Arbor Day volunteers planted new trees across the country Friday — much as they’ve done for the past 150 years — but Californians celebrated the day six weeks ago, choosing March 7 to dig tree holes, a better fit for our planting season.

So in the spirit of Arbor Day, we decided to salute some historic Bay Area trees that Mother Nature herself planted, some centuries ago: Ones that still stand in our own backyards, by our high school football fields and Beaux-Arts city halls; trees that defy expectations and inspire devotion.
The Bay Area landscape is as spectacular as any corner of the planet, an area graced with towering redwoods and rolling hills rich with ancient oaks, laurels and buckeye trees. You just need to know where to look.

~ Karl Mondon

In the southwest corner of Santa Clara County, a “fairy ring” of redwood trees reaches high for the sky in Mount Madonna County Park, encircling the void of its fallen, old growth parent. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
Surrounded by the city where this historic oak tree grew, the Jack London Tree found its permanent home next to Oakland City Hall in 1917 where it was dedicated and named after Oakland’s most famous author. Originally moved from Mosswood Park, much care has gone into ensuring this living landmark remains healthy. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
The Lone Tree, a majestic oak tree, stands at the summit of the Lone Tree Cemetery in Hayward. The cemetery was founded in 1868 after a pair of young Spaniard lovers were killed by the girl’s avenging father and future son-in-law, the first to be buried near the lone tree. A story told and debated through generations. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
Though native only to the area around its namesake seaside town, the Monterey cypress tree has been planted throughout the coastal Bay Area, including this 150-year old giant in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, where a child strolls past its exposed root on JFK Jr. Drive. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
The Valley Oak that dominates the main overlook at Dinosaur Hill Park in Pleasant Hill, Calif. Mount Diablo rises up 3,849 feet in the distance. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
With its waxy, brownish-red trunk, a majestic Madrone tree catches the eye of a lone hiker traversing the Bay Ridge Trail at the Saratoga Gap near the Santa Clara – Santa Cruz County line. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 
Storm clouds loom in the distance as a bicyclist pedals up the mountain past a large oak tree at Mount Diablo State Park in Contra Costa County. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) 
A gnarled redwood tree near Mount Madonna County Park dwarfs a cyclist resting in its shade on Summit Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)