BPotD is in brief entry mode on weekends and holidays from April through September. – Daniel
A thank you to Dr. Iain Taylor for contributing today's image from Vancouver, BC. Iain's had many roles with UBC Botanical Garden; he is currently helping the garden navigate some of its infrastructure projects through the intricacies of the university bureaucracy.
Iain photographed this handiwork of Bernard and Lorraine Portier a couple weeks ago (the excavation made the local news). I think it's fascinating to see the interwoven roots freed of the surrounding soil. This (former) deodar cedar was planted in 1958 by the mother of Mrs. Portier. Thank you to the family for the permission to share this with you.
A note to local residents: Darts Hill Garden Park in Surrey will be open to the public for two days: tomorrow and next Sunday (the open house also includes a plant sale). It's a beautiful garden, and public opportunities to visit it are rare, so do plan to visit if you've the time.
Hi Daniel
Good thing I checked the map before setting out to find Dart's Hill Garden Park locally!
(Wrong Surrey for me) :)
What a monument to the deodar cedar. Seeing it for the first time was a moment of awe and respect.
Wow, Daniel, thanks for sharing this amazing picture. You don't get to see the neat pattern the roots make the way these folks have preserved them. While in Oregon, we also saw the Memorial Cedar Tree, huge!!! We took some pictures of it. It is barley alive, just a few living branches near the top. Amazing. Cedars are such beautiful trees. We don't have many here, but there is a lovely grove along Hwy 12 that is preserved near the Montana/Idaho border.
What a pity such a tree had to go but I'm writing because the text is printed much smaller, we haven't all got twenty-year-old's vision!
To Bobbie, the fan of the deodar cedar: If the letters are too small try pressing and holding the 'control' key and moving the mouse scroll. You should be able to increase (and decrease)the size of the letters in the text.
Fascinating photo - but the largest question remains....What happened? Why were the roots excavated in such a fashion? Inquiring minds want to know, on Monday, of course. =)
The BPotD never ceases to surprise and delight!! I'm with Eric, what happened to produce this?
Sue, this is one of those nice sites where you can make the text larger or smaller yourself if you have a mouse with a scroll wheel. Hold down the control key and turn the wheel - text changes size. A godsend for us old folks.
I didn't get a chance to talk with Iain today re: why the tree was removed and the roots excavated, as he had out-of-town guests. I'll try again tomorrow.
Iain didn't know the answer to why the tree was removed - but apparently, it did have two main trunks, so with the storms of the last year, perhaps it became a hazard.
As to the why of the excavation: the family started digging and became fascinated, so continued on, little by little.
its a beautifull picture.thanks alot.
it was really nice to me having the picture of this religious plant....... really a good job