Stumbled on a tree growing straight out of a chimney in downtown Portland

I was walking to a job site last Tuesday near Powell Blvd and looked up at this old brick building. There was a full grown maple tree, maybe 15 feet tall, sticking out of a chimney on the roof. Someone must have left it uncovered for years and a seed just landed there. The roots were probably snaking down through the whole flue. I stood there for a good 5 minutes just staring at it. My buddy laughed and said that tree has more success than half the saplings we plant. Has anyone else seen something like that in a weird spot?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.hannah8d ago

Saw a fern growing out of a brick wall once, guess nature doesn't care about real estate.

thomasb418d ago

Ha, yeah I used to think plants needed perfect soil and sunshine like the garden magazines say. But seeing ferns busting out of a crack in a brick wall totally changed my mind. Nature just finds a way where it can.

taylor_wells8d ago

Yeah but do those plants actually thrive or are they just barely surviving? Like that fern on the wall, it might look cool but is it gonna drop seeds and spread or is it just clinging on by a thread? I've seen ivy take over a whole abandoned building but I've also seen a dandelion grow through asphalt only to get fried by the sun a week later. There's a difference between finding a way and just scraping by, you know?