Sunday, December 24, 2006

A southern tree



O Tannenbaum... Seen from a distance (and only from a distance), the Norfolk Island Pine is probably the closest a native Australian species can come to the traditional northern Christmas tree. See how the top sometimes looks like a perfect star! But the Norfolk Island Pine is huge and totally unsuted to domestic use. Let's face it, for most families here, the Christmas tree will be made of plastic...

"Mon beau sapin, roi des forêts..." - non, pas de sapins en Australie. Vu de loin, le pin de Norfolk pourrait presque faire illusion, et sa pointe ressemble à une étoile parfaite, mais c'est un arbre immense totalement inadapté à un usage domestique. Soyons francs : dans la grande majorité des foyers australiens, le sapin sera artificiel...

10 comments:

Sally said...

A few years ago it became fashionable to have a Norfolk Island Pine in a pot as a living Christmas tree. That was okay for a few years....but what to do with them when they grew out of the pot ....to big to plant in the backyard. Bonsai??

Kate said...

Plastic? So sad! Bonsai would be great fun. The photo with the moon is great!

Annie said...

Like Sally I have had a Norfolk Island Pine in the house and in its pot in the backyard. And I decorated it for Christmas several years in a row. When I moved across country I gave it to a friend of mine - and I hear it's still growing beautifully, inside her house.

Marie-Louise Broggi said...

looks like a ice cristal or snow flake, happy new year!

photowannabe said...

The top of the tree is amazing. What a perfect topper.
We don't have that type of tree on the West Coast of California (that I'm aware of )
Merry Christmas

Meg said...

Olivier is doing great - it's about 5am in Sydney, I think, and Eve pic is already up!

Pod said...

the bestest of christmasses to you madame jolie!! (and i dont mean angelina!) ;0)

Olivier said...

l'avantage des sapins en plastiques, c'est qu'ils ne detruisent pas les forets.

JaamZIN said...

I wish you a Merry Christmas Nathalie!:)

Cergie said...

Et oui, un substitut de sapin
Quand je vivais en cote d'ivoire on avait des filaos, cela ressemblait mais ce n'était pas !