Dogwood. Hidden away under the canopy, reaching out and up to find sunshine in the PNW rain forest. Beautiful white spring flowers.

After leaving my beloved PNW when I was 12 to move to smoggy searing Los Angeles and missing the green and rain for 45 years, I’m back. We just bought a dogwood for the backyard. So excited for spring.

There was a HUGE oak tree at my grandma’s house. I mean it was MASSIVE covering like the whole yard and was like 5 feet in diameter.
I grew up playing under it climbing limbs and swinging on a tire swing and a funner branch-seat swing which was lighter so it would go higher. Heres kinda how it looked:

Anyways, in a hurricane a few years ago a large branch snapped off and it got infected and had to be chopped down :(

Willows. They feel so incredibly relaxed, like they just don’t give a shit.

So anyway, I love those dark maples with the leaves that are so blue they’re almost black in certain light. I call them goth maples.

Picture:

I don’t think its very common in the US but The pōhutukawa tree

The pōhutukawa tree is a special part of New Zealand culture, often called the “New Zealand Christmas tree” because of its bright red flowers that bloom in December. It’s seen as a symbol of strength and resilience, especially since it grows along rugged coastlines. For Māori, it has deep spiritual meaning—there’s even an ancient pōhutukawa at Cape Reinga where spirits are believed to begin their journey to the afterlife. Plus, it’s great for the environment, providing food and shelter for native birds and insects.

Birch!

They’re just so beautiful!

We have a big maple in our yard and more through the neighborhood. The sound of wind running through their leaves is very calming.

Balanced binary tree

Real answer: Japanese maple and willows

Delonix regia, the original flamboyant.

I’m going to go with white oak. The wood is very versatile; it’s strong enough for load bearing furniture, it’s hard enough for tabletops, it steam bends quite nicely, it’s just a joy to work with, looks wonderful under an oil finish, and it lends a nice flavor to whiskey.

Everything about the Gingko tree is pretty cool

I used to live in a rickety flat that had a single old creaky staircase to get up to the front door, and a little grassy terrace area. Only I really ever used the grassy bit. The stairs had a pohutakawa tree growing essentially right through them, making walking up or down them hazardous. Especially when drunk.

I would not classify that period of my life to be “happy” by any stretch, but that tree signified being “home.” It was like the guardian to my space. A physical barrier between me and the shitshow that was the rest of the world at that time. An almost literal gatekeeper (many people were too scared to walk up the stairs lol)

Added bonus, year end holidays, and the height of summer were vividly and brightly different thanks to the red needles they drop everywhere around that time.

It wasn’t until the landlord told me he was planning to have it cut down, and I had an almost physical reaction that I realized how much I loved that tree. I managed to convince him not to have it cut down until after I’d left.

Both the tree and the flat are now gone. A multi million dollar new build is there now.

Mango tree!! 🥭🌳

It’s big, it provides plenty of shades, it’s unassuming, and most importantly it has mangoes!!

Being the most common tree in America doesn’t make the sycamore any less awesome.

They’re big and their canopy is lush. Their limbs are all twisty and knobbly. They’ve got huge leaves that sound amazing blowing in the wind or crunching underfoot. The colloquialism for their seedpods is hilarious and the pods themselves are almost as cool as sweetgum seed pods.

Just some great trees all around.