Same here, those then dogwood and beech are the most obvious.

These are nice.

Another...

This one is odder than most...

This one has a fan...

I have more of these than I first thought.

These are pretty prominent...

How about some bizarrely coarse bur oak buds (a challenge to viburnumvalley's "odder than most" viburnum flower bud...
hortster

Well, toronado3800 and whaas: what say ye? The gray weather here at the Valley has not precluded taking some pics.

For closeup focus frenetics - put your hand behind the bud you want to capture, focus, and then remove your hand before snapping the shutter. Use a friend, neighbor, spouse, or small child if your arms are too short.

This topic so aligns with an approach that I've often promulgated: get to know your plants in their dormancy. By doing so, you will learn to relate (and identify) with them on a much deeper level than just with their most obvious traits of foliage, flower, and fruit.

There have been whole books written on the subject. Here's one - a recent gift from my mom (2011, Timber Press Inc.).

Hello, hortster!

Of course, you meant a volley across the Valley...

That's a great image of that oak - is it a grizzled veteran, or has it just experienced some recent challenges to growth? It reminds me of the pattern exhibited by the ancient patriarchal trees of the central KY Bluegrass region - Quercus macrocarpa and Quercus muehlenbergii among them.

So - the conversation continues. My "odder than most" post was NOT a viburnum - though there is one in the above images. I'm happy to go back and ID them with the edit feature provided, or leave these as volleys back across the heartland.

Another from out in the yard...

One more in the waning light - had to defrock this of marcescent foliage...

V V - "volley across the valley" - touche! 'Tis not an old, grizzled oak but a ten or twelve year old one that has suffered two previous years of heavy heat and drought (this year was a reprieve). But MY Quercus muehlenbergii's twigs grow smooth and gentle like a pin oak.
The bud you pictured looks very similar to the buds on either my V. lantana or V. x Juddii but richer golden-red color. Admittedly, no double buds adjacent. So what is it?
By the way, excellent pics.
hortster

{{gwi:476050}}

Any guesses? I know what it is. (right click any image and select View Image)

Dax

This IS a guess - Juglans regia???
hortster

Nice to see local dogwoods (cornus florida) once again covered in buds after a couple dry years that produced few.

"odder than most" ... Fatsia japonica?

Wrong Genus Hortster, same Family : )

Anyone care to try their guesses at these?

2)
{{gwi:476058}}

3) This one is tough! It's growing here in IL despite what some might say. It's a medium size tree.
{{gwi:476062}}

And one for the VV - We'll see how sharp he is! or anyone!
4)
{{gwi:476064}}

Dax

Nice pics!

OK, gardener365, how many viburnum flower buds look similar? ;o) This one is my V. lantana 'Mohican' not yet defoliated.
hortster

I haven't studied them quite honestly! LOL I've planted a Blue Muffin, a seedling of 'Red Feather'; a seedling of carlesii 'Diana'; and two nudum cultivars and the one above which is LOL drumroll.....V. burejaeticum. Excellent point Horster! ha

Dax

Dax, is 3 some species of sumac?

This post was edited by j0nd03 on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 18:53

Yes. Rhus chinensis 'September Beauty'.

Dax

Number 2, Aesculus?

Its dark when I leave and dark when I get home...no time to take pics unless its top of mind on the weekend. Maybe this weekend...nope too damn cold. 14 for a high.

Its a going to be a brutal winter for the upper midwest.

Number 2 is a Shellbark Hickory I think. They tend to overwinter their rachis (leaf stems) in the winter...they'll curl up more over time. If not a Shellbark, it could just be another type of hickory (maybe Shagbark?). If you lightly hit the rachis, see if they easily fall off or see if they stick to the branch.

That's right JQ. Carya laciniosa. I knocked off a rachis in that photo with minimal but some effort.

#1 is Carya tomentosa. This is a beauty of a tree.

Carya tomentosa
{{gwi:476068}}

Carya tomentosa
{{gwi:476071}}

Dax

Dax -- beautiful mockernut hickory.

Beng, I was really happy to stumble onto that one. I stood a long ways back to get a photo of it. It's gotta be 70'+.

Dax

What specific features did you use to identify the Carya laciniosa? Could have fooled me...and obviously did!

***
Posted by viburnumvalley z5/6 KY (My Page) on
Sun, Dec 1, 13 at 15:12
***

Vib, your pic w/the grape-like buds at first looked like paulownia flower-buds, but now I'm not sure -- stem/leaf-buds not quite right for that.

I'd guess Hamamelis for the grape-like buds.

A lot of people don't really appreciate their "bare" trees - which, as these pics prove, aren't "bare" at all...just leafless, allowing us to see the rest of them.

Well, I've been off the clock for awhile...I'll ID the buds above.

"These are nice..." Viburnum setigerum

"Another..." Aesculus sp.

"...odder than most..." Firmiana simplex

"This one has a fan." Fraxinus quadrangulata

"...more of these than I first thought..." Hamamelis x intermedia

"...pretty prominent..." Rhus glabra

"Another from out in the yard..." Viburnum sieboldii

"...marcescent..." Quercus dentata

Nice nut trees, Dax.

This buds for you.

Frank