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| THE GINKO |
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| ORNAMENTAL PEAR TREE |
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| SWAMP WHITE OAK |
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| ...LEAF |
As City of Bayfield forester I am always looking for interesting street trees, and I took a few photos of some appropriate for our town while in Columbus. I have already planted several of them but they are small and as yet unproven here.
The Ginko, Ginko biloba, is an interesting tree in many respects, and most people are familiar with its status as a remnant of the Jurrasic period (age of the dinosaurs) that was discovered in China back in the 1930’s. It is now planted as a street tree in temperate locations and its leaves are used in herbal medicine as a memory booster and anti-oxidant. As a street tree it is slow growing, tough and disease resistant. Although it bears fan-shaped leaves which are deciduous, it is actually classified botanically as a conifer, and might be considered an evolutionary link between conifers and more advanced deciduous trees.
The swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, is a good, dependable street tree, and is quite adaptable, despite its common name. We have planted a number in Bayfield but they are not as large as the one pictured.
The ornamental pear trees, varieties of Pyrus caleriana, are all beautiful trees in flower and make nice small street trees, but although they are quite hardy, some have proven very easily damaged by wind and ice because of their branching structure. I think the one pictured is the variety ‘Bradford’ and it looks to be doing well. I have begun to plant a few in Bayfield.
Political comment: Texas Gov. Perry had a “brain freeze” in the debate the other night that made him look pretty inept, but those things have happened to most of us. I rather doubt that such mishaps preclude being an effective chief executive officer, but I sure wouldn’t like to see it happen very often. It dredges up too many memories of my own embarrassing moments at the podium.
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