The Canadian Horticulturist. 443 



TREES IN WINTER. 



f^ HAVE often thought that this subject ought to receive from planters 

 more attention than it does at present. The individuality of different 

 ornamental trees is much more apparent in winter than in summer. 

 When clothed with foliage we lose all the character and variety notice- 

 able in the arrangement of their branches and twigs, which is very 

 distinct in different species. One of the most obvious features in 

 connection with the wintery aspect of trees is their tone of color. The common 

 elm, for example, stands out nearly black when seen against a clear grey sky or 

 when snow is lying on the ground, and the same may be said of the common 

 hawthorne. Oaks are a little more cheerful in tone, and poplars still more so, 

 as their growth is more pliant. A poplar when swayed to and fro on a bright 

 winter's day is one of the most beautiful of all trees, because then the different 

 shades of soft silvery grey and brown are reflected from the branches in a very 

 pleasing manner. Poplars are always in motion, too, whenever there is the 

 slightest breeze, and this gives variety and interest to the groups of other trees 

 in which they are planted. They are very attractive when budding out in the 

 spring, which some of them do very early, and their green shades being very 

 delicate, harmonize thoroughly with the soft browns of the stems and branches. 

 One of the lightest and brightest of all trees in the winter, however, is 

 undoubtedly the common birch, which should always find a place on the lawn, 

 and especially in the vicinity of ornamental water. Seen on a bright sunny day 

 in December, the Silvery birch is one of the most beautiful of all ornamental 

 trees, and when covered with white hoar-frost, it is difficult to imagine a more 

 attractive object. The Wych elm and larch are also beautiful under the circum- 

 stances just named. The larch, when planted as an isolated specimen on the 

 lawn, is most effective, and very different from the same tree when drawn up in 

 a mixed plantation. As a solitary specimen it varies in height from 50 feet to 

 100 feet, and its light, drooping branches feather down to the turf in the most 

 graceful manner. No ornamental tree is more beautiful in the early spring 

 months, when its young foliage shows the freshest and most delicate shades of 

 green imaginable. The common ash is a bright-looking tree in winter, the bark 

 being of a silvery grey or light brown tint. This tree ought to be more generally 

 planted in the suburbs than it is, for as a town tree it is immeasurably superior 

 to either the elm, lime or chestnut, all of which suffer from drought and red 

 spider during hot summers, and lose their leaves or become rusty towards the 

 end of July. The ash is rather late in leafing, but, like the planes, its foliage 

 keeps fresh and green until the sharp frosts of autumn cause it to fall, and on 

 this account it deserves a place m town squares and gardens. — The Garden. 



