And why do you like it so much?
Redbud. It’s got such pretty blossoms and the leaves are a really pleasing shape.
It’s the State tree of Oklahoma. When my neighbors’ redbud starts making pods, I’m gonna snag a bunch, refrigerate them over winter, then scarify and try to get a few to germinate the following spring. It takes probably 5 or so years to start getting flowers, but I really love everything about these trees, not just their awesome flowers. The heart shaped leaves they develop in summer are so cute.
Despite being really really invasive here in Europe, I love the Staghorn Sumac.
It’s very pretty, with great flowers and soft furry branches (like antlers). You can make an amazing “lemonade” from the fruits and you can eat the shoots raw.
And eating the shoots raw is a great idea, because it branches out like crazy. If your neighbors have one of these, you’ll soon have half a dozen too.
They also grow pretty fast, and the wood is super pretty (and super curvy, so you won’t be making any boards out of it)
I love sumac too!
They do grow fast- sumac can give shade in a sunny spot in a single year.
The way light comea through the leaves is so soothing.
I’ll keep my eyes open for those next spring
there’s this one tree in a park nearby that I used to climb on as a kid, id say that’s my favorite tree
The walnut tree. Its leaves are dense so it casts a cohesive shadow, perfect for shelter from the sun. I LOVE how it smells, especially when developing walnuts, and green walnuts are entirely unique in how they taste!
We have a big maple in our yard and more through the neighborhood. The sound of wind running through their leaves is very calming.
Willows. They feel so incredibly relaxed, like they just don’t give a shit.
Bending in the wind like a ballerina
I love that you asked this question. I like trees I can climb :-)
I love monkey puzzle trees! They look like they’d be so easy to climb
I don’t like trying to climb them though
Red-black tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red–black_tree
I’m partial to AVL trees, they are 20% faster.
Source: Ben Pfaff. Performance analysis of BSTs in system softwar , 2004.
Scapegoat tree ftw
Japanese Maple. Had one by the front door of the house I grew up in. Reminds me of my childhood home.
Oh the colors
I used to live in a rickety flat that had a single old creaky staircase to get up to the front door, and a little grassy terrace area. Only I really ever used the grassy bit. The stairs had a pohutakawa tree growing essentially right through them, making walking up or down them hazardous. Especially when drunk.
I would not classify that period of my life to be “happy” by any stretch, but that tree signified being “home.” It was like the guardian to my space. A physical barrier between me and the shitshow that was the rest of the world at that time. An almost literal gatekeeper (many people were too scared to walk up the stairs lol)
Added bonus, year end holidays, and the height of summer were vividly and brightly different thanks to the red needles they drop everywhere around that time.
It wasn’t until the landlord told me he was planning to have it cut down, and I had an almost physical reaction that I realized how much I loved that tree. I managed to convince him not to have it cut down until after I’d left.
Both the tree and the flat are now gone. A multi million dollar new build is there now.
So am I honestly, but to be fair, that place was a dump.
The foundations were subsiding, so the whole flat was on a pretty significant lean. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was easily 5 degrees off level. Think Lilly and Marshall’s apartment in HIMYM.
The building itself was 3 stories. I was on 2nd, and the 3rd was completely uninhabitable due to the roof being swiss cheese. I knew I was about to get kicked out when the ceiling started leaking in my bedroom whenever it rained.
I could go on and on. The electrics were sketchy, my toilet leaked into the downstairs kitchen, etc etc etc. It really was trash, and would have probably cost millions to repair.
The tree itself was causing structural issues as well. It’s hard to explain, so I’ve attached an aerial view. (You might need to view it on my instance.) The grey line was a concrete retaining wall for the grassy terrace thing. You can see that the tree was right up against the house, further damaging it. I’ve also tried to illustrate what it was doing to the stairs so you can get an idea of what it was like.
All in all, I understand why it had to go, but it still makes me sad. And not just because the flat was so cheap I could afford to live by myself in my 20s, 5 minutes from the CBD
I’ve read 500 page novels that have touched me less than these 5 paragraphs.
Thank you for sharing this story.
Delonix regia, the original flamboyant.
