Ochre is a collective name for a number of iron compounds, oxides and hydroxides. The amount of iron and the type of clay determine the color, which ranges from yellow, red to brown. Our orange stream forms the border between Western and Eastern North America, which we can easily travel between here in the arboretum using a wooden footbridge. A number of trees and shrubs have been planted in the area around the creek. These include canada hemlock Tsuga canadensis, which is sometimes considered the world’s most shade-tolerant tree, western red cedar Thuja plicata, prickly currant Ribes lacustre, Black hawthorn Crataegus douglasii, Saskatoon serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia and Spiraea × watsoniana (S. douglasii × splendens).
