Sequoia Redwood Tree by Charles Bonham

My post last week about the planting of Giant sequoia trees in Detroit by Archangel Ancient Tree Archive & Arboretum Detroit got a lot of commentary. While it was generally positive, a common theme of criticism was that we shouldn’t plant things in places where they aren’t native because they don’t belong or can’t survive. On the “can’t survive” front, I give you the 116+ foot tall Lake Bluff Arboretum Giant sequoia tree in Manistee that was planted in 1949.

And while I agree that planting non-native trees is generally a bad idea, the second paragraph of the Bridge Detroit article I linked to explains that it is the environmentally responsible thing to do to allow these forest titans to survive into the future: “The project on four lots will not only replace long-standing blight with majestic trees, but could also improve air quality and help preserve the trees that are native to California’s Sierra Nevada, where they are threatened by ever-hotter wildfires.“

And even if clicking a link is two hard, the 2nd of the two paragraphs I chose for the excerpt reads Giant sequoias are resilient against disease and insects, and are usually well-adapted to fire. Thick bark protects their trunks and their canopies tend to be too high for flames to reach. But climate change is making the big trees more vulnerable to wildfires out West, Kemp said. “The fires are getting so hot that its even threatening them,” he said.

You simply gotta read folks. At least if you want to make intelligent critiques.

I had shared a photo of the Giant sequoia in Manistee that Charles took in 2002 2022, but I decided to go back to see what else he had. Lots!! Check them out below and see lots more in his Trees gallery on Flickr.