I wonder what they were thinking, planting Olive trees on the streets of de Beauvoir Town and Pentonville? I like to think it is a nod to the glory days of 1980s Islington when media types slurped their way through tankers of new world Chardonnay accompanied by mountains of juicy olives. Famed in tabloid imaginations... Continue Reading →
At this time of year I make frequent detours down St. John’s Villas, a residential turning off the Holloway Road, to see how the Pears are ripening. These rare street trees and their fruit are pretty special - possibly unique. If you would like to read more, here’s something I prepared earlier. This year, I’m... Continue Reading →
Meet the ‘Bragania’ or Eriolobus trilobatus, a somewhat schizophrenic small tree found in the Levant, Anatolia and Thrace. The name Bragania hails from the Evros region of north east Greece, it’s more literal English names include Lebanese wild apple, erect crab apple or three-lobed apple tree. In Hebrew it’s called חֻזְרַר הַחֹרֶשׁ. This refugee from troubled... Continue Reading →
On the borough watershed between Islington and Haringey I encountered a forlorn pair of street trees which had me scratching my head for weeks...
Our mystery South London street tree has been identified thanks to a correspondent who was able to recognise a fine avenue of Hippophae salicifolia. Several others suggested sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) which, as it turns out, was close but discounted due to size (tree rather than a bush), evergreen foliage and few berries. My own guess... Continue Reading →
On Curlew Street, in that late eighties enclave of converted spice warehouses just east of Tower Bridge on the south bank of the Thames, I have noticed a curious tree. Planted, I imagine, when the area was being cleaned up, they look to me like Giraffe fodder: tall trees with long branches, each bearing a... Continue Reading →
The graveyard of Old St. Pancras church is full of interest: tucked away behind the station, it contains several things worth missing a train for, not least some venerable old trees. The churchyard has survived much as it must have appeared in the mid 19th century when the last significant alterations were made. Its architectural... Continue Reading →
It is exciting when you discover a new aspect to a place you think you know well. Recently I heard about an old orchard in my borough which has survived under the care of some London monks (a rare breed in themselves). An orchard, in Islington? It’s true! And it is the borough’s only one.... Continue Reading →
In a post about the North American Red Oak (Quercus rubra) I wrote in the balmy days of August, I rather flippantly stated that ”... the beauty of this tree in its native New World is surely its fiery autumn colours which in our damper and milder oceanic climate is watered down from a rich... Continue Reading →
I was surprised and excited to bump into a row of newly planted Strawberry Trees (Arbutus unedo) in a Southwark street recently. As a child with an interest in native trees, I was fascinated to read about this mysterious tree with a compelling name in my botanical guidebooks. It was described as very rare and... Continue Reading →
