It might turn into Tree Week here on the Science Stuff Blog, since I keep finding such neat articles about trees. (My excellent co-blogger Robert Lamb seems to be on more of a Bug Week trajectory between his posts on bed bug pheromones and “The Fly.”)

According to Inhabitat, the Bronx Grand Concourse is about to play host to the summer-long “Tree Museum,” an oral history of the 4.5-mile boulevard’s oldest residents. Each of the project’s 100 trees will feature placards listing a phone number and a personalized extension. Call the number and the tree will tell you about itself, the neighborhood or the local ecology (as voiced by folks who grew up with the trees).

Artist Katie Holten dreamed up the project by envisioning the Grand Concourse as it would have looked 100 years ago: no buildings, no cars, but still some of the same trees. She said, “I saw the trees as a starting point for examining the entire ecosystem.”

I’m sure everyone has fond stories about trees they grew up with: the lookout/spy tree, the one the kittens got stuck in, the mimosa with just enough give to lift you in the air. The exception here is that that these trees are in a public place, a busy street thoroughfare where their stories can be shared with everyone.

(It’s worth also looking at the New York Times article on the Tree Museum to hear some of the audio clips.)

More trees:
How do trees affect the weather?
5 Walkable Cities
5 Green Cities of the Future

Tree Week:
The “Ghost Forest” of Trafalgar Square
The Eco-friendly Bagpipes of Tanzania
That’s Not a Tree, It’s a Power Plant!
Tree Week’s Deadly Conclusion: “Wicked Plants”