elm

this is probably  what's closest to the gate

Basil

As it is December, I harvested almost all the Basil (2 cups of leaves from 2 plants). There were 3 stems flowering, and I left the leaves on them, and I think I'll try to harvest the seeds once the flowers have dried. But from the stems I collected, I tried rooting them. I trimmed lengths 2 - 4 inches and took off all the leaves except the top section. But them in water in a sunny windowsill. We'll see how they do.

Tried pesto with the leaves.

Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)

These trees seem about 30 m tall, (I'm bad a judgung distances, but at least 3 stories) with scaly leaves and small blue berries. The previous home owner had the ivy growing on the tress scraped, so they're now draped with dead vines. Not exactly the most pictureque thing to have gracing the center of the house, but I haven't figured out how to remove it.

These trees were called cedars because the wood is aromatic and historically cedars have been prized for their aromatic wood. So now these are the trees that cedar chests are made out of, but no one calls them "juniper chests". These trees also seems to be used to make pencils and flavor gin (etymology blog etnry on gin and junipers).

This website and this one provide identifation tips, but mostly I just based this ID on the tree being so common. Native to the eastern US.

?notched weeds

Heavily notched weeds, about 2 feet tall. Growing in sun

Mulberry bush (Morus Alba)

When I first figured out what this was. I had "Pop goes the weasel" stuck in my head. That was all I really knew about mulberry bushes. I was really excited about having a large tree that produced something edible. However, the 40 ft tree shadows my driveway, making a horrible purple mess several weeks a year. It's very invasive - there are at least 5 small trees, some of which I've dug up several times and they keep coming back.

White mulberries were first imported to feed silkworms, but silk is really difficult to make profitably.
(http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR_237.pdf) ID: Three different leaf shapes (notched, mitten and entire) with glossy leaves and rounded serrate margins.

? pink flower shrub

Shrub, about 3 feet tall. Yellow leaves preceded pink flowers in April 2010.

???

After last night's thunderstorm, these bright orange tentacled things appeared. They're the size and texture of sea anemones, except that my yard isn't part of a tropical coral reef. The tentacles break off easily. One of these things seems to be attached to a needle from the ?juniper tree, but I can't see any in the trees. They're tall trees, so it may be hiding. But I always thought conifers used cones to disseminate seeds, not alien life forms.