I thought spring almost summer was here until it started to rain/snow this afternoon. Tonight it has cleared off and probably will drop to freezing overnight. I haven't heard of a big leaf maple blight but it might explain the weird colour some of them were this fall. Almost a grey burnt look. One other conifer tree we have in our area is the Balsam fir. It doesn't have the real heavy thick bark that Douglas fir has. Do you have it down there?
In our small home the Alder heats well. I will take Fir when I can get it. Had a good deal last year when we were cutting on State land. My cutting partners wanted Fir so to get to it they would cut the Alder for me and have it ready when I got on site. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I think it's sporadic but can find it mostly in the Olympic peninsula. It's usually an Xmas tree as they are a rapid grower for those farms.
Alder is about the easiest splitting wood around, the bark doesn't leave a mess in the house, it dries fast, and it grows like a weed. The one downside is that it leaves a lot of ash in the stove. Gotta jump on that score.
I was in Bonney Lake on Sunday…somehow I got the sense that that wasn’t too far from you? Big time hail, then beautiful clear sun, then even worse hail!