Ilex rotunda

A specimen of Ilex (Ilex rotunda) is dominating the valley in the Japanese locality of Yasu (Kochi, Shikoku).  
In some years (2005, 2012…) it is decorated by an enormous amount of red fruits.  
In other years, this specimen doesn't bear ANY fruit.  
I am observing this behavior for many years, although I didn't achieve a clear understanding for its reasons.  
Many trees species have irregular seedlings and do collaborate with other surrounding trees species to either "starve" their environment (consequently reducing the populations of the various living things which affect their seeds), or to simultaneously produce huge quantities of fruits, well beyond what the then-reduced populations of living things can handle (thus maximizing the chances for their seeds to survive, germinate and grow).  These strategies however rarely result in "no fruiting at all" for several years.
The reasons behind this Ilex behavior are almost certainly similar (this tree may have "ennemies" and / or symbiotic "friends" with cycles comparable to its seedling behavior).   From now on I shall record and study and report!

Ilex rotunda April 2012 specimen 8659 (http://www.naturetum.com/)  

Castanea sativa

 (http://www.naturetum.com/) 

Castanea sativa in the Naturetum champ du Haut

Nous avons tant de magnifiques châtaigniers (Castanea sativa;  castanea [latin] -> kastanon [grec] réfère à Kastanon, une ville de Thessalie renommée dans l’antiquité pour la qualité des châtaignes qu’on y récoltait) dans notre Naturetum de Sologne (http://www.naturetum.com/).

Des arbres qui donnent tout: 

la beauté de leur dôme arrondi qui permet de les identifier de loin toute l'année, 

leur somptueuse floraison du début de l'été qui les fait apparaître comme de gigantesques rhododendrons (les fleurs mâles exhalent un parfum de sperme que d'aucunes et parfois d'aucuns apprécient), 

leur croissance si rapide doublée d'une grande longévité.  Le châtaignier aux cent chevaux situé sur la commune de Sant’Alfio en Sicile (sur les pentes de l’Etna) atteindrait un âge estimé entre 2000 et 4000 ans.  Et dans notre Naturetum nous avons des châtaigniers plusieurs fois centenaires,

leur bois qui fait de beaux meubles et de beaux parquets, mais aussi des piquets très droits de plus de 15 mètres se conservant très longtemps sans traitements,

leurs couleurs automnales,

mais surtout leurs merveilleuses châtaignes, plaisir du riche comme du pauvre, et qui une fois extraites de leur bogue piquante peuvent se cuisiner de bien des façons, à l'étouffée dans des cendres, en délicieux marrons glacés ou bien enveloppés d'une pâte de riz…,

un fruit qui est très beau aussi et dans sa forme, et dans le chatoiement de ses couleurs, 

et les sangliers, les chevaux, etc. adorent leurs bogues, à s'en donner une indigestion, comme il est arrivé un jour au poney Farandole!

Prunus satozakura

Satozakuras in Autumn clothing
Naturetum de Sologne

This name is not an officially accepted name, but this is the one I use to label specific Japanese Cherries.  They were Cherries ("Zakura" or "Sakura" in Japanese) often selected as the ornament of a village ("Sato" in Japanese).  Many of them are now internationally known and cloned, for the pleasure of million of admirers.  
Our Naturetum de Sologne (http://www.naturetum.com/) global target is to protect biodiversity and we do have such a program for the beautiful Prunus sargentii, with many specimens issued from seeds collected in Hokkaido shriving in our woods, asides Prunus avium which occurs naturally therein.
Satozakuras, however, are one of the limited exception for which we constitute a collection of cultivars, because of their unique characters and beauty.  See photos and come to visit our Naturetum, they are magnificent in flowers!

Prunus satozakura 'Tai Haku'
Naturetum de Sologne 

Prunus satozakura 'Ukon'
Naturetum de Sologne

Berberis

From where comes my passion for Berberis.  From the marvelous sculptures of their leaves?  From their delicate blooming?  From the subtle fragrances of their crumpled leaves?  From the enlightening of their Autumn coloring?  From the glistening green of their Summer foliage?  From the gracious stand of many of them?  Or from their fiercely-sharpened thorns?…
At the moment in the Naturetum de Sologne (http://www.naturetum.com/) we have referenced more than an hundred fifty specimen, belonging to ten different species and to twenty different hybrids and culltivars.  We will  love to enlarge the collection, providing we have the funding for more shrubs maintenance (on the long term, shrubs are more demanding than trees). 

Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea  specimen 258
Naturetum de Sologne  allée de FarandoleA

Berberis x frikartii  specimen
Naturetum de Sologne  

Je ne sais d'où vient ma folie des Berberis.  Des merveilleuses sculptures de leurs feuilles?  De leurs délicates floraisons?  Des parfums subtils émanant des feuilles froissées?  Des éblouissantes couleurs d'automne?  Du vert brillant de leur feuillage d'été?  Du port gracieux de beaucoup d'entre eux?  Ou bien de leurs redoutables épines acérées?...
Nous avons maintenant dans le Naturetum de Sologne (http://www.naturetum.com/) référencé plus de cent cinquante spécimens, répartis sur plus de dix espèces et sur plus de vingt cultivars et hybrides différents.  Nous irons beaucoup plus loin si nous avons les fonds nécessaires à l'entretien des arbustes, beaucoup plus onéreux dans le long terme que celui des arbres!
Admirez sur l'instant ceux de ces photos, et je reviendrai vous en parler.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides

This is a relic tree, considered as extinct till its rediscovery in China in 1941.   I love its silhouette, the light shining green of its new leaves in early spring, its beautiful Autumn colors…
Many of the trees planted are issued from a few seeds received from China in 1948 and thus show signs of degenerescence, due to poor genetic diversity.  I recommend to those who want to grow that tree to carefully check the origin of the plants (cuttings, seedlings and place where seeds had been harvested, etc.).  It is possible to get fresh seeds to China (unfortunately too many are collected, endangering the natural seedlings of the remaining wild trees, which number less than 6,000).
Eleven specimen are living in the Naturetum de Sologne (http://www.naturetum.com/) so far, with at least nine growing very well.  We intend to saw more with the aim to have at least one hundred trees of different genetics.

Baby Boars too do Dance; la Ronde des Marcassins

In the evening of an early-June day, two of my friends and myself were walking in La Cloche Nauretum  (http://www.naturetum.com/) along the Agénie alley.
As we approached La Martinière lake, we suddenly realized that on the bank left to the lake more than twenty baby wild boars (Sus scrota) were playing together.  At least three families considering the differences in size and in robe colors.  They in fact were running after each other in a dance-like perfect circle.  It seems unbelievable that such a play occurs and more even that it could be observed.
For more than fifteen minutes, and from a distance of less than fifty meters, we could watch this extraordinary show.
Then warning calls came out from the near-buy common broom (Cytisus scoparius) bushes, presumably from mother boars.  Mothers may have suddenly realized that we humans were so closed, and were urging their progeniture to hide back to the bushes, which babies did, though rather slowly as if regretfully.


The theater representation was over but the exquisite remembrance is high in our hearts.  And I am happy that my friends were there and can corroborate this incredible reporting!
I would like to know if anyone else in the World had a similar experience?

La Fercelle lake: Autumn

La Fercelle lake like many others in Sologne was probably made in the middle-age by monks, with the purpose of providing a proteins' source to the local populations.  
This lake is depicted in the Napoléon fiscal mapping ("Cadastre") in the beginning of the 19th. Century.  I didn't find (nor really search for) older maps.  
In the late part of the 20th. Century, the lake land was cultivated and its sluice-gate disabled.  When it became a part of La Cloche Naturetum (http://www.naturetum.com/), we restablish the waters and can now admire many species of visiting water birds.  Especially the lake is a stopover for migrators:  as it is situated in a large open plain, birds can see it from very far, and can also feel secure (as they easily monitor its surroundings).

In Autumn, La Fercelle is a fairyland, with migrating birds flying in and out, swimming, etc., and the splendid colors of the trees in its North.
Please come and visit us!