My own Madrona Tree

by Mark Pitzke
(Rochester, Washington, USA)

A few years back, 6-7, I found a tree nursery in Olympia, WA that sold local native trees and they had madrona trees.

Since I moved here from Alaska I have admired the way they look so I bought one and put it in my front yard as a sort of center piece. I have been told that it is the largest of the Rhododendren family. I have found that the limbs are very stiff even when they are still rather thin. When I tried to bend a limb lower to take off the dead brown leaves it does not bend like you would expect and I have to get a ladder to reach the upper leaves.

I have also heard of a boat builder who used Madrona to make cabinets and they were really beautiful. The wood is like the Bay Laurel that grows in Oregon.