Trees: I like to look at them. I like to sit beneath them.

I like trees. Whether a stunning forest or a lone oak in a pasture, I'm constantly on the look out for beautiful trees. Last spring I realized that despite loving trees I'm quite inept at identifying them. I could walk through my yard and declare "that's a hackberry and those are red oaks," but I embarrassingly could not identify the other trees in my yard. That wouldn't work. I brought a few field guides home and set to work learning about American elms and scrub oaks and a tree that many call a weed but I call a chinaberry.

These two books were invaluable as I identified the trees in my yard:
A Field Guide to Texas Trees
Trees of Central Texas

Like any urban area, Austin abounds with non-native trees. This book is a great guide to all those trees we see throughout our urban landscape.
The Urban Tree Book: an Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town

Put a pretty tree in your house: Coffee table tree books
Remarkable Trees of the World
The Remarkable Baobab
The Encyclopedia of North American Trees
America's Famous and Historic Trees: from George Washington's Tulip Poplar to Elvis Presley's Pin Oak
Trees & Forests of America


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center announced earlier this year the creation of The Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum. Scheduled to open in 2012, the Texas Arboretum will showcase the vast variety of Texas trees with native grasses and wildflowers peppering the trails.