Friday, 13 July 2012

what's your favourite tree?

Recently I was asked the question, "what's your favourite tree?"  I would normally find questions like these quite daunting.  My response would most likely be a question, a need for clarification, or maybe even a qualifier.  But if we are talking non-palm tree, because in my mind they are their own EPIC grouping outside of "tree," I would then be able to confidently say Delonix Regia or Royal Poinciana as it is most commonly referred to as.  There's something about the soft foliage and the almost blinding red flowers that make this tree divine.

There is nothing quite like driving down a street lined with these beauties.  It is certainly a show stopper of a tree.  Unfortunately - like most of my favourites - it belongs in the zone 10 category of wonderful plants that I can't grow.

But as I often do, I get to play the substitutionary plant lust game.  I have found that the closest and incredibly beautiful tree in its own right that we can grow is Albizia Julibrissin.  What is your favourite tree? Or favourites? Do you too have to play the substitutionary plant lust game?!  I'll leave you with my favourite shot of Royal Poinciana .....


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4 comments:

  1. danger garden14 July 2012 at 10:04

    That Tree is a stunner! And of course not hardy for you...

    I think my favorite would have to be any and all Magnolia's...surprising huh? I've always had a soft spot for them.

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    1. Louis14 July 2012 at 11:50

      A bit surprising but I too love magnolias. For me its all about southern magnolias. There is something so sultry about them. It just screams blazing hot, humid, summer evenings in the South!!!! I don't know why more people don't grow them. I actually got into a long discussion with a local landscape designer about that. He agreed.

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  2. outlawgardener14 July 2012 at 15:03

    It's hard to choose just one - I love so many but I think that our native madrone, Arbutus menziesii, is pretty swell with it's smooth reddish orange bark, evergreen foliage, white blossoms and red berries. Also reminds me of the song "My love's an Arbutus" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdW3yHsevjI . When Captain Vancouver was at sea, he saw a bluff covered in these gorgeous trees and, mistaking them for something else, called the area Magnolia, now Seattle's largest neighborhood.

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    1. Louis15 July 2012 at 00:13

      Oh good call! Arbutus Menziesii is stunning! I just can't get enough of those either. Thats amazing about captain vancouver. I never knew that. Can you believe I don't have any arbutus growing in the yard?! Its kind of tragic. I keep picking up small ones at local nurseries and thinking about it but I just don't know where I would plant it. I suppose if size is the issue I could go with an arbutus unedo compacta. Luckily there is a massive one close to my house that I walk by almost every day and enjoy.

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