Hornby Island

One of the most beautiful trees in the world, often called madrone or madrona, Arbutus menziesii is a Pacific Coast native with a limited range thanks to its exacting cultural demands. I recently heard a woman from Edmonton, Alberta (average Jan. temperature -13.5°C) discussing how she's like to grow one in her garden. Good luck with that. (And get a Western Garden Book).


Arbutus in Helliwell Park, Hornby Island, BC.

What makes the tree most striking is, obviously, is it's vivid, often neon-orange bark, which strips off the limbs to create psychedelic patterns. I love how the trees in these pictures are interlaced with ash-colored dead branches. Then the leaves are such a beautiful deep green.


More gorgeousness.

If climate change comes to Vancouver Island, how will plants that are adapted to very specific habitats fare? Our warm little corner of Canada would look very different without the Garry oaks that grace Victoria's most stately neighborhoods. From what I've read recently, the habitat that supports some of our signature trees is more likely to increase but only at the expense of other species. According to a recent article in the Vancouver Sun (B.C. Climate Change 2050 by Gordon Hamilton and Scott Simpson, June 2, 2007).

-Old-growth rainforests and salmon runs, icons that go to the heart of our West Coast psyche, will be dead or dying off.-The forests on the North Shore mountains will be dying of stress caused by drought in the summer and storms in the winter.-By 2050 giant cedars immortalized in Haida canoes and Emily Carr paintings -- the foundation of 10,000 years of first nations culture -- will be dying of thirst brought on by longer, drier summers.

It's not all bad, though, if you're a farmer (or a winemaker).

-Warmer temperatures will open up new regions of the province to agriculture. Kamloops, not just the Okanagan Valley, could be Napa Valley North. Oranges and lemons will thrive on the Saanich peninsula.-The eastern shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands will be warm enough to grow grapes.-Garry oak, which now clings to the rocky bluffs of southwestern B.C., could be thriving as far north as the Nass Valley.

If the pine beetle infestation is anything to go by, it's going to be a challenge to count on anything. (Infestations of pine beetles that would normally have been knocked back by winter cold have wreaked havoc on B.C.'s lumber industry). I won't be buying B.C. citrus futures anytime soon.