#Club100 - Karaca Arboretum

Hello Steemians;

As a nature lover, I had a very exciting trip for me today🍃🌲. I visited Karaca arboretum in Yalova, Turkey's first arboretum. This arboretum was founded in 1980 by Hayrettin Karaca🧑🏼‍🌾. It became a foundation in 2004.

what3words / Plus Codes

Before talking about this arboretum, it is not possible to mention Hayrettin Karaca, the founder of this place, who is a very valuable personality.

_{Hayrettin Karaca Source}

Hayrettin Karaca (1922-2020) is the founder of the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA). Also known as "earth grandfather" among the people, he is a person who dedicates his life to nature. Karaca established the Karaca arboretum with the seeds he collected from the gardens he visited in Turkey and abroad. The TEMA foundation, founded by Hayrettin Karaca, is an organization that fights against the desertification of Turkey and ensures that thousands of trees are planted every year. I would like to prepare a completely different post about Hayrettin Karaca and the TEMA foundation. Because I think these two deserve a post dedicated to them.

_{An overview of the Arboretum}

The Arboretum is established on an area of 13.5 hectares. There are about 7000 kinds of plants in this area. Before the pandemic, it was possible to get more detailed information about the plants here by visiting this area with a tour guide. However, due to the pandemic, the guide tour is not available at the moment. However, it is possible to learn the type of trees at least with the small labels written on the trees.

---

_{Magnolia Tree and me}

My favorite tree was undoubtedly the "Magnolia". I wish I could reflect the smell of this beautiful tree along with the image here. For a long time, I couldn't leave this tree that smells like sweet. As we toured, we realized that there are many varieties in the Arboretum.

_{Pink Magnolia Tree}

_{Beauty Of Magnolia}

_{An overview of the Arboretum}

The area is very clean and well-maintained. It is possible to see trees that we do not see very often in Turkey in the region, which is a corner of paradise.

_{Cherry Tree🍒- Sakura🌸}

Even though I love green, I noticed that trees with pink or white flowers always attract my attention. The adorned tree above is the cherry tree, just like a bride. In other words, the famous Japanese Sakura🌸. I can't imagine myself in a Sakura garden if even a single tree impressed me that much. Luckily, I had the opportunity to visit this place during Sakura's time.

_Rosacae

_Cactus

There are colorful flowering trees as well as a variety of cacti here.🌵

_{Wonderful landscape created by many different kinds of plants}

This beautiful arboretum, created by Hayrettin Karaca with years of work, has received many awards around the world. It is known that many botanists from various corners of the world visit this area every year. If you happen to be around Yalova, I strongly recommend you to visit this place.

Thank you for reading 🌱🍃🌸