A wonderful article with such lovely photo's - Thank You

You could write about trees everyday and I would be over the moon. Love trees!

Kind of cool that my morning reading included trees as well - Charles Swindoll said that each day we should take a walk for some alone time with The Lord and goes on to say "I hope it's in a wooded area. The gentle breeze blowing through the forest is therapeutic" I couldn't agree more and each day I'm so blessed to have acres of trees to walk in. I'm so thankful and grateful.

Thanks Vicki,
There's nothing more refreshing after a hot summer day of work than to walk in the cooling shade of trees. Mine are usually filled with birds too. That is an added bonus, especially when it is our little winter 'snow birds' like this one. They need the trees for protection.

Yay trees!
and your banner makes a wonderful statement today Leon! too bad it wasn't timed with your article for bonus

Yes, I have been accused of being obsessive about trees.
Where I lived before in the frozen North, I had acres of wonderful wild-woods but not near enough evergreens--so I planted a flatbed full of pretty good-sized Austrian and Scotch pines, and an Oak and a weeping willow and a bunch of crab apples and hazelnuts and some other stuff...too bad I had to move

Upon moving here, a much smaller space with some very unfortunate 'weed trees', I was rather forlorn. When we lost our 80+ Norway Spruce in a bad storm, I kinda went nuts for "replacement trees". In fact, I went so far nuts as to have a bald cypress dug in Oregon and shipped to Utah and placed gently in a very expensive hole via crane
I just absolutely this tree and it has lovely fall color too

...and I got a Ginkgo and a Beech and an Ironwood and an ornamental Prunus and two eating cherries and an apple, a peach, a pear, and a nectarine, and a dogwood (but I killed it) and a Japanese Maple that I'm trying to save and a Calocedrus and an Atlas Cedar and a Nootka Cypress and I'm not done yet
I have a few baby seedlings too. Oooh, and I really think that I got a great bird gift in a less than ideal spot--I swear this sapling is a redbud! I hope in a few years it will prove me right and then I'll move some of the other stuff

Do I find a kindred spirit in these comments? And I thought I was the only one with obsessive ideas about trees! That gorgeous picture tells the whole story: What beauty!

I think you have more than one kindred spirit here Leon! I loved your article even though most of the trees you mentioned won't grow here in Florida.

I have been on a quest since moving to my little half-acre lot in the late 80's! My goal is to make my yard look more like 'the woods' up north (I'm originally from New York) than the yucky 'woods' down here. The only trees on my property when I bought it were two oaks, a very sad looking maple, and a dead 60 foot tall eucalyptus!

Since then I have planted 4 Live Oaks (one if which was split into 3 sections in the no-name storm we had just after 9/11 and had to be taken down), another maple, 2 podocarpus (which are taller than my house), 3 pond cypress, 3 red cedar, 2 redbud trees, a jacaranda, 4 dwarf poinciana (one of which is at least 15 feet tall!), a tamarind tree, some sort of non-fruiting mulberry tree, 2 stands of bamboo, LOTS of jatropha's (which get as tall as the house), LOTS of Plumeria's (which also get as tall as the house), a coral tree, and in spring I bought a tiny (4 inch pot) Ylang Ylang tree that is now waist-high and will go in the ground next spring...and I'm NOT done yet!!!!

Way to go, Patty! That is the spirit I guess I'm talking about. Keep on keeping on!

Thanks Leon! I have no intention of stopping!

Hello Leon, God blessed America... and keeps doing so... in many ways. Of the many blessings one is in the form the fabulous amount of majestic or amazingly beautiful native trees, both evergreen and deciduous. One day I'll get seeds of Sasafras and give it a try. The other one, the Tulip tree are found in the trade here and I must find room for some in one corner of the paddock where my sheep graze.However Sasafras is a must and yet I have to figure how to find seeds of it. Sometimes planting a tree starts with first finding a source of its seeds and after quite some perseverance actually sow them and see them germinate... There is a third tree that I admire, that is the Tupelo or Black gum, Nyssa Sylvatica. Have you experience about it? Thank you in advance. Arturo

Hi Arturo,
We are indeed blessed with so much natural beauty, especially the trees! I Googled Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina, and am amazed at your location so far away from Buenos Aries. You are nearer the Pacific Ocean than the Atlantic. And I am impressed that you are in the foot hills of the Andes Mountains! There is great natural beauty all about you, especially the mountains. (And I add you are almost in Chile.)

Sassafras here is very plentiful. However it would be impossible to send seeds or plant material with the strict customs laws of most nations. It is a very difficult thing to do here or internationally. However, birds carry and plant the seeds naturally throughout the region, and it is not uncommon to find seeds germinating naturally within the gardens and flower beds. I am sending you this link at ATP which you might have already seen. Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)

Have not had experience with Tupelo or Black gum, Nyssa Sylvatica. We have locally a 'Sweet Gum', but I do not have them.
American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

Best Wishes, Leon