Cottonwood Fluff in Canyon Country

[Janice]

Spring is beautiful right now in Michigan (hooray!) and I saw a little bit of cottonwood fluff flying around today. I was thinking about how fun it would be to see this in canyon country where cottonwoods are all over the place, but I've never been out West in May. I'm sure some of you out there have seen flying fluff with cliffs in the background - it must be fantastic. Any photos or videos you can share?

 

[regehr]

I don't have photos or videos of fluff in canyons but the other day @Udink and I were wondering whether that stuff is useful, or more to the point, whether it was useful to the people who lived on these canyons long ago, anyone know? I mean clearly you could stuff a pillow with it, but does it work for weaving into yarn, for example?

 

[Janice]

I don't have photos or videos of fluff in canyons but the other day @Udink and I were wondering whether that stuff is useful, or more to the point, whether it was useful to the people who lived on these canyons long ago, anyone know? I mean clearly you could stuff a pillow with it, but does it work for weaving into yarn, for example?

Such an interesting question. I don't know about long ago, but I found this - clearly there's at least one person in recent years who has used it for spinning into fiber.

 

[regehr]

Such an interesting question. I don't know about long ago, but I found this - clearly there's at least one person in recent years who has used it for spinning into fiber.

wow, interesting!!

 

[swmalone]

I don't have photos or videos of fluff in canyons but the other day @Udink and I were wondering whether that stuff is useful, or more to the point, whether it was useful to the people who lived on these canyons long ago, anyone know? I mean clearly you could stuff a pillow with it, but does it work for weaving into yarn, for example?

A pillow stuffed with that would lead to the worst sleep of my life. We are a little behind schedule with the cottonwood fluff here. It gets so thick on the lawns it looks like it snowed. I have to wear a mask whenever I mow the lawn, and that is coming from trees around me as I make sure not to have them on my property. It seems to have become one of my worst allergies.