Self-Guided Tour – March/April 2025
Adopt-a-Tree Tour
Contributors: Vivien Clarke, VanDusen Volunteer Guide
This tour is dedicated to VanDusen’s Adopt-a-Tree program. All the trees you will visit have been selected to become living memorials for someone who has passed or to celebrate one of life’s milestones. When adopted, a dedication plaque will be hung on the tree. You will be seeing 19 of the 24 trees available. Information about the adoption process can be obtained by contacting 604-257-8677 or [email protected] Follow the black and white number and arrow signs to find these trees.
To start the tour, leave the Plaza and turn onto the first path on your left. Cross the lawn just past the cedar sculptures and enter the Woodland Garden. Walk straight ahead until you reach the paved path. Turn right to find 1 – blue Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Glauca Group). This is an example of a true cedar, a member of the genus Cedrus, native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco where it has been logged almost to extinction. It is an attractive, ornamental, potentially tall tree that is more tolerant of dry, hot locations than most conifers. In Hebrew, the word for cedar means ‘a strongly rooted tree’. Cedars are also noted for their valuable, durable, fragrant wood. This cultivar group differs from the species in that its needles have a bluish hue.
When facing the pond, take the path to your right until you reach a crossroads. Turn left and then right at the lawn and look for 2 – eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) on your left. This evergreen has aromatic, soft, flexible blue-green needles and is the only 5- needled pine native to eastern North America. It is the provincial tree of Ontario. Dominant in mixed forests, it provides shelter and food for many birds and small mammals. Considered valuable to the forest industry until the mid C19, it was over-logged and now only 1% of the old-growth forests remain. It was also used for ship masts, particularly by the British Royal Navy, after being introduced to England from Maine in 1605. This tree can live to be 200-250 years and older.
Follow the curve of the bed left to 3 – weeping eastern white pine (Pinus strobus ‘Pendula’). This cultivar has long drooping branches that can grow to spill across the ground. It can grow 12 inches (30 cm) a year. It is a wonderful specimen plant that presents as a living sculpture in a garden. This one’s unusual shape gives it a quirky personality!
Now walk to the paved path, turn left and keep walking to a junction. Turn left and walk straight ahead until you see 4 – giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) on your right. This is still a young tree that could live for over 3000 years. It is native to the western Sierra Nevada Mountains of California where it is now endangered. Its thick bark helps it to resist insect, disease and fire damage. After about 100 years, the tree will lose its lower branches. Its roots will become more and more interconnected with those of its fellow sequoias.
When you reach the lawn left of the path, walk across it as if heading to the pond. Turn right at the arrow and find 5 – Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica), native to Iran’s Caspian region. It is closely related to witch hazels. As it matures, its bark becomes mottled and exfoliates in patches of green, tan and white. Its fall colour can range from a butterscotch yellow or pastels to bolder tones. In late winter or early spring, it produces small petalless flowers which are a mass of red stamens surrounded by brown furry bracts on bare branches. The genus was named for Georg F. Parrot, a German naturalist who botanized during the 1830s.
Keep left, walk past the bench, until you come to 6 – cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani var. stenocoma), a stately tree whose emblem is proudly featured on the Lebanese flag and its coat of arms. It is mentioned in The Bible and the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and was traded by the Egyptians in 3000 BCE. Native to Syria and Turkey as well as Lebanon, this tree can live for over 1000 years. Its size and valued wood made it perfect for shipbuilding and constructing palaces and temples. Today it is listed as being a “vulnerable” species.
Turn right at the end of the path and then left at the crossroads. Walk to the stone steps and raised bed at the end of the path and look for a small 7 – monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) in the background. This living fossil is endemic to the Andes in Argentina and Chile, where it is the national tree. Much like pine nuts, monkey puzzle seeds are edible, and are harvested by the indigenous people of the region. In higher concentrations of atmospheric CO2, monkey puzzle trees develop fewer stomata (pores) on their leaf surfaces. Today, scientists are using stomata counts from herbarium and fossil specimens of this species to reconstruct ancient climate change patterns. The money puzzle tree was introduced to cultivation in Europe and North America by Archibald Menzies who traveled with Captain Vancouver and brought seed from Valparaiso, Chile, to England in 1795.
Now keep right and head over the zig-zag bridge. Keep left until you reach some very large lava rocks and enter the Grotto to your right. As you exit the Grotto, keep to the left, cross the stone bridge, turn left, then right at the four-way cross-roads. Walk up the slope all the way to the next cross-roads at the top of the incline, then turn right and look for 8 – largeleaf katsura (Cercidiphyllum magnificum) at the back of the bed. It is native to Honshu, Japan and is sometimes called caramel tree for the “cotton candy” smell it exudes in the fall. Its heart-shaped leaves turn bright yellow, pink and orange red in the fall. It is dioecious with separate male and female trees. Inconspicuous petalless flowers appear in the early spring and are wind pollinated. Largeleaf katsura tends to be a smaller tree than other katsuras.
Keep on this path and turn left at the next main path. On your right look for 9 – goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria paniculata). Native to China and naturalized in Japan and Korea since the 1200s, it was introduced to Europe in 1747 and to America in 1763 and has become popular world-wide. As well as being an elegant tree, it can handle full sun, wind, drought and pollution. Lovely golden hanging flowers appear in the spring and develop into bright green pods that turn rusty red in the summer. These contain papery lantern-like seed capsules that turn brown in the fall. The little black pearl-like seeds have been used in making jewelry, despite being poisonous.
At the four-way crossroad, turn left and walk to the next junction. Just before it on your left you will see 10 – Griffith’s ash (Fraxinus griffithii). Native to southeast Asia, it belongs to the Olive Family (Oleaceae). We are lucky to have this tree since it uncommon in botanical gardens. Its attractive leaves are deciduous in cooler climates like ours. When it blooms, it produces slightly fragrant while panicles of flowers May to June. Owls like to sit in this tree!
Now cross over to the path with the single stone step, go up it and follow the dirt path to the right until you see 11 – Nikko maple (Acer maximowiczianum) This maple is native to China and Japan. Nikko is a small city north of Tokyo, Japan. Charles Maries introduced Nikko maple to English horticulture in 1881. It is rare in cultivation and is usually found in arboreta or botanical gardens. Non-showy small yellow flowers appear in the spring, followed by brown winged fruits. The compound leaves have three leaflets with a dark green upper surface and a grey green underside. In the fall, this tree provides seasonal interest as its leaves turn red and orange.
Retrace your steps to where you branched off, turn right and keep right to find the next two trees.
12 – hybrid witch hazel (Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Feuerzauber’ FIRE CHARM). This reliable, strong growing deciduous shrub is showy from mid to late winter when its fragrant reddish orange flowers appear. On mild days their petals unfurl and on cold days they curl up again to protect them from frost. As it ages, the shrub grows into a vase-like shape. In the fall its leaves can turn orange and red. It is a cross between the Japanese witch hazel (H. japonica) and the Chinese witch hazel (H. mollis). “Intermedia” refers to the characteristics obtained from these two parent species.
13 – Dawson’s magnolia (Magnolia dawsoniana ‘Barbara Cook’). Native to China, this species is rare, endangered and declining in the wild, the victim of deforestation in Sichuan province where the plant explorer, E.H. Wilson, collected seeds, which he introduced to western cultivation in 1908. This ornamental tree or large shrub displays large, fragrant, white to deep pink flowers in April and May before its attractive leaves appear. Fruits form in autumn.
At the end of the path, turn right and follow the path farthest left up an incline. Near the top and on your left, you will find 14 – Aino mulberry (Morus australis), also called Korean and Chinese mulberry and native to east and southeast Asia. It is not currently used for silkworm production, but bark fibres are used for making paper. It has both male and female parts on the same tree, is self-fertile and blooms May to June. It produces edible, aromatic fruit July to September. Because its fruit can only be stored for a few days, it is not considered to be a good commercial product. However, it is used in traditional medicine as a laxative and treatment for fevers, gingivitis and internal parasites.
Retrace your steps to a main paved path, turn left and walk to a main crossroad. Turn right and then left just before the gate. Look on you left for 15 – hybrid dogwood (Cornus × rutgersensis ‘Rutban’ AURORA) which is a cross between C. florida and C. kousa. “Cornus” is Latin for “horn” and may refer to the density and strength of the wood. This hybrid was introduced to cultivation by Rutgers University. Its showy flowers with white overlapping bracts bloom from April to May and attract butterflies. ‘Rutban’ does not produce fruit but has good fall colour. These factors, plus its disease resistance, make it a good choice for a small garden or courtyard.
Very close to it is 16 – golden full moon maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Aureum’). This is one of the best yellow-leaved Japanese maples. Its amazing foliage appears bright yellow in the spring, gradually changes to chartreuse and turns orange and red in the fall. The palmate leaves have 9-13 shallow incised lobes that give the tree a delicate, decorative look. Small crimson spring flowers develop into brown fruit that contrast nicely with the foliage.
You are now on the Rhododendron Walk. Walk almost to the end of it to find 17 – Loebner’s magnolia (Magnolia × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) on your left. Loebner’s magnolia was first bred in Germany shortly before WWI. This selection was a chance hybrid that originated in Leonard Messel’s Garden in Nymans, Sussex, England. Its striking feature is its stunning show of fragrant, pink, star-like flowers in spring. Magnolias have cone-shaped fruit, though this hybrid cultivar sometimes doesn’t produce any.
At the next big crossroad, turn left and head to the beech grove on the lawn on your left opposite the Lath House. Walk onto the grass a ways to 18 – cutleaf purple beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Rohanii’) This smooth, grey-barked, stately tree is perfect for this area and is particularly lovely when its deeply-lobed and fringed purple leaves appear. It is a Great Plant Pick for maritime NW gardens.
Now retrace your steps back to the crossroads and turn left when you see the gate. Keep on this path and then, as it curves to the left, turn right and walk into the Backyard Bird Garden. On your right you will soon see 19 – Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’). This genus was named by Carl Linnaeus in honour of Magnus von Lagerstrom, director of the Swedish East India Company, who supplied Linnaeus with plants he collected. This hybrid is mildew resistant and blooms for most of the summer. This cultivar has panicles of small, white, ruffled flowers. The bark and foliage resemble those of myrtle plants. In autumn, the leaves turn orange and red and reveal the stems cinnamon-brown peeling bark as they fall.
This brings us to the end of the tour. We hope that one of these trees may have inspired you to adopt them!
