I am aware of how poplar my tree puns are but I need an outlet, if you can't handle it feel free to leaf.
So a couple of weeks ago, two of the 40-odd Giant Sequoia seeds which I planted have emerged. I treeted them fairly poorly, basically just giving them a bit of water to keep their soil damp. They lived in several locations, and finally germinated in the greenhouse, a real feat in light of the temperatures it reaches inside that thing (check out my greenhouse of death post).
Most redwoods start by unfurling three or five needles, both of these had four. Badass. Immediately you can see why they are called redwoods, with their purple-red trunk contrasted beautifully by the jade green needles. These two guys made it over the first hurdle, so I re-potted them into something that they can hopefully grow legs into, and left them on my outdoor table. Unfortunately after the third day of 30+ degrees Celsius in a row, one became weak. In attempting to straighten it after a drink, I snapped it. I'm sure it was already dead. I was really trunk. I thought it was a burglar. Any way the jury is still out on that one, they've been sequoiaestered until fir-ther notice.
Bam.
The surviving twin, while emotionally scared, is thriving now, with sporadic doses of full sun he is getting stronger. And today, I noticed his second set of needles coming through! Tree bien!
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| You see them too right? right??? |
I am still a little ways off planting the next batch which are still stratifying in the fridge. I was going to get them going this week but we are off to sunny Perth next week so wanted to minimise the care required in my absence. Once I get home I will plant the other batch. Ideally I would love to get another three to five. I hope to plant a cluster of three or five and grow them as a miniature bonsai forest. Something a little less extreme than the picture below. Ideally they should be varying sizes so having a head start on this one is no big deal. In all likelihoods I'll not get as many as I want anyway and need to plant more.
Any others I may get I will keep and grow to their full potential. In one life time these trees can grow 30-50 meters. It would be pretty incredible to see that happen, say, in a median strip on St Kilda Road, or in the courtyard of our house. Ninja planting monstrous trees in areas they are likely to fuck up does make me laugh a little inside. Particularly since in fifty or sixty years it is likely that the governments will be so green they will refuse to remove them. Then again, we might all be dead by then anyway, still, the tree lives on.
In all seriousness though, there is something profoundly comforting in the knowledge that something I helped to bring into existence could be around for millennia. There has to be a beautiful story in the life of a tree. The children it swings and holds in its arms. The scars of lovers-once it bore on skin. The shade it provides the dreamer to dream. A true symbiote with this planet, somethingfew of us could achieve; and fewer still truly comprehend.
Sorry to dribble on, I get carried away sometimes. Though I do hope that this post fuels some small wonder in you as it has me, because after all, "Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder" - Plato
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