And now for a break from politics (though I expect some people will find a way to work it in even here):
I noticed a while ago that one of the two big cedars in front of Vancouver city hall on the south side had turned completely brown. When I happened to ask about it earlier this week, I found out it was going to be taken down Wednesday.
Here’s my little story on the interesting history behind this cedar (a Port Orford cedar originally from the south Oregon/north California region) and many others like in Vancouver, thanks to Douglas Justice at the UBC Botanical Garden.
For a view of it when it was young, here’s a picture from 1937 and another taken once the cedars had grown quite a bit.
17 responses so far ↓
1 Silly Season // Aug 29, 2014 at 10:42 am
I blame the carbon emissions coming from inside City Hall!
You’re welcome. 😉
2 Silly Season // Aug 29, 2014 at 10:45 am
PS Frances, there is a logical follow-up q to this article, for all pols and wannabe pols running in our next civic elxn, a la Baba Wawa…
“If you could be a tree, what kind of tree would you be?’
3 F.H.Leghorn // Aug 29, 2014 at 10:53 am
Obvious plug for the Cedar Party, though the rotting and cuttin-down parts aren’t the images I would have chosen.
Prediction: Photo-op of Mayor planting the replacement. Let’s hope it’s a money tree.
4 Bill Lee // Aug 29, 2014 at 11:12 am
Ah, Port Orford Cedar. Nice smell and very good for arrows.
I presume that the wood was spoken for and cut into appropriate sizes.
“A number of years ago there was very little choice in shaft materials for constructing wood arrows, Port Orford Cedar (POC) was king. It was a good choice for consistent, straight arrows and, of course, the best part of the arrow was the aroma. You didn’t seem to mind as much when you broke one because you got the added benefit of enjoying the aromatic cedar. ”
But there is a dramatic shortage of Port Orford Cedar, so alternatives are being used.
There is a lot of cutting down on the central lKing Edward Boulevard toward the Arbutus end.
And all the ornamental Cherry trees must be replaced. And Oak trees have had their city life though rash city pruning has meant that they are more like telephone poles (whose value meant that a line of trees was decimated for pole locations on some streets, along with the ill-considered plan for non-street-corner city lamp poles)
5 wet coaster // Aug 29, 2014 at 11:30 am
News Flash:
Cedar Party changes name to Cypress Party, saying that they’re survivors and will give City Hall a fresh, new and transparent image.
6 Richard // Aug 29, 2014 at 4:15 pm
@wet coaster
Yew’ve got to be kiddin’ me!
7 Julia // Aug 29, 2014 at 5:18 pm
all trees die – that is what happens to them. While it is a sad loss it should give us reason to think. Are we not demolishing the Legge house to save a tree that is ultimately going to die?
8 Bill McCreery // Aug 29, 2014 at 5:35 pm
My argument precisely Julia, +/-2 1/2 years ago when it was all unravelling. The excavation, foundations of the new building, altered ground water drainage patterns, etc. will make it impossible for that tree to live.
Another sad aspect of this is that there was not the informed political leadership on that whole mess to bring it to a positive resolution.
9 Threadkiller // Aug 29, 2014 at 10:33 pm
“All trees die” is as stupid and self-serving an excuse for not trying to preserve them as any I’ve heard. There are many species of trees whose natural lifespans far exceed that of humans, some by a factor of centuries. I sincerely hope you’re not a medical practitioner, Julia. I would hate to see your brand of cold logic applied to human beings.
10 Bill McCreery // Aug 29, 2014 at 10:45 pm
That’s not the point Threadkiller. Would you rather save the Legg House, or try to save a tree, which can be replanted and allowed to re-flourish over time just as the present one did?
The chosen alternative, in no small part due to pathetic political leadership, is that we will shortly see a dead tree in front of yet another massive, over dense, over height high rise tower.
That’s really successful planning isn’t it?
11 Lewis N. Villegas // Aug 29, 2014 at 11:39 pm
Dead wood at City Hall??? Frances, say it isn’t so!
12 rph // Aug 30, 2014 at 7:18 am
“…dead wood…”
Thanks Lewis for a good morning chuckle!
13 Brilliant // Aug 30, 2014 at 8:47 am
@Threadkiller 9 – trees aren’t people. The Legg House is irreplaceable. The tree is.
14 rph // Aug 30, 2014 at 9:16 am
Yes, trees have a lifespan, and that tulip tree can live for hundreds of years.
Or not. They can be weakened or killed deliberately or inadvertently. Not saying it will happen here, but I have seen city mandated protected trees, during the construction of new homes, dying in a couple of years. Too much root disturbance during construction? Removing the surrounding arable soil and replacing it with sand? Poisoned because the new homeowner considered it a nuisance, high maintenance, or it blocked a view?
15 IanS // Aug 30, 2014 at 9:42 am
@Lewis Villegas #11:
🙂
16 Julia // Aug 30, 2014 at 10:08 am
#9, really???
17 F.H.Leghorn // Sep 5, 2014 at 4:26 pm
I know what happened to the tree. It was ground up and turned into paper on which they printed the fancy Vancouver House sales brochure which I found in my snail-mail box today.
It’s similar to the website (http://westbankcorp.com/vancouver-house)
but has two striking features: first, they offer 40 “estates” (big apartments) from $2.2Million to 20 Million for the penthouse; and second, there is a small rendering of the Granville Bridge (seen from some upper floor) with a “proposed greenway” down the middle of the bridge, leaving room for one car lane each way, north- and south-bound.
Tiny figures on even tinier bicycles and wearing even tinier helmets are shown pedalling madly up the middle of the bridge on the landscaped greenway.
Beats that ludicrous hoarding around the Trump tower with the rich young (white) people wallowing in luxury and conspicusous consumption.