Poland’s representative from Lower Silesia in the European Tree of the Year competition grows in the historic park in Dalkowo, in Polkowice County, Gaworzyce Municipality, and is called the Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills.
The Tree of the Year plebiscite is being held for the 15th time and will continue until February 24. We encourage you to vote for the Polish tree, which also showcases the natural wonders of our region: https://www.treeoftheyear.org/vote/heart-of-the-dalkowski-hills
During the vote, we choose two trees from among 15 finalists. Everyone may vote only once from their email address. Voting is secret throughout, and we will not be able to see how many votes the individual trees have received. The winner will be announced on March 19 during the European Tree of the Year 2025 ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The beech from Lower Silesia is not only a magnificent natural monument but, as befits our region, also a tree with a legend—the most beautiful kind, about wishes coming true.
– We call it the “Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills” for three reasons: first, it grows in the central part of the Dalkowskie Hills; second, its leaves turn red in spring, the symbolic color of the heart. Third, and most importantly, it brings people together beneath its branches. Concerts, reading meetings, Catholic masses and services are held here. More than 5,000 people have already taken part in horticultural therapy workshops (treatment through gardening – editor’s note.) organized here by our foundation. Several tens of thousands of children and young people have taken part in environmental education classes involving the beech. Thinking of their own wishes, tourists throw beech-nut shells into a hole in the tree, because legend has it that this tree grants wishes – says Anna Gomułka, president of the Foundation for the Family and Revitalization of the Polish Countryside in Dalkowo.
Natural wonders on the podium
Polish trees have stood out in this European plebiscite. In 2017, the winner of the competition was Józef Oak from Wiśniowa in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; in 2022, the title of European Tree of the Year went to Dunin Oak—the Guardian of the Białowieża Forest; in 2023, the winner was Fabrykant Oak from Łódź; and, most importantly for our region, in 2024 first place was won by the Heart of the Garden Beech from the Arboretum in Wojsławice. Today, we want to keep first place in the region. All trees taking part in the competition have their own numbers. The Polish tree, the Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills – Heart of the Dalkowskie Hills, was assigned number 2. This 300-year-old natural monument is a purple-leaved European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Atropunicea’). It grows in the historic park beside the 16th-century palace in Dalkowo, in Gaworzyce Municipality, in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. We are competing to retain the title for the continent’s most magnificent tree. Together, we can ensure that Europe’s most beautiful tree takes firm root in Lower Silesia!