Blossom of Snow May You Bloom and Grow Forever

One of the songs that I sing to my daughter as a lullaby is "Edelweiss" by Rogers & Hammerstein, from The Sound of Music. I'm somewhat partial to waltzes, I love the melody, and I enjoy the simple lyrics, which take on significant meaning in the context of the story in the musical. I recently picked up The Sound of Music piano and vocal song book and have begun playing "Edelweiss" on the piano. So it's been running through my head constantly for the past few days.


Wikipedia tells me that Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) grows primarily in rocky, mountainous regions between 2,000 and 2,900 meters. While it grows only within a narrow range of elevation, it has quite an extensive geographic range throughout Europe and Asia. It reportedly grows from France and Germany to Bulgaria to Iran to Mongolia. The flower has been used as a symbol for numerous governments and organizations, including on both sides of the battle lines during World War II. It was reportedly used as the symbol of the Wehrmacht mountain rangers and one of the Luftwaffe bomber units, but also as a symbol for an anti-Nazi youth group called the Edelweisspiraten (Edelweiss Pirates). Today it is still used as a symbol of numerous alpine troops and mountaineering clubs in various European countries.


I have a lovely brooch in the shape of an Edelweiss flower that was handed down from my grandmother to my father to me. It's small and delicate looking, yet the points of the flowers are quite strong and sharp. I love turning it over to see the 1,5 DM price written in pencil on the back. Since neither my dad nor I are certain of the age of the brooch, I can't say whether this was very expensive or whether it was merely a simple, everyday, decorative pin. I believe it may have been carved out of ivory, but I'm not sure how to confirm this. Whatever the case, the brooch is special to me because it belonged to my grandmother and because I have such a nice connection to the song. 

I don't have too many items on my life's bucket list, but seeing an Edelweiss blooming in the wild is on my list for certain.

Are ginkgo trees the new black?

While on a walk around the neighborhood this morning, we walked down an arterial road not too far from our house. This street is fairly wide, with broad sidewalks that are separated from the road by landscaped strips. Most of the trees on the street appear to be fairly well established, yet not that old. I would guess perhaps 10 years  or so. I've noticed over the past couple of  years that several of the trees have disappeared and been replaced with new trees of different species. Just today, we saw one tree's trunk was broken completely through. The tree was lying along the edge of the sidewalk, with its support stakes still attached. It's sad to see such a large plant dead after so much time and water went into getting it to that size. Hopefully it will be replaced soon. 


I'm not sure what species the older trees along the road are, but the newer trees that are being planted as replacements are ginkgo trees. I really like ginkgo trees. The shape of their leaves is very attractive and I like how they flutter and dance in a breeze. Here's a photo of AJ during our walk, holding a ginkgo leaf.

The appearance of the new gingko trees caused me to wonder why the city chose to replace the previous species of trees with ginkgo trees. Are they hardier and expected to live longer in this area? Were they simply cheaper for the city? Or are they just more fashionable at the moment?


I find it interesting that cities seem to continually change their approaches to median and park landscaping. I would imagine that some of the changes over time have to do with increased knowledge about which plants are most appropriate for which environments. I think xeriscaping to reduce water use and native plant landscaping have influenced public space landscaping, probably for the good. And there has certainly been increased education on the immense damage that many trees can cause to underground or overhead utilities, leading to improved choices and placement of trees. However, I have to believe that a lot of landscaping choices on both public and private property follow fads, just as architecture, interior design, or fashion do.  Take, for example, the plethora of Mexican Sage and New Zealand Flax that have popped up in the Bay Area over the past 10 years, including in my own yard! You really can't seem to get away from them.


In my childhood neighborhood on the Central Coast in the 80s, ice plant, alyssum, agapanthus, oleander, and geraniums were the ubiquitous plants of both home gardens and public areas. They certainly haven't disappeared from view, but they now seem, well, a bit dated. I do still love the smell of alyssum, probably because it reminds me of playing outside as a child. I have some seed that I plan to plant in our yard this spring. My daughter's early childhood will be filled with rosemary, lavender, Mexican Sage, and flax in all the yards. I wonder what the next generation of landscaping fads will bring.