National Arbor Day is celebrated annually on the last Friday of April* in the U.S.
While its global roots (pun intended) originate in Spain, Julius Sterling Morton is credited as founding Arbor Day in Nebraska in 1872. Amazingly, it is believed that nearly one million trees were planted that day. One million!
A century later, the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) was created in 1972 which focuses on planting and rehabilitating trees to counter the harmful effects of deforestation.
A Chinese proverb says, “If you plant a tree in the morning, it is unrealistic to expect to sit in the cool of its shade by the evening.” We can apply this same proverb to our Workday Student project. We planted this tree several years ago, and it will take time for us to fully bask in its shade. In the meantime, we can already enjoy some early fruits as our tree continues to grow.
Tree Trivia
- J. Sterling Morton and his family settled on 160 treeless acres in Nebraska. As a tree lover, he made it his mission to populate their land with orchards of fruit trees, along with other deciduous and evergreen varieties.
- Morton encouraged the planting of trees to anyone within his circle of influence, eventually becoming the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland. “If I had the power, I would compel every man in the State who had a home of his own to plant out and cultivate fruit trees.”
- Trees grow from the top, not from their roots.
- The fastest-growing tree is bamboo. It can grow three feet in one day!
- The oldest tree in the world is a bristlecone pine that is 5,062 years old.
- One tree can supply a whole day’s worth of oxygen for four people!
- Trees communicate with each other through their intricate underground networks and exhibit social intelligence… something like a “wood-wide web.”
*A few states (e.g. Alaska and Hawaii) celebrate Arbor Day on different dates according to their ideal planting seasons.
Sources:
https://www.almanac.com/content/arbor-day-history-facts-date
https://nationaltoday.com/day-of-trees/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/
https://8billiontrees.com/