Leafy Friends Find A New Home

A few years ago my friend DrDan gifted me with four tropical hardwood tree-lings that he had grown from seed; mahogany, Chinese rosewood, sandalwood, and another that I cannot recall at the moment (padauk?).  Of those four, two remain alive but laboring in our alpine climate in the Virginia Highlands.  Despite moving them indoors in front of a large south-facing window during the winter, they struggled no matter how hard I tried caring for them.  The days here are just too short in the winter since the mountain blocks much of the sun by mid-afternoon, and the cabin too chilly.

That led me to seek out a new home for them, and my longtime friend Tred volunteered his yard in South Florida.  On a recent trip we swung by Tred’s place where these two tree-lings will be planted to mature and flourish.  I’d bet that in a hundred years we could go there and see a fine specimen of a Cuban Mahogany (sweitenia mahoganii) tree on the right alongside a Fragrant/Chinese Rosewood (“huanghuali” or dalbergia odorifera) tree on the left.  I hope they do well in the climate of south Florida, and will go back to visit them periodically.

While visiting we got a nice view of Tred’s shop, which survived the recent hurricane just fine (an ancient live oak in the yard did not fare so well).  I think the footprint is about 75 x 40 feet, and the full bank of north windows provides spectacular interior lighting.

Out front is a cool gnarly chair made from a mahogany stump.  Aesthetically intriguing but lacking in the comfort department.