Came across this profound passage of writing on native vs non-native trees & shrubs:

‘Our own trees & shrubs literally keep pace with the stars which shine in our northern skies. An astronomical floral almanack might almost be constructed...

...showing how, as the constellations marched on by night, the buds & leaves & flowers appeared by day.

The lower that brilliant Sirius sinks in the western sky after ruling the winter heavens, & the higher that red Arcturus rises, so the buds thicken, open, & bloom.

When the Pleiades begin to rise in the early eve, the leaves are turning colour, & the seed vessels of the flowers take the place of the petals. The coincidences of floral & bird life, & of these with the movements of the heavens, impart a sense of breadth to their observation.

It is not only the violet or the anemone, there are the birds coming from immense distances to enjoy the summer with us; there are the stars appearing in succession, so that the most distant of objects seems brought into connection with the nearest, & the world is made one.’

From the essay ‘Trees About Town’ by the Victorian nature writer Richard Jefferies, c. 1881.

Holistic and intricate observations, expressed beautifully!