Tree Speak

This is a special edition of our Tree of the Month feature – our Tree Planting Director, Jim Woodworth, wrote this for us because it’s his absolute favorite tree! Get a look inside his appreciation for the amazing tulip tree: “Lilly tree bearing tulips” is apparently what Linnaeus meant when he described the tulip tree [...]

The Hawthorn tree (Crataegus sp.) harkens back to the old woodlands, farmlands, and estates of yore.  It is a tree of diverse species with many forms and characteristics. Its wildness is exemplified most by the natural forms with long, stout thorns, and twisting and turning branches that form thickets telling woodland wanderers, “do not tread [...]

The American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) has a variety of alternate names – “Blue Beech,” for the color of its bark, and “Musclewood” for the muscle-like ripples in the trunk. It’s a stately yet humble tree native to the understory of woods and shady areas along streams. It is a member of the birch family and [...]

  The princely, slender White pine (pinus strobus) is December’s Tree of the Month, and as the winter season is upon us there is no better time to appreciate the startling beauty of this tree. What’s more, the white pine played an important role in a critical time of American history. Pinus strobus range across [...]

Daniel Boone, the legendary frontiersman of colonial times, left his mark on American history as well as on November’s Tree of the Month: the American beech. Legend has it that Mr. Boone inscribed “D. Boone kilt a bar, 1803” on the trunk of an American beech tree and whether this is true or not, it [...]

Contributing Writer: Sebastian O’Connor, Tree Planting intern The October Tree of the Month is the stately and towering Quercus palustrus, also known as the pin oak. Perhaps one of the most abundant oaks in the United States, the pin oak can be found in almost all corners of the lower 48 states and has even [...]

Contributing Writer: Sebastian O’Connor, Tree Planting intern The United States has many national emblems, including a national bird and flower, but imagine what it would be like to add a national tree to that list? Well, if Alexander Hamilton had his way, we would have gotten just that: he was very fond of September’s Tree [...]

Contributing Writer: Sebastian O’Connor, Tree Planting intern Do you have a taste for honey, an eye for vibrant colors, and a love for trees with a slightly drooping form? Then Oxydendrum arboretum, also known as the sourwood, may be the perfect tree for you! The sourwood is a lively and bold tree that ranges along [...]