassafras, tulip poplar, sourwood, black tupelo, tri-color beech, American hornbeam, and probably a couple I've overlooked. So, if I have an arboretum, according to the expert, then you do too!

I'm going to do some research and try to set up a visit!.I would love to learn from an expert the species, age, size etc of my trees..we do have a variety..you reminded me that I also have black cherry!..hard to remember them all isn't it?..and the neighbors have some that I don't - sycamore, black locust (ugh thorns) and walnut to name a few..both of us are blessed to live in a woods..

There are so many measurable health bennies from living with trees, starting with our immune systems. I envy your coming forester visit. I wish I could schedule another and learn some more. Locusts are wicked. I once lived beside a park with locusts and a neighbor's dog lost an eye to a thorn.

I'm glad that I don't have a black locust..a tree trimmer told me they hate them..I had a sweet gum at my last house..it was a nice tree but the "spiky balls" were very annoying..trees are messy but worth it..

Sweet gums are sweet trees. I'm just a little too far north to plant one. Pity.

I think all of us want plants that won't grow where we live :-(

this is off topic for this thread but my neighbor has bananas that overwinter in the ground..so impressive I want to show you..

Incredible! Of course, I fear the day is coming when Mainers will be growing bananas too and you'll have to go to Newfoundland to see a sugar maple.

There are cold hardy species of bananas (Musa basjoo/Japanese fiber banana) has corms that overwinter in the ground, especially if mulched. Tops will off course die off. They are probably hardy to Zone 6b or so.

that's what they are..they cut them back and mulch heavily..it's unusual to see them here..they have so many and they're so big..

they're beautiful Molly :-) the colors on my Japanese maples are getting richer and more vivid..my big trees are losing leaves..the tree in the first pic is always darker than my others but I love it..I bought it and I have the tag somewhere..I thought it was a Bloodgood but maybe not?..the second pic is from a distance of the same tree..pics taken yesterday..

NW, I also struggle to capture even a chunk of my garden in a single pic. With my last garden in Wisconsin, I did successfully photograph the majority of my garden by climbing on the roof. If I can find those photos, I'll share them. I did plant six Japanese maples yesterday, as well as an American hornbeam and a tulip poplar, but my 1.8 acre arboretum is starting to fill up. I do have another 2.3 acres abutting it, but it's packed with native trees and I'd have to fell hundreds of trees to crack the canopy. At 62 years of age, I have neither the energy nor money the do it. I could call a logger, but they'd cull the best trees and that would defeat my intent. Sigh. P.S. - I couldn't find the overhead photos of my former garden, but while looking, I found some photos of gardens in England. The first two are Oxford and the other three were taken just off the Thames.

Molly..I'm 63 and clumsy..it would be hysterical to see the look on my husband's face if I said "I'll be on the roof taking pictures"..I'll have to be satisfied with lots of pics of small bits..I couldn't handle as much property as you have..my half an acre is enough for me..I'm a SLOW gardener..those English gardens are so beautiful..I doubt if I could maintain them..as pretty as they are I would miss my shade and the feel of my towering trees..I think leaving your 2.3 acres of woods intact is a good decision!!..it makes me sad that so much of the earth is "cleared" and "developed"..I would love more Japanese maples if I can find a good location for them..they're special aren't they?..

Hit or miss in my area north of Indianapolis. Many of my favorite spots have not colored, but others look good. This is a seedling Japanese maple and Northern Pin Oak at my Mom’s house yesterday.

Nicholsworth, Maine is different than most of America, as we have more trees today than we did a hundred years ago. However, our forests are not like they once were. They remind me of a rugby scrum, a pile of flora, all trying to win the light lottery. Even in midday in the summer, our forests are dark, so the forest floor is denuded. They also lack the diversity they once had. I wish I had the energy to crack that canopy and let some light reach the forest floor, as moss, blueberries, and ferns would spontaneously appear. The forester said that a forest's health can by measured by its fauna. The more critters, the healthier the flora. Not surprisingly, the part of my forest where I've opened the canopy is what the deer, turkeys, and squirrels prefer. They'll just have to make do with the acre and a half that I've thinned. Yep, Japanese maples are the best! Say, if you ever come to New England, I'll give you free lodging and a complimentary tour guide as long as we can talk trees on my front porch!

Molly..a great offer!!..talking trees on a porch in Maine sounds wonderful..if I make it to Maine it's a deal :-) I've heard that selectively removing trees benefits the remaining trees..they get more light, water and nutrients right?..when I came here there were trees that needed to be removed but the previous owners were too cheap (so I've heard)..they would've been better off to spend the money and work on the house and the yard..it took them awhile to sell it..I was drawn to the wooded lot but the offer we made was lower than they wanted I'm sure..but they took it..we've been working hard since we moved here in 2005..but no regrets it's pretty here..

Awesome pics everyone!

I feel like I'm in a different country with the grass now going dormant. Doesn't help that we're having winter like temps.

We got 1.5" of rain a few days ago so that helps going into winter.

Oh fun...looks like 1-2 of snow tomorrow morning now that I'm checking the weather. Sometimes we don't get that until mid December.

Molly, with a demise of ashes, forests here everywhere have opened up in spots. What happens then is the forest floor becomes an entanglement of shrubs, vines & new saplings in those newly opened areas.

Molly, yes, I'm in Washington, near Seattle. I'm glad you like my garden.

pics from last week...thats all she wrote for my neck of the woods.

is that larch?

Sure is and another one!

We have had several light freezes (no colder than 30). Tonight, and more so Wednesday night, should be hard freezes.

Mid 20s tonight and lower 20s Wednesday as it looks now.

Wow so this is for real? I was supposed to plant acorns/nuts, wrap tree trunks, cut the grass, fertilize and finish putting the furniture away.

windshield is -2 F.

Snow from yesterday

Had our first Zero reading early this AM. About 10* now with a high of 20*.

A little early for this kind of stuff but can happen.

This season is cracking up to be more wintery than what we've had for the last several years.

Anytime, Nicholsworth! bengz6westmd, I see that when they clear cut log. It's a brawl for light.