Atlanta Beltline Tour Group
June 1, 2024
This Week's Tour...
...met at 9:00AM Saturday in front of Inman Perc coffeeshop (240 North Highland Ave NE). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.
"The Tourists"...
A beautiful day for a Beltline tour with folks from all over Georgia!
May 4, 2024
This Week's Tour...
...met at 9:00AM Saturday in front of Inman Perc coffeeshop (240 North Highland Ave NE). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.
"The Tourists"...
A rainy day and a hardy soul! Perfect Trees Atlanta docent candidate!
Tree of the week...
...is the Eastern Cottonwood. This older specimen wasn't planted by Trees Atlanta; it found ideal growing conditions in the wet soil near Freedom Parkway:
"It needs bare soil and full sun for successful germination and establishment; in natural conditions, it usually grows near rivers, with mud banks left after floods providing ideal conditions for seedling germination; human soil cultivation has allowed it to increase its range away from such habitats."
We happened on it right during "seed" season:
"...A single tree may release 40 million seeds a season."
April 13, 2024
This Week's Tour...
...met at 9:00AM Saturday on the Beltline Eastside Trail near Parish (R.I.P...soon to reopen as "Painted Park"!). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.
"The Tourists"...
What a great group! Long time Atlanta resident and recent landscape architecture grad!
Tree of the week...
...is the Chinese Fringe Tree...planted along the section of the Beltline as a display of the theme "Peace", so chosen as it roughly connects the King Center/Auburn Ave and the Carter Center, both places where Nobel Peace Prizes can be viewed (making Atlanta the only city in the world where 2 Nobel Peace Prizes are on permanent display!)
"Stump" of the week...
...featuring a question raised during the tour that Jeff couldn't answer.
March 2, 2024
This Week's Tour...
...met at 9:00AM Saturday on the Beltline Eastside Trail near Parish (R.I.P...soon to reopen as "Painted Park"!). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.
"The Tourists"...
What a great group! I hope I earned the privilege of your time.
Tree of the week...
...Ornamental Cherry.
There are many types of flowering cherry trees that thrive in early spring temperatures in Georgia. Walter ReevesWalter Reeves has a list of the best of the best. (Trees Atlanta didn't plant these near the Highland Steel Apartments, but they are certainly a welcome spring addition to the arboretum!)
Feb 10, 2024
This Week's Tour...
...met at 9:00AM Saturday on the Beltline Eastside Trail near Parish (R.I.P...soon to reopen as "Painted Park"!). We walked for 1 1/2 hours, covering 1 mile of the Beltline, ending at Ponce City Market.
"The Tourists"...
What a great group! Touring the Eastside Trail via California, Boone NC, Zoo Atlanta...interesting perspectives! I hope I earned the privilege of your time.
Pic of the week...
...a Sears (now Ponce City Market) Postcard!!
Opened in 1926/1928 (depending on your research), here's a view of the warehouse from Ponce, looking southeast toward the Ford Factory Square and the beltline (on the farside). This is prior to the western wing addition (closest to us) and the loading dock (where we ended the tour).
Tree of the week...
...is going to be a repost of ALL OF THEM.
One of our intrepid tourists was interested specifically in growing her tree identification knowledge. It can be tough during the winter, since leaves are such an integral part of identification, but here is the list of the trees I pointed out along the trail:
- Fringe trees (Chionanthus retusus)
- Chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia)
- Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata)
- Cathedral live oak (Quercus virginiana)
- Georgia oak (Quercus georgiana)
- American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima, non-native)
- Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
- Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)
- Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica..not sweet gum...ew)
- Lots of oaks (genus Quercus), including white swamp, southern red, chinquapin
- Carolina and Canada Hemlocks (Tsuga caroliniana and canadensis)
- Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
- Southern red oak (Quercus falcata)
- Scarlett oak (Quercus coccinea...remember Cochineal bugs...a source of red dye)
- - ...and then oak hill with all 33 native oak species
"Stump" of the week...
...featuring a question raised during the tour that Jeff couldn't answer.
