Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Mr. Jefferson's Trees

Thomas Jefferson loved his gardens. But he felt that, rather than the impractical, fancy, fussy gardens so popular in Europe at the time, a garden should be a thinning of the forest to show specimen trees, or practical (veggies, vineyards, etc).

I was amazed by this tree, with its limbs growing on the ground. I was so amazed that I hiked through the branches to read the name plaque on the trunk. It is a Linden tree. I wish I had one.

I don't know what this tree is, because the name was unfamiliar to me, and to my dearly beloved, a self-avowed tree fanatic. It started with a C. I was amazed at how huge it is.
See? You can't even see the branches and leaves, although the shade around my little guy is evident. And since the little guy is over 5 feet tall, that should give you an idea of the scale of this tree.

Happy Gardening and leaf watching, everyone!

12 comments:

Jennifer said...

I adore big old trees, sadly we lost ours several years ago. We both cried over it..

SissySees said...

One of the best days of my firefighting career was spent on the farm adjacent to Monticello, which is where their bontany department is based. There was an active propane leak, so we "had" to hang out in the shade of several grand, OLD trees for many hours. It was truly tranquil.

Big Dude said...

We should probably all take a lesson from ole Tom and not plant so many non-native and invasive species - but I'm guilty.

Dewi said...

Wonderful trees. We live in a beautiful area where every houses have their own huge trees !

gMarie said...

those trees are fabulous. Isn't there a lovely, huge working garden there too? g

Diane said...

I love old trees they have so much character. We have a large oak, I would love to know how old it is but it is probably younger than I think. Diane

The Blonde Duck said...

I love big old trees like that!

violett said...

Big old trees are majestic. Mean for me the strength of the nature. I love them. Above all the mighty oaks.
Lots of love
violett und Mischka

Anonymous said...

Another tree, the Montezuma Cypress, has a similar growth habit, with huge branches propping the tree up on its elbows.

Thanks for taking us here. I've always wanted to visit.

Pam said...

I love big old trees

Deana Sidney said...

It is such a beautiful house and garden, I think it's amazing that a boy that young could be fascinated by Jefferson... KUDOS!! Great tree pics... the old one have such stories in their branches.. if olyl we could hear...

Mickle in NZ said...

What a wonderful, huge tree. And what a great weekend holiday the four of you had.

I'm sure Thor was incredibly well looked after and fed, as Jeffrey made the most of having darling Thor all to Cinnamon and his own dear self. And I expect this was an uncommon happening for dear Jeff!

Sending care, love and huggles to you and all your dear ones,

Michelle xxx

(Zeb is too exhausted to comment as His human has been watching the diving from the Commonwealth Games - those daft humans need extra supervising during the early morning hours, especially when they're watching other daft humans willingly throw their bodies into water. Pure Daftness!)