The late Joan Rivers often started comic riffs with the words, “Can we talk?” It’s time to follow her lead and talk about getting through the winter.
Some of us give thanks when hard frosts arrive, because we can take a well-deserved break from garden chores. We tend our houseplants, decorate for the holidays and eventually—usually about January—start dreaming of spring. A few of us even grow desperate enough to attend to household chores that we neglected during the growing season.
As daylight hours diminish, even sloth-like gardeners yearn to peer into the winter gloom and see something interesting in the landscape. Evergreen lovers have long added such interest by installing all kinds of large and small evergreens. Some even walk on the evergreen wild side and vary the show with variegated varieties like silver variegated holly—Ilex aquifolium ‘Variegata’–or the cream-splashed gold dust shrub—Aucuba japonica ‘Crotonifolia’. Berried shrubs, especially flashy ones such as winterberry holly—Ilex verticillata—add points of brilliant color.
Not everyone thinks about tree and shrub bark, but if you pick the right kinds of woody plants, interesting bark can add a singular dimension to the winter show. One of my favorite winter trees is Japanese stewartia or Stewartia pseudocamillia. The species name says it all. Just like camellias, Stewartia is part of the tea family, producing camellia-like single flowers in late summer. The trees grow from 15 to 40 feet tall and about half as wide, with a neat, pyramidal shape. In fall the foliage turns orange and gold before leaving the scene. After flowers and leaves are gone, the bark continues to shine through the winter. It exfoliates beautifully, with patches of the trunk remaining light gray, while other patches are darker gray or reddish brown. In my town stewartia is a rarity, though we are well within the tree’s hardiness range. Some things are simply unexplainable.
I am always taken aback by the glorious, shiny, mahogany-colored bark on the ornamental cherry variety known as redbark cherry or Prunus serrula. The bark exfoliates to reveal a color very reminiscent of polished mahogany. The trees are not large, growing to 30 feet, with willow-like leaves. Typical pinkish-white cherry blossoms appear in spring, followed by bright red fruits, which attract birds. Redbark cherry would be perfect in a small grouping, if you had the room. Otherwise it makes a great specimen, street or garden tree.
Another rarity in my area is the native snakebark maple—Acer pennsylvanicum—also known as whistlewood, goosefoot maple and moosewood. The snakebark name comes from the green and white vertically striped bark on young branches and trunks. It is quite distinctive and unusual. People with small yards can rejoice in this tree, which can also be grown as a large shrub. In tree form it tops out at 15 to 25 feet, with a nearly equal spread. Snakebark bears tiny yellow spring flowers and the distinctive winged “samaras” or maple seed carriers. The leaves have three lobes each, with a shape that inspired someone to think of a goose’s foot, hence the goosey common name. The foliage turns yellow in the fall, lighting up the trees. Older bark turns reddish brown, but there is always the vividly striped new growth to liven things up. Snakebark would pair well with another of my favorite plants, oak leaf hydrangea or Hydrangea quercifolia.
The chief glory of both full-size and dwarf forms of oak leaf hydrangea is the huge panicles or flowerheads of white florets that age to pink in the early to mid summer. The big, oaky leaves come next in horticultural estimation because of their excellent vermillion fall color. However, anyone who has ever looked closely at an oak leaf hydrangea or pruned one knows that the shrubs also have wonderful cinnamon-colored exfoliating bark. It is worth limbing up your oak leaf hydrangea when pruning just to give yourself a better view of the bark on the shrub’s trunks. Some people leave the dried flower panicles on the hydrangeas all winter for winter interest, while others tidy up by clipping them away. There is no right or wrong way to tend this stalwart of the semi-shaded garden, but if you clip off the dried flowerheads, the fascinating bark becomes more noticeable.
Of course there are always those who complain of the litter caused by even the most beautiful exfoliating bark. I make a virtue out of a necessity by raking it into tidy piles and using it to mulch the trees and shrubs from which it peeled. This is an easy solution that doesn’t require carrying off the litter and disposing of it. Mulching around trees and shrubs is always a good idea and prevents potentially deadly trunk abrasions from string trimmers and other garden equipment.
If you want a tree or shrub with interesting bark, you may have to venture off the beaten nursery path. Just about all local nurseries and garden centers carry varieties of oak leaf hydrangea. For Japanese stewartia and redbark cherry, contact ForestFarm, 14643 Watergap Rd., Williams, OR 97544-9599, (541)846-7269, www.forestfarm.com. Free catalog. Sources for native snakebark maple or Acer pennsylvanicum—as opposed to a non-native species that also goes by that nickname—are few and far between. Check with local nurseries that may be able to obtain the tree from wholesale growers. Be sure to give them the Latin name, so you don’t end up with the wrong tree.
Open your eyes to interesting bark. You will discover all kinds of patterns and textures that will make gray winter days a lot more bearable.