This young Planetree was so green with new bark this cold, wet, spring day, so we thought it deserved the honor of being featured as a posting. The London Planetree is a naturally occurring hybrid between the Chinese and American Sycamore. It is one of the hardiest trees and very resistant to pollution, adapting well to New York, where it borders the streets, is rampant in Central Park (one of them is believed to be the oldest tree in the city), is our tallest tree, and is the most numerous tree in Brooklyn. We are surrounded by them almost everywhere we go. They grow very quickly and shed their bark in a decorative way – when they expand, the older tan and grey bark peels off, revealing the new green bark. It stands out vividly against other trees, even in wooded areas of the parks, for its bark, rather than its flowering or unusual fruit. This one is obviously experiencing an intense spurt of new growth.

Finally, spring has truly arrived in NYC. These crossing branches of magnolia overlay the busy streets and seem to culminate in an emphasis, a concentration of energy, which are the buds about to open, like the people going by beneath them, about to shed their coats and emerge into the light and air.

Magnolia is a tree native to North America and is a heavily used ornamental for city street planting throughout most of the USA. There is a court full of old magnolia trees in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden which all bloom at once – you have to make the time to catch it at just the right day, and then it’s like visiting a medieval painting of paradise…