Blue Trees and Other Colors too?
Blue Trees? Red too? and White ones as well? What is it all about?
Blue trees on Flickr recently caught my attention…. and I as I searched for the who, what, why, and how, I found red trees and white ones too?
Seems tree painting is kind of a thing…and is done for a variety of reasons.
The Mt. Annan Botanical Gardens tree in Australia is painted Blue because it is dead and the painting is meant to draw attention and teach about how even dead, it is a vibrant place of life for other creatures and insects.
image by ozczecho
This red one is also dead and just the fancy of a creative homeowner. I personally really like the idea of painting trees. Singularly and artistically chosen for an interesting surprise in the landscape. What do you think?
Image found via PaintedTree.com
Apparently trees in both China and Mexico are regularly painted white on the bottom (possibly with Quicklime?)… Researching the why, I found reasons seem to mostly surround the health of the tree. But most explanations seem to lose sight of actual science…Snails and slugs don’t like the lime, they are easier to see on the street, the white is done to protect from heat, somehow the white discourages insects…anyone have another theory to add? Or a Fact? But once again, I like the effect.
image found at http://liuzhou.blog-city.com/tree_painters.htm
Purely for design effect (I think), trees in Kansas City’s Kauffman Memorial Garden were painted blue…apparently it washes away after a season.
image by chimphappyhour
I love the surprise, and how it makes an ordinary and perhaps overlooked landscape element suddenly much more interesting and perhaps even a destination….
Like this tree….located at Coordinates: 105.42001 W x 39.97533 N. (which BTW is near Nederland, CO– home to lots of other interesting and off beat things). I love the idea of going for a hike, compass in hand, on a hunt for a wild blue tree.
image by jenn.m
Anyone know of a good tree paint? …and if it is available in other colors…I have a stand of three large pines, that I think it would be fun to do a color study on…in shades of fuchsia…:)
keewee said,
April 23, 2009 @ 9:19 am
That is an interesting and unusual way to make a work of art out of a dead tree. I like them.
High Desert Diva said,
April 23, 2009 @ 9:48 am
My grandparents always had the bottoms of their trees painted white…to discourage insects. I haven’t seen that done in years!
The colorfully painted trees are interesting. For dead trees I suppose it wouldn’t matter what kind of paint one would use. The living trees though….hmmm. I wonder if a sapling could be dyed through the roots…
Ann Marie said,
April 23, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Wow! I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before. I think idea is good for dead trees, but I worry about painting live ones…even if it wears off in one season.
Waxyhearts said,
April 23, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
I totally want to paint my trees purple!!!
rochelle said,
April 23, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Ann- so glad to see you here…I keep thinking about you…and want to make sure my comments were ok (over there). I feel better now that you are here.
Sprout said,
April 27, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
OK, never heard of this until I read your post a few days ago…what do I spy today while in Boston?!
http://www.sprout-flowers.com/2009/04/dead-tree-of-different-sort.html
Christina said,
April 28, 2009 @ 2:33 pm
Hi Rochelle – thanks for visiting! I’ll have to check out Deborah’s site. Your site design is really good by the way! And I love these painted trees. (There I go, overusing the word “love” like we learned not to do in class…lol)