The Great Willamette Valley Ice Storm of '16 - 2 - Sequoia and Larch Trees - 8 original photos
Ice storms! Some trees are better at handling ice than others. Here's a look at how the big ice storm affected the Sequoia and Tamarack trees here at Haphazard Homestead.
Here's the first post on the Great Willamette Valley Ice Storm of 2016. I'll be showing how the ice affected other trees in future photosets, too, including River Birch, Douglas-fir, Eastern White Pine, and more.
Tamarack
Tamaracks and Larch trees are some of the few conifers that lose their needles in the fall. The lack of needles sure helped my tamarack weather the ice storm! I'm guessing that the weight of the ice was more than the weight of the needles in the summertime. But the branches still seemed to hold the weight just fine.
![tsuDSC03706-1_WEBc0f12.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03706-1_WEBc0f12.jpg)
When the needles turn yellow and fall, it can surprise people. A neighbor taking care of my place while I was traveling one autumn, thought he killed my tree when it lost its needles. He was relieved only the next spring, when the tree put on new growth.
![tsuDSC03708-1-1_WEB1e633.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03708-1-1_WEB1e633.jpg)
Until this fall, I assumed this tree was a Western Larch (Larix occidentalis) because they are native in Oregon. In fact, the Western Larch is the tree shown on our Oregon automobile license plates. But this year, my tree had cones for the first time. They were small ones, so identification is easy now. Turns out, it's an Eastern Larch, or Tamarack (Larix laricina). I guess I will have to find a Western Larch and plant it, too!
![tsuDSC03970-1_WEB110c4.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03970-1_WEB110c4.jpg)
Sequoia
I'm so lucky to have a Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in my yard. These trees naturally occur in only a small region of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. But they do well as landscape trees here in the Pacific Northwest.
![tsuDSC03951-1_WEB43a07.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03951-1_WEB43a07.jpg)
My sequoia tree handled the storm really well. The distribution of ice was uneven, with only the outer branches having much ice at all. It seems like the branches shed water really fast, too. So fast the rain couldn't freeze on the needles. It's often completely dry under this sequoia during rainstorms.
![tsuDSC03960-1_WEB06551.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03960-1_WEB06551.jpg)
![tsuDSC03959-1-2_WEBf233a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03959-1-2_WEBf233a.jpg)
![tsuDSC03956-1-3_WEB154ef.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03956-1-3_WEB154ef.jpg)
![tsuDSC03684-1_WEBcb41c.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/19/tsuDSC03684-1_WEBcb41c.jpg)
Have you seen trees affected by an ice storm? Have you had trees in your yard affected by ice?
Here's the first post on the Great Willamette Valley Ice Storm of 2016. Follow me to see more ice storm photosets, including the effect on other kinds of trees and plants, and more!
Haphazard Homestead
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Amazing! It's really beautiful :-)
Thanks! The ice is pretty, that's for sure. I'm glad these trees made it through the storm OK. Some of the others didn't do as well.
Gorgeous photos, and hopefully your trees will all survive. Seen a bit of this myself this last week. Hope it's about over...
Some did better than others, that's for sure! With the ice, I had a lot of birds at the feeder, too. That was nice.
Hard on the trees...at least the little birdies didn't freeze, hopefully...
I heard our Anna's Hummingbird today, so that was nice. I was worried about him. But he's back, noisy as ever, lol.
Hummer's are a classic. Used to buzz our helmets at work years ago, scared the hooey out of me whenever they whizzed by, which I think was the idea.
They are brave little birds. The terriers of the tiny bird world!
I am glad the damage to your trees is minimal.
Some kinds came through better than others. I'll be posting more soon. Around town, there's a 2-week state of emergency - just to coordinate with all the cleanup from the trees. There are still people without power - almost 2 weeks later - in some of the fanciest parts of town that had so many trees. You could sell your generator for some bucks, lol. Although I think a lot of folks from those neighborhoods are staying at the Hilton.
I love to see ice on trees, I know, I know, it's not good for them - thankfully many survive. I love the blue sky contrast. They are beautiful to look at. We had a bit of an ice storm but mostly it hardened to already fallen snow. I was just thinking this morning it might be a good day to take the camera out - the snow looks like meringue and the sun is out which would / should make for some good photos.
Snow is so beautiful! I hope you got some great photos. And more importantly, have a wonderful Christmas!
you too @haphazard-hstead - to you and yours. :)
wonderful photos.