Book Description

"The book you are holding is not meant to be carried along the concrete sidewalks, dog-eared and thumbed through, held up against the profile of each unknown street tree to determine its identity. The intention here is to capture the artistry and aesthetics of street trees and, if possible, provoke an emotional feeling inspired by the trees. We want to lure you into the book with its gorgeous colors and naturalistic images so that we can whisper into your ear the value of native trees in a functioning urban ecosystem. We can better share our city streets and yards and rights-of-way with nature by supporting the native trees that support the native ecosystem; a support not provided by the traditional non-native ornamental species sold in quantity at box stores and high-volume nurseries. Rather than mitigate the impacts of concrete and steel, non-native plants increase the urban food desert, their leaves and flowers strange fruit in a strange land, bitter poison to native insects and other endemic foragers"--