What is your favorite, most memorable tree?
“We had a big, beautiful magnolia tree where I grew up that I remember climbing when I was young. I once climbed almost to the very top, and that was very scary. I did it because my brothers were teasing me, and I was able to get back down safely without breaking anything.”
Tré H.J.,“Optimist”
There’s many, but one is an old redwood on Chestnut Street with big gnarly roots to climb on where we would watch the train go by. Another was a cherry tree that was planted on our property and grew and grew and produced beautiful fruit. And we had a big, beautiful avocado tree and I got the last avocado before they cut the tree down.
Daniel H,“Pessimist”
“There is a great Ginkgo biloba in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris that I will never forget. It’s one of the oldest ginkgo trees in Europe, and it’s in the historic botanical garden. Seeing it was actually an emotional experience.”
Maggie Duncan-Merrell, Landscape Designer
“Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, called a blueblossom—it’s a tall shrub or a small tree. When we were on a camping trip and we didn’t have soap—and we touched poison oak—we would wash our hands with the ceanothus blossoms in a creek. It brings back memories of being a kid, out with the Sierra Club and my mother, who taught me everything.”
Leslie Keedy, Santa Cruz Urban Forester
“The Joshua tree—a yucca—that’s an incredible tree. I saw them this year, in March, on my first vacation in six years. I went straight to Joshua Tree, camped out for a week, and checked them out. They’re spiky as all hell. They stab you, but they’re huge, incredible plants.”
Joe Covey, Manager, Leaf & Vine, an urban plant shop
“My grandparents have lived in San Jose their whole lives, in the same house where my dad grew up. They have this huge fig tree in the backyard that they planted and grew themselves, and it’s just supercool. When I was a kid, I would go over during fig season, climb all the way up to the top, and pick every ripe fig I could find.”
Emmilia Steiger, Emergency Medical Technician
