The other day, we went on our Laurelhurst expedition to learn about the types and names of the different trees (I was hoping we would look like official tree-spotters in those photos above).
Laurelhurst park has around 1,000 trees, and there are approximately 120 species represented. Among them are cedars, firs, birches, oaks, and these curious trees that look as if they're melting called "English Planetrees". As we walked by each little grove, we sussed out exactly which variety was which.
From the Portland Parks & Recreation website:
In 1912, Emanuel Mische, Portland's park superintendent from 1908-1914,
designed the park based on his experience as the longtime horticultural
expert for the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. Inspired
by the Olmstedian 'natural' landscaping approach, his plan included
several distinct sections - the concert grove, Firwood Lake, children's
lawn, plateau and broad meadows, picnic grove, and Rhododendron Hill.
According to our excellent little map, 10% of the trees are original to the land, and 30% were planted by Mische. Some of them are so enormous, you can tell just by looking that they must be very, very old.
Unrelated to trees, I've been experimenting with purposefully bumping the exposure settings on my camera way up and way down from the "correct" settings for the light. The element of surprise is really fun! In full disclosure, I also tweaked these myself, so it's not all camera hi-jinks.
That naturally-occurring big heart on the tree is so sweet! I had never noticed it before. Going around with our little map made me notice every little thing.
It was such a great afternoon field trip! I love field trips.