Six on Saturday – 08JAN2022 – Snowy Boughs

It’s cold here (-16C overnight), there’s a bit of snow on the ground (we had a few cms of powder Thursday night) and it’s time to acknowledge the contribution evergreen shrubs and trees make to northern gardens in winter. Without them, the landscape would be nothing but white, with skeletal grey and brown trunks and branches sticking up. So yaaay for the conifers, with foliage in various shades of green, with some blue and bronze thrown in. For The Propagator‘s Six on Saturday this week, I went out yesterday morning and chose six snow dusted evergreens to demonstrate.

I have two blue spruces – Picea pungens – I think at least half the homes in North America have at least one. And why not? It’s a hardy tree and the colour, especially in late spring on new growth, is spectacular.

The farmer from whom we bought our land planted tree lines of Austrian pine – Pinus nigra – that are quite huge now.

In the summer, this small juniper – Thuja occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ has glowing, golden yellow foliage. In winter, like several other conifers, the needles become a dull bronze.

Juniperus scopulorum is native to the Rocky Mountains, in western North America. And it’s not fond of clay soil. That’s maybe why the shape of my specimen, which I’ve had for about five years now, doesn’t look anything like it should. In the summer these needles also have a blueish tinge, so I’m guessing it may be the cultivar ‘Wichita Blue.’

This fir tree came to me via a street planter in Toronto, where it had been planted and lit up one Christmas several years ago. It’s a slow grower, adding only a few inches every year, and has densely packed needles.

This may be my favourite of them all. It’s another juniper – Juniperus virginiana. For some reason, it’s more common name is Easter Red Cedar. It’s native here, and can be found EVERYWHERE in this county, likely because it’s the only (or perhaps the fastest growing) small tree that will thrive in our rocky, dry, clay soil. That means, of course, that it will form a reliable wind or privacy screen as well as looking great either massed or solo. They can be reliably transplanted, pruned/clipped as needed and grow in shade as well as full sun. (In sun, they grow compact and very full. In shade the branches are widely spaced, creating some interesting architectural statements.) The best part is they are immensely popular with birds. Most mornings I spot (well, first I hear, then I spot) a dozen or so small birds flitting through a few of these small trees, pecking away and finding goodness knows what to eat.