Talia Este
negotiating regional identity through strange and irrelevant symbols
urbanism | landscape by andrea wong and cody spencer
branding victoria
Residents have also incorporated palm trees into their own private gardens. They are especially prevalent in Oak Bay where they appear among Tudor-style houses, Arts and Crafts bungalows, tea rooms and tennis courts. Since 2004, the annual Oak Bay palm sale has made the trees widely available. According to a citizen- led count, the number of palms in Oak Bay increased from 500 in 2003 to 2,669 in 2006, prompting some Victorians to proclaim the area ‘palm tree capital of Canada’. One palm species in particular has taken root in Victoria’s landscape: Trachycarpus fortunei , also known as the Windmill Palm. Indigenous to mountainous regions of central and eastern China, it is one of the few palm species that has difficulty growing in the tropics but thrives in temperate climates. As palm trees in general endure as globally recognisable symbols of warmth, relaxation and island holidays,Victorians can use this cool-weather palm to brand their climate as tropical, relative to the rest of Canada. In privately owned gardens, they read as playful expressions of pride in Victoria’s unique climate; shared with neighbours and passers-by, these trees become currency in local negotiations of regional identity. While the rest of the country lies leafless under a blanket of snow,Victoria’s gardens display green lawns and windmill palms. Those who seek tourist dollars stand to financially gain from the broadcasting of such comparisons, for palms are valuable signifiers in the national and international tourist markets. There is an irony in Victoria’s appropriation of the palm to engage with and to promote a defining aspect of its regional identity. Victoria’s climate actually becomes less remarkable when represented by a globalised, polysemous symbol that calls to mind any number of warm-weather locales. By employing a symbol that reminds us of so many other places,Victoria risks erasing what actually does make it unique.
With its warm dry summers and wet mild winters, the city of Victoria has a Mediterranean climate and a long growing season.A wide variety of flowers, trees, and shrubs flourish in the City of Gardens, including rhododendrons, ornamental cherries, daffodils and native species such as camas and Garry Oak. Pacific Madrone and Hairy Manzanita, two native species that range south to California and Mexico, link Victoria botanically to more renowned climates. However, rather than capitalising on such associations,Victoria has chosen to promote its desirably mild climate through the cultivation of a decidedly foreign variety of plant – palms. In 2003, the City of Victoria planted palms along Douglas Street, a major entry route into the downtown core. Palm trees have also been placed in prominent locations around Victoria’s Inner Harbour. Bordered by the city’s major hotels and numerous popular tourist destinations, the Inner Harbour is a locus of activity for tourists; as a setting for parades, festivals and holiday events, it is also a gathering place for Victoria residents. In this location, palm trees are highly visible and easily photographed.
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Cleverley, B ‘City cultivates a tropical image for visitors’ Times Colonist , pB1. Sept 5, 2003 Hatherly, J ‘Counting on palms:Tropical plants find a haven in Oak Bay and Victoria’ Times Colonist , pB9. April 8, 2007 Jones, D Palms throughout the world . Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995 Riffle, R L and P Craft. An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms . Portland, Oregon:Timber Press, 2003
Oak Bay Tourism. ‘The palm tree capital of Canada’ Retrieved from: http://www.oakbaytourism.com/attractions/palm_tree_capital.htm (2010)
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