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Market Square, London, Ontario

Market Square, London, Ontario
Guess what? The market in London, Ontario is called Covent Garden. The iron trees here are part of an installation of 60 by Bill Hodgson called "Metal Trees of the Carolinian Forest"; the trees were installed around downtown between 2007 and 2009. Many objections were raised by members of the public, the chief one being that since London already had over 120,000 real trees of the Carolinian forest adding metal ones seemed like a work of supererogation. But eventually four times as many as had been planned were installed. The yellow tree on the left is a trembling aspen, the green tree in the middle is a white pine, and the blue one on the right is a white oak. The size of your oak and aspen leaves may vary. I have always been part of the school that thought planting real trees would have been better, but this corner is engrossing. I also took some photos of the trees with traffic lights that I find quite interesting and may post them eventually.

London has another installation on a sylvan theme -- one of carved tree trunks. I hope to get round to them.

LOOK AT 'ER BIG, EH? (type Z)

Thanks to CoolHead of the Looking around London blog for most of the information here about the metal trees.

Will S., Gabi Lombardo, Marco F. Delminho, Fred Fouarge and 7 other people have particularly liked this photo


15 comments - The latest ones
 rdhinmn
rdhinmn club
Why not have urban trees? Saint Paul had pained Snoopy Dogs, if I recall, and I know Capetown had rhinos. A lot of cities had painted pianos. And cows? Identity.
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to rdhinmn club
Toronto had moose. SInce Toronto is known as Hogtown they might have had hogs, but nooooo.
2 years ago.
 Jaap van 't Veen
Jaap van 't Veen club
Like the clarity and bright colours.
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Jaap van 't Veen club
Thanks, Jaap.
2 years ago.
 Leon_Vienna
Leon_Vienna club
This is a very excellent photo, in any, any respect! Lines, colours, structures (man made ones as well as the few natural ones) and last but not least the favorably composition. Very well done. It feels, like London, Ontario is a very booming, vibrant & thriving city, not far beyond its old world brother in England ...
I am just thinking how I would have made this ... it would have been far less successfull, I am sure.

Finally thank you for the term "Carolinian forest", found and read it on wikipedia and now know, what touched me that time on Manitoulin Island, and still touches me when looking on that few pictures I have left: it was the only place and time during four weeks Canada we had this kind of forest.
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Leon_Vienna club
Thank you very much, Leon. As you read on Wikipedia, farming has devastated the wildlife of this Canadian section of the forest. Since this region grows the most profitable crops in North America -- corn, soybean, and tobacco -- it's not likely that much land will be reclaimed.
2 years ago.
 Léopold
Léopold club
Fairy tale area !
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Léopold club
I hadn't thought of that. Léopold, but it does have that air.
2 years ago.
Léopold club has replied to John FitzGerald club
For the colored trees at first sight at least unless they are real but painted ?
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Léopold club
They're real, Léopold. And the paint is completely unnatural. It's quite an effect.
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has added
Whoops. I slipped there. They're iron.
2 years ago.
 tiabunna
tiabunna club
Thanks for bringing this to us, John. An enjoyable image and it's good that they have 'planted' a variety of vegetation. I look forward to your images of the carved tree trunks.
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to tiabunna club
You're welcome, George. I've already thought of some carved trunks I could visit first.
2 years ago.
 Will S.
Will S.
Back in the day, I shot these metal trees and put them on flickr, and somebody offered me money to use them in a tourism campaign or something. Those were the days...
2 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Will S.
Nowadays they just steal them, I think, Will.
2 years ago.

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