The Northern Catalpa in Southern Virginia
[caption id="attachment_20110" align="alignright" width="440"] Photo courtesy C. Mehring[/caption] The blooming peak of the Northern Catalpa in Nelson County, Virginia is about the 24th May. Although some call it the Catawba tree, in these parts it is called the Monkey’s Cigar tree. This is because of its elongated dark brown pods. I well remember my becoming acquainted with the Northern Catalpa. Reason for My Trip South I had lived in Camden County, New Jersey for 33 years. In my teen years, my parents had taken my sister and I on a trip to Sprouse's Corners in Buckingham County, Virginia to see a friend of my mother from her childhood days. The woman had lost her parents when she was still young. Still in her youth, she had boarded with my mother's…