Both coastal and giant redwoods, are the most excellent trees. The giant redwoods are endemic to isolated colonies in the Sierra Nevada. The coastal redwoods are endemic to the coastal region from the Oregon Border to San Luis Obispo County, which happens to include this region.
Coastal redwoods are so awesome that even the dead stumps from trees harvested a century ago are awesome. Most of the stumps in this region have been charred by forest fires. Yet, even after a century, they are still quite solid. They decay very slowly, which is why their timber is such a popular and important building material. Because the stumps are so big and would be difficult to get rid of, not many of us even try.
1. Compared to some of the tacky garden art that some people pay significant money for, this old redwood stump is strikingly sculptural. It stands so proudly out on this knoll on the edge of a small creek just above where it flows into Bean Creek. It is difficult to see in this picture, but a landscaper tried to obscure this stump with potato vine. Only a bit of twiggy growth can be seen at the top of the stump. The rest of the vine is now overwhelming the adjacent dogwood above. The trunk of the dogwood is to the right. Coastal redwood forests are innately shady. The potato vine is not very happy there. Even if it were happy, and were able to obscure the stump, would it really be an improvement?
2. These two bigger stumps are just a short distance uphill and across the small creek. Old stumps are more often single, but surrounded by multiple trunks that emerged from the roots. Because almost all of the trees here had been harvested about a century ago, there are now many more secondary trunks per area than there would naturally be. It is not much of a problem yet, but these trunks will likely become more crowded as they mature.
3. These are the same two stumps from the other side. This trunk coming up from within is likely from the same original root system. All trunks that develop from the same root system are genetically identical, so they look very similar from a distance. Some genetically identical groves can be quite broad, and include many trunks.
4. This small coastal redwood trunk is not happy about the fence that is nailed to it.
5. This is more what you expect coastal redwoods to look like. It is impossible to determine from this picture if these trunks are genetically identical secondary trees that emerged from the same root system, but their proximity to each other suggests that they likely are.
6. This epiphyllum is the flower that I promised to those who expressed a concern than my Six on Saturday lacked adequate bloom. I shared a picture of this same epiphyllum earlier, but it has continued to bloom.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
‘Awesome’ is a much overused word but totally appropriate with these trees. I visited the giant redwoods in the Sierra Nevada a few years back; a much treasured memory. Read this morning that the New Zealand Kauri trees are under severe threat from disease, which is heartbreaking.
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Modern society condemns the clear cut harvesting of the coastal redwoods a century ago, and the sporadic harvesting of the biggest of the giant redwoods merely for bragging rights at about the same time. However, modern globalization disperses diseases and other pathogens into ecosystems that have no defense against them.
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Amazing ! These trees are impressive and wonderful. I have a friend who has one (Sequoia giganteum) and I’m still in wonder at his tree … (around 1850)
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I do not suppose that he or she planted it.
Giant redwood are endemic to such remote regions that they were not formally discovered until about that time. They were an instant hit, and were sent to arboretums all over the world. Prospectors brought seeds with them as they returned home to wherever they came from after the gold rush. Cottage Grove in Oregon is named for a grove of such trees planted by a former prospector.
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the sequoia grows in the garden of this chateau : http://chateaudutaillis.com/ (Sorry it’s in French ..) My friend inherited this chateau and the tree was planted a long time ago …
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That is an exquisite building, but would be more exquisite with a door through which to gain access to the interior.
Although I do not know the history of this particular chateau, chateaus such as this were equipped with the sorts of gardens that not only featured exotic specie from all over the world, but provided the venue for development of many of the classic cultivars of such specie. Many types of citrus were developed within the collections of French chateaus. Pamplemousse, which are known as grapefruit here, were developed more extensively in California than in France, but were originally hybridized in the orangerie (citrus collection within a greenhouse) of a French chateau.
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Love how the tree appears to be eating the porch!
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Redwoods do not often do that. Their bark is so thick that they do not feel light pressure through it. The rail must have been nailed or screwed very firmly to the trunk, so that the pressure could not be avoided as the trunk expanded.
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If I had lovely stumps like these, I wouldn’t have to resort to tacky garden art. Nature always does it best.
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They can be utilitarian too. Because they are so stable, cabins have been built on them like foundations. I built an outhouse on top of one that was hollow down farther than I could see (which is very rare for a redwood stump that had not been burned out on the inside.) The slope was so steep there, that the door was only about two feet above grade, but the downhill side of the stump was more than fifteen feet above grade. Just a few yards away was another stump that had been burned out inside that I build a shower inside of. Nearby, there was another hollow burned out stump that was bug enough to build a guest room inside of.
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Amazing unless you’re joking. It sounds like a hobbit habitation. How did you get water to the shower or was it gravity fed?
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All the water was gravity fed there. A small tank was set up above.
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That sounds fantastic!
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I would so love to see the redwoods in their home territory. One day perhaps. Until then, thanks for sharing these. And the epiphyllum adds a welcome zing at the end!
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I just had to show of the epiphyllum off, even though it is not mine.
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Quite right too!
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I love the redwoods. I was recently in England and visited Kew Gardens where they planted a redwood grove. Though pretty, it was like walking through a 1/6 scale model of a really redwood grove.
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Interns from Merrist Wood brag about those trees . . . until they see the real deal.
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Lots of character in those stumps.
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Yes. It is not easy to explain to someone who has never seen them before. I mean, how interesting can tree stumps be?
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I would love to see these lovely trees. My sister went to see the Red Woods and said they had to be seen to be beloved. I love the stumps and would definately make a cabin of sorts on top of it! Also lovely to see a splash of colour in that epiphyllum. X
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You know, I have lived with them all my life, but can not adequately explain how impressive they are. The native people revered them so much that they would not even live within the thickest parts of their native range. They only passed through quietly on their way to somewhere else.
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One day….it’s on my bucket list.
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Impressive trees, would love to see in person one day. The is for sharing.
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You would never forget them. I have known them all my life, and I never get tired of them.
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We used to live in Crescent City, just off Wonder Stump Rd. The road was lined with the giant stumps, some with young Redwoods growing right out of the humus atop the stump. We’re taking our kids to Redwood Nat. & State Parks in about a week – one of the most amazing places anywhere in the world!
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Yes, It really is impressive. There are so many other great trees in California too. Not only are the coastal redwoods the tallest trees, but the giant redwoods are the biggest. The pinon pines are the oldest trees in the world. The valley oaks are the most massive oaks in America. California has the California fan palms, the Joshua trees, and the list never ends.
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