The Arbor Day Plot
Listening to the Murmurs of Trees
By Maureen Dunphy
On January 1, 2019, I decided to make a resolution that might someday make a difference for my neighborhood and community while contributing to a greener future. This blog’s purpose is to provide a fertile ground to nurture me through the process.
The Planting of Princess E
Where we left off: Elizabeth of Milarch Nursery tagging the Princess Emily L to R: Princess E; Elizabeth of Milarch's; Kevin of Singing Tree; Craig (co-adoptee)Princess E having branches tied for transportingFront-end forklift digging in under PE's rootballPrincess E...
The Dogwood Chase
Okay, so I'm a tree nerd. I know at least two others. (And, you know who you are.) I woke up this morning at 5:00, and I was too excited to go back to sleep even though the alarm wasn't set to go off until 7:00. So, I got up and went out in my bathrobe and bare feet...
A Perfect Day for Making the Bed
Last year, in preparation for the brickwork across the back of our carport storage area, I spent a very long day removing a very full bed of very old euonymus. That mass of entangled vine stretched the width of this new bed and came out about four feet from where the...
“Cherokee Princess”
Coming to her forever-home, she finally is. Just met her--while masked, of course--Thursday morning during the "At-Risk Hour" at the English Gardens in Royal Oak. One of her kind--an Eastern flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)--was supposed to have been planted on our...
Happy Arbor Day 2020!
Who could have imagined that a pandemic would prevent the planting of a dogwood tree today on Arbor Day 2020? It did. But, today, Michigan's Governor Whitmer relaxed restrictions for landscapers: LANSING, Mich. — Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed executive order...
5 writers go into an arb …
En Plein Air Writing In July, I had the distinct pleasure of leading five writers in the experience of writing en plein air. We met just behind the Mahany/Meininger Senior Community Center of Royal Oak—on Marais Ave., just north of 13 Mile Rd.—under a perfect sky. Do...
Maureen Dunphy
Author & Writing Coach
Article Archive
- The Planting of Princess E
- The Dogwood Chase
- A Perfect Day for Making the Bed
- “Cherokee Princess”
- Happy Arbor Day 2020!
- 5 writers go into an arb …
- A Second for a Serviceberry
- Searching for 1971 Champions
- Happy Arbor Day 2019 …
- When the “Day Before” Isn’t
- A New “Plan A”
- A Fool for April . . .
- Not just a 7th species . . . 7 more!
- Can you suggest a 7th tree?
- Hearts and Trumpets, Cigars and Fenceposts
- Singing Tree and the Honey Locust
- Arboretum Added
- Why Not?
- Resolved: Plant a Tree on Arbor Day 2019