I found these for sale locally and thought it would be fun to see how much it would grow while I'm still around to see it! They were labelled as 2 year old trees, it cost me £3.50.
It brought back memories of visiting a Great Aunt (we were dragged around lots of Great Aunts - it was usually very boring) This Aunt lived in a bungalow along Nacton Road one of the main roads out of Ipswich and in the middle of the front lawn was a huge Monkey Puzzle tree.
Would I have remembered the Monkey Puzzle if I didn't have a very old photo to remind me? I don't know. There is one branch of the tree on the left hand photo and the right hand photo is me, (back right) my sister and two cousins standing outside the bungalow. - Wonder why we were all there together? 1968 it says in my album - so I was 13.
Monkey Puzzles are also called Chili Pine according to my tree book and introduced to Britain in 1795 after being brought to Europe from South America by the Spaniards in the C17. They were very popular with the Victorians
Apparently the trees rarely live longer than 100 years reaching a height of 80 feet.
The common name of Monkey Puzzle is usually said to be because with their sharp close-set leaves even a monkey finds them a puzzle to climb!
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I was always fascinated by monkey puzzle trees as a child. I think I expected to see a chimp suddenly peering at me from a branch. I didn't realise people were still planting them. I hope yours thrives!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how many are about now. They are still for sale on line and garden centres
DeleteThere was a huge monkey puzzle tree in our next door neighbour's front garden when I was a child, I always found it fascinating. A neighbour here has a smaller one in their garden (inherited, they didn't plant it). They hate it, because it's so spiky and they're always catching themselves on it when gardening.
ReplyDeleteI would get rid of it if it did me damage!
DeleteThere used to be one in a garden approaching Northam Bridge and for some reason, you weren't allowed to speak when you went past it on the bus! I don't know where we got that from! I hope yours puts on impressive growth for you.
ReplyDeleteI love strange superstitions, we used to hold our collars when an ambulance went by - no idea why
Delete‘Touch your collar, touch your toes, never go in one of those’.
DeleteSomething you are planting for future generations - I like that!
ReplyDeletexx
I'll foist it onto a child in my will!!
DeleteMy daughter had a great big one in her garden but they had to fell it because they're building a new house there. Also, we had one in our garden. I can't remember if we planted it or not, but my husband grew half a dozen babies from it. I think they all gradually died in 'childhood'. It's a job strimming under the lower branches!
ReplyDeleteGetting poked in the eye would be very painful!
DeleteAt our local park,there is a Monkey tree and I can remember going there as a child and thinking that monkeys lived in it.Im 65 now and it is still there looking very healthy!xx
ReplyDeletePerhaps they live longer than the book said
DeleteWe had a tree in the cemetery when we went to tidy the grave for my Nan and other family. I always liked it. I have 2 palm trees in my garden that were planted in the garden when I came here they are very tall. An interesting post Sue.
ReplyDeleteHazel c uk 🌈🌈🌈
I was always amazed to see palm trees when on holiday near a warmer coast
DeleteOne of the caravans on the park has a Monkey Puzzle tree in the garden it is about 10 foot tall and almost as wide as their space in places, I wonder how old it is, it must be quite an age if your little baby one is already two years old. I wouldn't dare go near it it looks seriously sharp!!
ReplyDeleteAt least they won't have problems with the roots damaging the footings
Deletelove the old photos.
ReplyDeleteMonkey Puzzle trees make me think of 'The Ghost & Mrs Muir'. :O)
Wish I could remember being 13!
DeleteThere’s a giant old monkey puzzle tree in a garden in our village, see it most days when I go for my walk, not too keen on it. I love the bungalow though, just the kind of place I would like to be living in these days.
ReplyDeleteCertainly not a favourite tree of mine either but it's just for fun to see how much it grows
Delete£3.50 seems a lot of money for it.
ReplyDeleteDo you reckon? they cost a fortune on line.
DeleteNo idea. I was just thinking at a car boot you might have paid a £1! I know we put one in the ground at the previous house and in 10 years it didn't appear to grow and eventually I lost sight of it, probably got overgrown and caput.
DeleteApparently, the Chilean Pine is in jeopardy in it's native habitat today. Be careful where you plant it, two houses nearby have had issues with planting theirs too close to their buildings!
ReplyDeleteIt will be potted up for several years so I can take it with me whenever I move
DeleteI remember a monkey puzzle tree - I would see it from the bus each time we travelled to Sevenoaks in Kent from Farningham. We would catch the bus once a week on a Saturday. When we saw the monkey puzzle tree we would know how far along we were on the bus route. This was in the fifties, and it was quite al arge tree in someone's garden. Jean/Winnipeg
ReplyDeleteWhat a good memory - thank you
DeleteYou all look very neat and tidy in that photo.
ReplyDeleteSunday best I expect!
DeleteI don't find them particularly attractive but I remember how strange I thought the first one I ever saw.
ReplyDeleteI don't find them very attractive either but was just curious to grow one
DeleteThere was a Monkey Puzzle tree in the front garden of a house we passed on our way home from school 50 years ago (actually I think it's still there). My mother always said it was unlucky to talk going past it. I've never heard that anywhere else so I suspect it was just to stop us chatting for a minute or two!
ReplyDeleteJennie at Bovey Belle above says the same thing about not speaking so it must have been wider known
DeleteAraucaria is their Latin name - I love them Sue. When I first came to Leyburn there was one in the garden next to the Quaker Meeting House - it was a good eighty feet high and towered over the house in a small garden. Then suddenly, about five years ago, it just died. I often park in the square where it was and I still miss it. People still talk about it.
ReplyDeleteMust have got to it's 100 years and gave up!
DeleteI never heard of a Monkey Puzzle tree or a Chili Pine but I've grown up around other types of Pine trees and it does remind me of them. It is always fun to try something new.
ReplyDeleteThey are a particular favourite of mine. Arilx
ReplyDeleteThey are such strange looking trees. The best specimens I have seen have always been grown in botanical parks, where their full size and beauty can be really appreciated.
ReplyDeleteLove your childhood photo, so typical of the era with the long socks :)
Monkey Puzzle trees were the very first trees that I remember admiring. There was one in my village when I was very small, and I used to stand and stare at it.
ReplyDelete