The Ginkgo Experiment
Project Location: Hyde Park, Oak Park & Bowmanville (Chicago)
I first remember identifying Ginkgo biloba trees in the fourth grade, when a nature-loving teacher had each student create a leaf collection. Several years ago, I noticed that a few of the ginkgo trees on the UChicago campus were female and produced a healthy crop of the notoriously stinky seeds. I collected a bagful that fall (2006), cold-stratified them in the fridge, and grew a small army of ginkgo tree seedlings in the spring. I now collect seeds from both the UChicago Botany Pond ginkgo and the famous tree at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Home & Studio. I love watching these living fossil trees emerge from seed, and nurturing them until they are ready to be distributed far and wide. Go, gink, go!
The Ginkgo Experiment photo set ›
© Dena van der Wal |