Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Sturdy Roots - Strong Foundations

(click on image to enlarge)

Blue Atlas Cedar at St. Ann’s Academy
Watercolour and crayon
©2012 Charlene Brown

On the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the City of Victoria, ‘Artistic Renderings of the Heritage Trees at St. Ann’s Academy National Historic Site’ were requested.  We each picked whatever tree or trees we’d like to paint, a process which took way longer than I expected.  They have a wonderful arboretum from which to choose, and I finally selected the Blue Atlas Cedar, described in their Botanical Guide as ‘Native of Africa, conifer. Very popular as an ornamental garden tree, it features silvery blue needles and cones up to 10 cm in length.’  It’s absolutely beautiful, but I think I should mention it would only be suitable for huge ornamental gardens.