© 2025 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Give to HPR and keep local support firmly rooted. The greater our local support, the greater our strength and resilience to serve you and future generations. Tap to get started.

Tree Planted To Honor Beatle Is Killed By Beetles

A tree planted in Los Angeles to honor former Beatle George Harrison grew to more than 12 feet tall before succumbing to a bark beetle infestation
AP
A tree planted in Los Angeles to honor former Beatle George Harrison grew to more than 12 feet tall before succumbing to a bark beetle infestation

Flowers may grow so incredibly high, as the Beatles once sang, but trees — not so much.

Actually, a pine tree planted in Los Angeles a decade ago to honor former Beatle George Harrison reached a height of 12 feet before succumbing recently.

To an infestation. Of beetles.

"No one I think is in my tree" — a line from the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" — wouldn't seem to apply.

"Trees in Griffith Park have occasionally been the victims of bark beetles and ladybug beetles, among other tree-unfriendly creatures," the Los Angeles Times reports.

A plaque at the base of the tree commemorates Harrison not only as a leading musician, but as an artist and avid gardener.

Tom LaBonge, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, said a tree will be replanted in its place, even though Harrison titled his 1970 album All Things Must Pass.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Tags
NPR News NPR News
Alan Greenblatt has been covering politics and government in Washington and around the country for 20 years. He came to NPR as a digital reporter in 2010, writing about a wide range of topics, including elections, housing economics, natural disasters and same-sex marriage.
Related Stories