California palms grow in the Rotunda of the Alberta Legislature

The tour guide who walked us around the Alberta Legislature had a lot of lore to share about the building and the people associated with it. However, nobody seems to know how these palm trees got started growing in the Rotunda. It’s a mystery who put the palms in the "Ledge," as Albertans call it. And nobody knows when or why. Meanwhile, though, they continue to thrive.

Note ten years later (September 24, 2024): Though that long-ago tour guide was unaware of the provenance of the palms in the rotunda, in fact there is no mystery. Alex Peterson wrote to let me know that the Alberta Register of Historic Places explains how the trees got up there. “In 1932 palm seeds, a gift from the state of California, were planted in pots in the gallery ringing the interior dome. These are now five large trees peering down at the rotunda's fountain.” Thanks, Alex!