Trees Trees and More Trees

A few weeks back, I visited the old Arboretum... I had heard that this was a pretty cool location. It was started back in the 1950s by MacBlo (MacMillan-Bloedel logging company). They planted all sorts of weird trees from all over the world, trying to see what would grow well here.

Oh, pretty flower!

The Arboretum was neglected for many years but a volunteer group is now trying to get it spruced up...

There used to be old signs next to each tree which faded and rotted years ago. So the volunteers are trying to put up new signs... this one is for Black Walnut from the Eastern USA and Ontario...

Neat! I wonder if it actually produces walnuts in the fall?? Might have to come back here... if the squirrels don't beat me to it.

There's even a picnic table with a nice view of the mountains in the distance. Lunch? Snacks? No... sigh... must train sekrebeary better.

This one looks like an oak tree but... is it one of the local Garry Oaks??

It looks way too big... but there is no sign either. Huh... mystery oak!

I know this one!! It's a Big Leaf Maple - it's local...

So far... these are mostly local trees... I hope there are some more exotic ones...

 I know this one too - it's Laburnum... it's from Southern Europe but... lots of people have them in their yards here.

 Let's see... this one says... Blackberry.

At first I was like... seriously? But... it's the European variety not the invasive Himalyan variety that is everywhere around here. Although... how do I really know this is the European variety??

 Those look like a bunch of pine trees to me...

Yep... pine it is... but there is no sign here... so no idea what sort of pine.

Oh well... they look pretty...

Oh, this is a fir of some sort, I recognize the flat needles but...

The nearest sign says Maritime Pine from southern France, Portugal and Algeria... Ummm....

Psst... I think the volunteers might need some help... or maybe the signs are all mixed up. Or maybe there was a pine there at one point, but now it's dead? I found quite a few signs that didn't match the trees... like a pine sign near a deciduous tree...

And sometimes there were trees like this, but no signs nearby... 

 Oh, here's another oak... and the sign nearby says Garry Oak... our own local variety... so I'll go with that.

 Then, there was this one, which said Red Oak... but... it's all oak to me!

Oooh... this one looks different... hmmm... is it a Yew???

The bar looks kind of yew-y to me... let's see what the sign says...

It's a Pacific Yew!!

Score one for the Bear!

And this one... I'm going to say... hazelnut/filbert...

Score 2 for the Bear! This is fun...

Some of the trees just look sad... they are obviously not doing well in this climate.  The nearby sign said Swiss Mountain Pine... it probably doesn't like being at sea level...

 Here's one of the old signs...  It's for a Sakhalin Fir from Siberia... that would be neat...

But there's no tree anymore... guess it really didn't do well...

This one is supposed to be a Northern Catalpa from the eastern US... no idea if that is accurate....

 This one says European Ash... which looks about right...

American Beech... yup... looks like a beach!, at least the leaves do...

 Looks like they are trying to grow some paper birch here...

But I can tell you right now... birch does not do well down here. It does well up near Gramma's place but... down south, we really don't have any birch - the Big Leaf Maple grows here instead.

This sign says Sugar Maple which means... maple syrup!!!!

But... I don't really see any maple leaves... sigh.

Ummm... wow... it just keeps going and going!!!

 Huh... this looks like an interesting tree...

 It's pretty big... that's good growth for 60 years...

And they're tall too!!!

Do you recognize it? The bark is kind of reddish... they get really big... and like foggy coastal climates... It's the Giant Redwood!!! Cool...

And then there's this one... which has silver leaves... and weird shaped leaves. Huh... drawing a blank on this one.  Maybe a poplar?

Score another one for the bear - it's a Silver Poplar, which is a hybrid. Cool!! More later!

Sandstone for San Francisco

Well... this is cool... there is an old sandstone quarry on this island.

You can see a bunch of rejected blocks in the background. Neat.

 Oh, and a little squirrel who is checking out crevices for a new home... maybe... or a forgotten stash of acorns!

"Newcastle Sandstone - A Winner". Huh...

Apparently, this sandstone was used for the construction of the United States Mint in San Francisco! Builders appreciated the "flawless nature, unusual strength and weather resistant qualities" of the Newcastle Sandstone. Go figure... just hope they didn't build anything near saltwater cause it might have gotten holes in it through the salt erosion!

What's this story? Ohhh... one of the sailing ships transporting the sandstone, The Zephyr, sank off the coast of Mayne Island in 1872.

And... a few years back... some people went in and got one of the sandstone columns that the ship was carrying out of the deep and transported it back to the island.

There it lies... a piece of history that never made it to SF but came back home.

Cool... beary cool.

And we end this post with a warning to be careful not to bite off more than you can chew... this seagull is trying to chow down on a starfish (hopefully not our little friend from two posts ago!)... but I'm not quite sure who's going to win this match!

Mail!

I got some mail today! From Little Fox - he went to see the Great Smoky Mountains... I wonder if Smoky Bear lives there? Thanks LF!

I think it would be nice if I could send all my pals some sweet peas from the garden but... I don't know that they would last very long... Ah well... virtual sweet peas instead!