If you have walked through a spring garden and stopped to stare at a small tree covered in deep purple-red blooms, chances are you were looking at a Jane magnolia. This compact, deciduous tree is part of the famous “Little Girl” hybrid series developed by the U.S. National Arboretum in the 1950s and 1960s. It…
The dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is one of the most remarkable trees in the world. Scientists once believed it had been extinct for millions of years. Then, in 1944, living specimens were discovered in a remote valley in China. That discovery sent shockwaves through the botanical community — and rightly so. Today, the dawn redwood…
Magnolias are among the oldest flowering plants on Earth. Records suggest they existed over 95 million years ago — long before bees evolved. Their flowers were designed to attract beetles instead. Today, there are over 200 recognized species in the Magnoliaceae family. They range from compact shrubs to towering trees. Some are evergreen; others are…
There are trees you plant for shade, trees you plant for fruit, and then there are trees you plant simply. The paperbark maple is firmly in that last category. Its peeling cinnamon-red bark is unlike anything else in the garden and impossible to ignore in every season in between. If you are looking for a…
Some trees earn their place in a garden through visual drama. Others earn it through rarity, or size, or historical significance. The katsura tree earns its place through something altogether more unexpected: it smells like burnt sugar and caramel on a warm autumn day. Walk past a katsura in October, when its heart-shaped leaves are…
There is a moment in October, high in the Alps or the Carpathians, when something unexpected happens. The conifer forests — dark green and seemingly unchanging — suddenly burst into gold. It is not the broad-leaved trees doing this. It is the larches. The European larch (Larix decidua) is one of the most extraordinary trees…
There is a tree that holds cities together. Not literally — though its roots come close — but visually, ecologically, and historically. Walk through the streets of London, Paris, Barcelona, or New York, and you will almost certainly be standing beneath it. Its dappled, camouflage-patterned trunk is one of the most recognisable sights in the…
Peeling bark is one of the most visually striking features a tree can have. The curling strips, patchwork colours, and exposed inner layers create textures that no painter could fully replicate. For gardeners, landscapers, and nature lovers alike, these trees offer year-round visual interest — especially in winter, when foliage is gone and the bark…
There are trees, and then there are monuments. The Montezuma cypress belongs firmly in the second category. Known in Mexico as ahuehuete — a Nahuatl word meaning “old man of the water” — this extraordinary tree has stood beside rivers and lakeshores for thousands of years. It watched the rise and fall of the Aztec…
Arborvitae — Latin for “tree of life” — is one of the most versatile and widely planted groups of evergreen trees and shrubs in the world. Whether you are looking for a towering privacy screen, a compact foundation plant, or a dwarf accent shrub for a container, there is an arborvitae variety perfectly suited for…