Royal Roots: The Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cedar
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
June 24, 1977
On this day, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, commemorating her Silver Jubilee (twenty-five years of waving and ribbon-cutting, one presumes), had the wisdom to plant a Cedrus Atlantica Glauca—the Blue Atlas Cedar—on the east lawn of her modest dwelling.
This particular specimen, dear readers, is widely regarded as the most striking in appearance of all blue conifers.
One wonders if Her Majesty selected it herself or if some knowledgeable gardener whispered the suggestion into royal ears?
The Blue Atlas Cedar, with its dramatic silvery-blue needles, certainly makes a statement more bold than most royal proclamations.
The tree was not merely decorative, but symbolic—twenty-five years on the throne commemorated with a species that might live for hundreds.
How delightfully presumptuous!
While commoners marked the occasion with souvenir teacups and street parties, Her Majesty chose something far more enduring.
One cannot help but admire the practicality.
While the crowds would disperse and the bunting would fade, this majestic conifer would only grow more impressive with each passing year. The Blue Atlas Cedar, native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, brings a touch of exotic grandeur to British soil—rather like the monarchy itself, an imported concept that somehow thrives in our damp climate.
For those wishing to emulate this royal planting (though perhaps on a more modest scale), the Cedrus Atlantica Glauca requires full sun and well-drained soil. It grows slowly at first—much like political reform—but eventually reaches heights of 60 feet or more. Its architectural form provides winter interest when deciduous trees stand bare, and its unusual blue coloration offers a striking contrast against traditional greenery.
One imagines the royal hands barely disturbed a speck of soil during the ceremonial planting, yet the tree would thrive nonetheless.
How convenient it must be to have one's horticultural whims carried out by an army of capable gardeners!
Nevertheless, even those of us without staff can achieve similar majestic results, given patience and proper placement.
The Blue Atlas Cedar stands today as a living monument to that Silver Jubilee, more beautiful and certainly more useful than any number of commemorative coins or plates.
Perhaps there is something to be learned here about truly meaningful celebrations—ones that grow and flourish rather than gather dust on shelves.
