Larch

Along this fabricated little pond, with its cool waterfall and basalt features from the surrounding hillsides, live all sorts of native and non-native plants that have been brought in to create this lovely setting.

Native, vine maple trees line the edges, but one of my favourite trees here is one that's local to BC, just not in this region – the western larch. Larches are gorgeous, coniferous trees that grow to be nearly 60 metres tall and are typically found on the eastern side of the mountains here. They generally prefer colder, drier climates and don’t naturally exist in the Coast Mountains. This tree, as well as several others in the area, have been brought in by humans for ornamental reasons and they thrive in these familiar mountain environments.

The coolest thing about larches, to me anyway, is the fact that they are a deciduous conifer, meaning that their leaves turn really cool hues of yellow in the fall before falling to the ground. They also have medium-sized, upright cones that are really gorgeous shades of purple when they are first developing. We don’t see trees like this too often on the west side, so having this beauty grace us with its presence is a treat.

NEXT TREE: The next tree is located in Florence Petersen Park, which is back over the crosswalk but instead of going left toward Main Street, continue ahead, following the trail behind Pizza Antico.