PRIME January 2020 I 7
TREES WITH INTERESTING BARK
By Jan Cashman
There are a few different species of birch that grow well in Northern climates. Paper birch and cutleaf weeping birch are commonly planted here. Water birch (Betula occidentalis) is a native tree found in the creek drainages of Southwest Montana; it has smooth reddish-brown attractive bark and grows with multiple stems. A new species of birch that stands out in the landscape because of its pure white bark is Parkland Pillar (Betula platyphylla ‘Jefpark’). It was discovered at Parkland Nurseries in Alberta, Canada, in 2006. This hardy tree tolerates heat, drought, and alkaline soils. Parkland pillar birch grows narrow and upright so works well in small yards. It can be planted as a single specimen or several
in a row as a screen, growing tall but only spreading to 6 to 7 feet wide. As the tree grows, its exfoliating bark turns pure white. The leaves turn a bright golden yellow in the fall.
MORE TREES WITH INTERESTING BARK: Amur Chokecherry (Prunus maackii) is a small tree with unusual golden brown to russet colored bark that has noticeable lenticels. Related to our native chokecherry, it is extremely hardy—Zone 2. In the spring Amur chokecherry blooms with fragrant, elongated white flowers. It bears small glossy black berries in the summer—a great bird attraction. Cherries are other trees in the same genus as amur chokecherry (Prunus). In our climate, pie cherries grow better than sweet cherries or ornamental cherries. Besides giving you lots of sour but edible fruit in mid-summer, pie cherry trees have interesting reddish-brown bark year-round with lenticels. The bark of the mountain ash (Sorbus) tree is orangish-brown. All species of
mountain ash have white flowers in the spring and bright red-orange berries in late summer. One smaller species, scopulina, is native to our surrounding mountains. Another mountain ash species, a favorite of ours, is the taller hybrid, Oak leaf, discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, therefore adapted to our climate.
We Want to thank all our customers for the amazing year!
Although not a tree, I want to mention the red twig dogwood (Cornus) shrub because of its stunning scarlet twigs that are so showy in the winter, whether growing native along rivers and streams or in your yard as an accent. Red twig dogwood shrubs provide year-round beauty with white flowers in the spring and purple-red fall leaf color. Plan to plant one of these in the spring to give your yard interest when it needs it most—in the winter!
Jan Cashman has
operated Cashman Nursery in Bozeman with her husband, Jerry, since 1975.
north 19th at springhill road Bozeman, mt 406-587-3406 www.cashmannursery.com
1842314
O
ur winter landscapes are monochromatic white and dark without a lot of color compared to spring, summer, and fall. Anything we can do to add interest to our landscapes in the winter helps. One way is to plant trees with interesting bark. Birch, whose bark is attractive year-round, is one of the first trees that comes to mind.