Monthly Progress #80

It has been a full 7 years... Today is the 7th anniversary of December 17th, 2010. Time has a way to travel faster than one can imagine. You look away, and one year has silently gone by... year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day, hour after hour... a new year has arrived. Here we are at the waning days of 2017. A new year is dawning in just 2 weeks. The ficus tree is dormant, putting out still young growths just to prove that it is full of life inside its trunk and branches. Seven years? Consider this: "The oldest verified age for an angiosperm tree is 2293 years for the Sri Maha Bodhi Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa) planted in 288 BC at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka; this is also the oldest human-planted tree with a known planting date." Ref.: "http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1181." So, our infant tree here has a lot to look up to and we certainly will not be around to see how it will fare about 23 centuries in the future, in the year of 4,310!.

Monthly Progress #79

Two months after hurricane Irma hit the Miami area, creating havoc felt today and beyond. The ficus survived and life goes on... It is in the familiar dormant stage this time of the year, but many new growths have already sprouted, however slowly. Work around here is overwhelming and the tall grass has been tamed somewhat... but lots more work is awaiting.

Monthly Progress #78

Here is the ficus tree today. It has survived hurricane Irma as well as can be expected. It does look bare but that is usually the case at the end of the year. The Montgomery botanical center has suffered quite a bit from the winds of Irma and many large trees were uprooted, including the heart breaking death of the state of FLorida champion tree, the Cananga odorata. Work to recover is hard and time consuming. This particular area is waiting for its turn... and the grass is knee high as seen in this photo. we are happy the hurricane season is nearing its end.

Monthly Progress #77

September is the most active month for hurricanes in Miami. This year, we had the visit of hurricane Irma! Miami was very lucky when Irma, a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane could have come and hit it directly. Instead, Irma hit the Florida keys with full force, while Miami only suffered from her fringes, with wind force equivalent to a category 1 hurricane. We lost power for about 2 weeks, and many, many trees were down. Fortunately, the Ficus religiosa escaped and is still standing. Sadly, a Cananga odorata, our state champion, and my favorite tree here was down!

Monthly Progress #76

The ficus tree continues its growth now that it is established. This area is hot and humid today and well populated with mosquitoes hungry for blood. Weed is growing wild as maintenance is lagging due to aggressive growth of grass and anything else. One can see the explosive growth of weed by comparing this photo with the photo of last month.

Monthly Progress #75

At three months in addition to a grueling 6 years of struggle, this Ficus religiosa is finally established. It's about time. Now, this tree looks very healthy and many new growths are rounding its shape nicely. Ficus trees are long living and this tree has many more years to grow to a large shade tree at this location in the future.

Monthly Progress #74

Look at this ficus tree today. It looks magnificent. We had copious amount of rain for the past few weeks... and the tree has received some extra tender loving care in form of welcome nutrient supplement... Thank you, Christine!

Monthly Progress #73

This is the first month of the 7th year. Time goes on like clockwork and no one can stop it... This tree has never looked as good as it does today. New growths came out in force as predicted last month when the tree was bare. It does look very good, and I am happy!

Monthly Progress #72

This is Monthly Progress #72! That is 12 x 6! It has been 6 years since this tree was planted at this location. Year in, year out, this tree has struggled to grow ever so slowly. But it is here to stay. Decidedly, this Ficus religiosa is semi deciduous. All the leaves on the upper branches have fallen. The bottom is growing, not vigorously but patiently. New leaves should start any day now... The seventh year has begun counting...

Monthly Progress #70 & #71

The clock ticks on, and it is again time to rest for this ficus tree. Growth has slowed to a crawl and last month's report was skipped. Now, the tree still looks dormant and it is definitely semi-deciduous in nature because many leaves have fallen off. This tree is taking its time to grow...

Monthly Progress #69

This is the beginning of a new year, January of 2017. We are in the dry season of the year in Miami and trees will need to wait until April for the rain to come... This ficus tree is pampered and it gets some water once weekly. Although it has sprouted many small branches in the bottom of its trunk, new growth probably will have to wait until April to make further progress. What's a few months... Let's wait.