Is the Future Palm Trees & Parrots?
Palm Tree at Earth Sanctuary
At Earth Sanctuary, we have a 500 year plan to return the property to mature old growth forest.
What trees should we plant with 500 years in mind? The problem is complicated by the fact that at Earth Sanctuary, we have seen much longer periods between summer rain in past 10 years. Last summer, we didn’t get any rain for 2 months and then the rain was only about 1/10″. This makes it hard for a lot of plants and trees to survive. The trees that are surviving are the drought tolerant trees such as pines and trees from California like Sequoias.
A few years ago I asked some biologists what they expected the climate to be like in 500 years and they said: “Imagine parrots.” So, we are getting ready for those future parrots. We have just planted two Palm trees in the Earth Sanctuary arboretum as a symbol of climate change and our potential future climate.
