Everywhere I go, I find redwoods. Planted by people who want enjoy the cool shade cast by the world’s tallest tree species, these  remarkable trees are by all accounts breaking all the rules. Redwoods only grow near the coast of Northern California, from Monterey to Del Norte County, right? Right?! Wrong!

While the native footprint of the redwoods have retreated to their Northern California refuge, when planted in other locales we find the redwoods do pretty darn well. Here in Topanga, I found a redwood this afternoon standing tall in sharp contrast to the shrubby Topanga State Park  hillside beyond. With the air temperature in the 80’s today, this redwood is probably breaking a sweat for sure. As long as it has enough water to keep sweating however, this redwood will keep proving us wrong and living in warm climates with the shrubs.

I just love how fierce these redwoods are.