No. 09

Character

Tall, spiraling, reaching

This tree moves the way slow things move — with purpose you feel rather than see. From the base, the trunk traces a deliberate S-curve upward, shifting direction in long, patient bends that carry a slight spiral as they climb. It is a line that was not drawn in a season but negotiated across decades, the pruner guiding what the tree was already inclined to do. At eleven feet it stands among the tallest specimens in the collection, yet the profile stays relatively narrow — the S-curve adding width without sprawl, giving the silhouette a restless vertical energy. The real gesture comes at the top. The crown pads open outward and upward, angling toward the sky with an unmistakable sense of aspiration — like an open hand reaching for something just beyond its grasp. It gives the entire tree a feeling of lift, of unfinished motion, as though it is still in the act of becoming. Below, the branching follows the trunk's lead, pads extending at alternating angles that echo the spiral and keep the eye moving. This is a tree that draws the gaze upward and holds it there.