More Reasons To Look Up To Mother Nature

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Look up! There's a lot to see in the bare branches of winter trees.

Tulip poplars dot the sky with what one of my horticultural teachers used to call 'candles' because their seed clusters around a center spire resemble the candles in cups that Christmas carolers carried in days gone by.

Tulip poplar flowers bloom at the top of these very tall trees, so they can be hard to see in spring. But since the trees have no leaves in winter, you can easily spot these shimmering remnants of those flowers now. Look up and see!

Our native Sycamore trees are something to see in winter too.

In addition to their pretty patterned bark, the sycamore fruits are round balls that dangle down on stalks, looking a lot like musical notes. As I was snapping the photo here, the power lines were in the way, but then I realized those dangling seed balls looked a lot like notes against the wires - creating the visual music of sycamores in the sky.