Tree Seedling in Tubes Favors for Weddings – 6-8″ majestic blue spruce seedling (roots need to be wrapped in plastic bag), personalized imprinted paper wrap in a handmade paper image with thank you message, poem, growing instructions, tube, raffia ribbon. Choose from oatmeal or forest green raffia ribbon. Tree-tube favors are also personalized for each couple and contain this message: “Thank you for sharing our “growing Memories”. Please plant this Seedling and nurture it in the spirit of love and watch it grow just as we will grow together in our new life.”

Tree Seed Gift Box Party Favors – This cool “green” wedding favor is made of recycled papers. The card is handmade paper and is personalized with your message. There’s a terra cotta clay pot included along with a peat pellet and tree seed packet. For this favor you can choose one of the following trees; Blue Spruce – Black Pine- Douglas Fir – Loblolly Pine (southern pine – Giant Sequoia (California redwood)- Honey Locust -
Paper (canoe) Birch.

The Arbor Day Foundation has some lovely seedlings available for weddings as well as plenty of ideas about how to display seedlings at your wedding.The hardy evergreen trees (Redwoods, Pines, or Spruces) included in these favor tubes can be planted outdoors when timing and conditions permit, stored in a refrigerator, or grown for months indoors. The trees come in a recyclable tube that converts into a birdfeeder after the tree is planted. You get to customize your own wedding label as well (see example below).

What do you think? Would you give trees as a wedding favor? I love the idea.

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Image via here.

The breadfruit tree is a fast growing tree that in some cases can grow to 85 ft tall. Oddly shaped, with thick spreading branches and bright green and glossy leaves. This is a flowering fruit tree (bet you couldn’t guess from the name) and the flowers develop into roundish or pear shaped fruits. The fruits look like they have a thick rind, but in fact the rind is pretty darn thin and is usually yellow-brown when ripe, although there’s also one lavender variety. This tree thrives in warmer, moist climates and doesn’t handle cold well.

Image via here.

The history of the breadfruit is actually one of the more interesting tree histories – with tales of the breadfruit dating back all the way to 12th Century A.D. Hawaiians (way back then) believed that breadfruit was brought from the Samoan island of Upalu to Oahu. Many more stories and history facts surround this tree though. Read more.

Breadfruit can be roasted and used as bread (which I personally have no experience with), dried, boiled, fried, baked, or ground into flour. And yup, some people eat it raw.

Have you seen a breadfruit tree – OR eaten breadfruit? Tell me what you think…

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The mimosa is not just a fruity cocktail, but a pretty cool tree. Otherwise known as the Albizia julibrissin or silk tree, the mimosa has lots of neat components that make up the whole of the tree….

Such as beautiful silk-like fragrant pink to yellow flowers that appear in mid summer.

And the cool palm-looking leaves…

The mimosa is a perennial that’s part tree / part shrub that’s hardy in zones 6-9. This tree is really pretty, and birds and butterflies are especially drawn to it. However, the mimosa is also packed with pollen that can cause allergies in some people. I like the mimosa because of it’s wild shape and I like that the flowers look like those neat lamps that light up at the edges – know what I mean? Those popular in the 80s lamps? If you know tell me the name of these lamps in the comments, because frankly, not knowing the name is driving me nuts.

But I digress. Do you have any mimosa trees near you? And if so, what do you think?

[images (c) 2002 Steven J. Baskauf via bioimages]

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While yes, it would be rockin’ cool if there was a real cupcake tree in my backyard, this is more a tree of the creative type…

The cupcake tree:

I have no clue how I came across this – I don’t frequent Woman’s Day, but I must say, this is a very nice little cooking with kids project. They give full instructions at the site for how to make your own cupcake trees – perfect for an Earth Day party or an eco-themed birthday party.

While the above trees are autumn themed, you could make little spring trees with green frosting (grass) and little flower candies, or summer trees; anything really. It’s a fun idea.

Notes: Use organic cake ingredients and use reusable cupcake liners and you’re green and good to go with this project.

[pretty flower cupcake image via stock.xchng]

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Kamber and Katherine both guessed that the The Chocolate Tree was the most popular tree and that my favorite tree is the Cedar. They were both half correct.

Cedar is my favorite tree, but then, of course I have a little Cedar boy so I’m prejudice. The most popular tree is not the chocolate tree though. The tree with the most views, the tree that’s actually the huge landslide winner when compared to the other trees I’ve shown, is the…

Lemon Tree. How about that. It makes me wonder how many people are planting lemon trees.

Now because I talked so much above, we’re not going to see a new tree, we’re going to look back at an old favorite tree post here; The Perfect Place for Tree Huggers to Dream. The tree in the dream post was not a real tree at all, but an amazing artistic bed. In case you missed it, now is your chance to see it:

People really liked this bed made by Shawn Lovell. Can’t say I blame them. Next week we’ll hug a new real tree; you know, one made of wood and leaves.

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[Eastern Redbud via National Park Service]

As previously noted, I’m reinstating the Hug This Tree series. I miss it. Kicking it off with the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis). I mainly picked this tree because it’s hardy to my zone, pretty, and very old, which is cool. This tree dates back to biblical times, and is sometimes known as the Judas tree.

The deciduous Redbud is fairly small, so good for even a smaller front yard. It grows better in moist soil, but is hardy to various zones, (4 to 9). The Redbud sprouts pretty little pink/purple flowers in the spring, and flowers earlier than most trees, making it a popular choice in commercial gardens or street and city settings. In the fall the tree is a great yellow shade.

(c) 2005 Steven J. Baskauf via Bioimages

The flowers are really nice and grow in almost little puffs…

(c) 2006 Steven J. Baskauf via Bioimages

(c) 2002 Steven J. Baskauf via Bioimages

Eastern Redbud available for shipping from Porcupine Hollow Farm.

Do you have Eastern Redbuds in your area?

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I’ve totally been slacking about us hugging trees latey. In fact, we haven’t hugged a single tree for a very long time here at Tree Hugging Family. Sad. That said, I’m thinking I’ll recharge this series, because I like learning about new trees, and I bet you do to.

In case you’re new to Tree Hugging Family, and missed this old series entirely, here’s a recap of some of the trees we’ve hugged in the past…

1. Coconut Tree
2. Pear Tree
3. Paper Birch
4. Lilac
5. Lemon
6. Blue Jacaranda
7. Royal Purple Smoke
8. Autumn Trees
9. Yellow Poplar
10. Pomegranate
11. Tea Tree
12. The Pumpkin Tree
13. The Chocolate Tree
14. Almond
15. Binary Tree
16. Red Flowering Dogwood
17. Cedar
18. Sugar Maple
19. Douglas Fir
20. Edible Tree
21. Heirloom Peach Tree

THREE POP QUIZ QUESTIONS:

1. We’ve hugged a lot of trees here, but one tree is the clear winner when it comes to popularity. Which of the trees above do you think has been the most visited tree post? And if you think looking at how many comments these posts got will help you; it won’t. (Peggy, if you’re reading this, no fair to play).
2. Which of these trees, do you think, is MY favorite? I do have one.
3. Which of the above is your favorite tree to hug? Or do you have another tree you’d like to mention.

Later today, I’ll bring in a new tree.

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The best site by far about the coconut tree, or palm, as it’s more technically known, that I’ve found is the Dr. T. Ombrello – UCC Biology Department page. I don’t even like coconuts and I found the site fascinating. It’s actually more a page, than a full site, but all the little facts about this palm are really cool. Plus there’s the most adorable little baby palm picture there.

While I like baby palms, I’m not so much a fan of big ones. This might be a tree I won’t hug. I’m not very tropical, and see below for my coconut rant. But if you like palms, this is a nice tall one:

Coconuts:

They look good at a distance, at sunset:

Coconut palms can reach up to 80 ft in height, with one tree producing 50 fruit according to Purdue University. That’s one heavy tree. Of course people use coconut fruit for all sorts of recipes – none of which I like. As a child my mom’s friend brought coconuts to the house once, and chopped them open, so my sibs and I could try the milk. I was thrilled. In the movies they always drink the milk (yippee). Sadly, not one of us liked it. I went from thrilled to appalled in a minute flat.

I’ve never gotten over it, which is too bad, because it’s such a pretty food, all translucent and silky looking. I NEVER eat coconut anything so I won’t be posting any cool recipes, because to me there are none. Well, maybe I’ll post a few, because while I’m not a coconut fan, I am a Marye fan and she has posted:

• Cheesecake Pops made with coconut oil.
• Chocolate Intrigue Cookies – yes with coconut.
• Coconut Cream Pie or Pudding – yikes.

You know, I do like coconut in beauty products – it’s very rich. Coconut is also used for making items like rings, bracelets, hamster toys, and more. See how coconut can be terrifying! You can even dress them up, if you’re bored:

Simple Coconut Tree Paper Craft – for very small kids.

Do you like coconut?

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

[images via stock.xchng]

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• My favorites are Green Anjou. I know it sounds odd, but they taste like flowers to me; so super yummy is a pro.
• Pears are healthy! Fiber, vitamin C, and more, make pears a healthy snack, plus they’re filling. If you’re watching your weight, just one is more filling than many other foods.
• Portable: I hate that you can’t cut an apple and eat it later; you can, but it doesn’t stay so fresh. You can cut up a pear, carry it around all day in a container, and it’s still just as good when you eat it.
• You can make lots of cool treats with them. I like them plain best, but there are plenty of good recipes out there for the adventurous – in fact this Lavender Pear Cupcakes with Vosges Bianca Ganache recipe looks pretty good – pears + lavender – what’s not to love?
• There are enough pear varieties to make everyone happy.

[Anjou via USA Pears]

Pear trees:

Established pear trees are an easy tree to maintain. My grandma had one that she did nothing with and each year we had mountains of pears. Most are very pretty in bloom too. I like that the leaves are so thick and hearty – my grandma and I used to make cool things with the leaves, and they’re hard to tear. 

[Bradford Pear Tree In Bloom]

[Pears]

Pears are also eco inspiring as you can see with this dreamy LED light pear tree. I’m dreaming of this for the holidays by the way.

[Pear Light by Nick Foley via Coroflot]

Pear stuff for the young littles:

Pear Bear

Pear Buddies

Click here for a cool pear surprise!

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photo: Vick, Albert F. W.

photo: Evanston Ecology Center

Other uses for this tree includes canoes, toothpicks, and pulpwood. I loved these trees as a kid, sadly because they were fun to peel. The white bark is so neat.

Some cool facts according to the Evanston Ecology Center include:

• It’s the first tree to grow back after a fire wipes out a wooded area.
• The bark burns well even when wet.
• The tree’s sap can produce syrup, wine, beer, and medicinal tonic.

These grow all over the place, of course in some places more than others, but, there’s a good chance you’ve seen one.

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