VOL. 20 NO.

1 JANUARY, 1945

MORTON ARBORETUM
JOY MORTOI'J . FOUNDER

n BULLETIN OF
LISLE, ILLINOIS
POPULAR INFORMATION

THEY WEAR THE SNOW WITH A DIFFERENCE

Weather is the Master of Ceremonies under whose show­
manship plants take their turns in the spotlight. Each changing
mood points out a specialist. The best performer in dew is
probably a lupine leaf; in hoar frost, it is ironwood; and in sleet,
the beaded curtain of weeping willow twigs. In the wind the
best performer is the white pine; but in a breeze it is the trem­

o bling aspen, or silver poplar; while in the thirsty wind of a

summer drought it is cottonwood, making the sound of rain
on the roof. The place on which prevailing westerlies write
their permanent record most plainly is a row of willows. A
slow spring rain makes the best blue-gray setting for the pale
yellow of hazel catkins, but a fall rain achieves its triumph
when it blackens the trunks of red oak "in contrast with the
brilliance of fall foliage.
But these are passing moods of weather compared to snow.
In this winter of much snow we realize that it is well to be
surrounded by those good companions that meet the winter
with charm, as well as those that offer spring, summer, or

o fall display.
Among our native trees, perhaps white oak, bur oak, haw­
thorn, and ironwood hold the snow most pleasingly. These
trees are alike in having a tendency to horizontal branching,
but each of them has individuality in holding the snow.
The wide-spreading vigor. of white oak receives it, like all
weather, serenely, effortlessly; and the bulging biceps of the
bur oak with its corky twigs and rough bark make the snow
seem a sweater pulled carelessly across the shoulders of a
o
full-back between quarters. On the hawthorn the snow IS a
loosely crocheted shawl of wool, but on the ironwood it is
precise lacework.
-The evergreens have distinctive ways with snow. Those flat
overlapping shelves mark Colorado spruce, while the next tree
proclaims itself Norway spruce by its manner of holding snow
on its ridges and letting it slide from pendent twigs. The hem­
lock accepts it as an unnecessary adjunct to her sufficiency of
grace, and lets it slide from relaxed finger tips. White pine
turns its needles down like a fringe below the snow, but mugo
pine keeps its needles erect, uplifting neat muffins in its
fingers. '.
0 1

But for all the beauty of snow on our evergreens we must

.not let it lie too heavily, or broken branches will mar future
formal symmetry. True, in the north woods and on the moun­
tain tops, they bear their snow without man's interference, but
how few of them are symmetrical in old age, or need to be.
Especially do the saucer-shaped evergreens, such as yew,.
common juniper, and Pfitzer juniper, -need help to prevent
breakage.
Some fruits that persist through the winter have interest­
ing ways with the snow. Each brown raceme of ninebark wears
an elf cap. And high-bush cranberry offers brilliant clustered (J
drupes a la mode to any itinerant flock of cedar waxwin:gs, the
only birds that seem to appreciate them..

2
 .soME WAY5

'. "

 Some Norway maples and box elders hold characteristic

snowy knobs along their trunks.

The rhododendron hardly offers a foothold to snow, but

it is a good living thermometer for just outside the window
to help one decide whether to wear that extra sweater. When n
each leaf curls back and points straight down, it is best' to
wear it, and warm mittens, too. But when the leaves rise 20°
from the vertical, it is safe to unwind the mufflers. When the'
leaves rise above 45° f;rom the vertical, water-proof boots
will be useful.

Others that refuse to hold the snow are white birches and
weeping willows. The white birch does well to eschew this rival
that turns the birch's own much-advertised whiteness to pale
yellow. But the ragged bark of river birch holds handfuls of
it, enhancing its own coppery tones.

Other colors that profit by contrast with the snow are the
red buds of linden, hawthorn, silver maple, and the fruits of
the many-flowered rose; the brown leaves of white oak, and
bayberry; the lavender bloom on arching canes of red rasp­
berry; the orange inner bark of hawthorns; the cinnamon bark
of Scotch pine branches; and the green twigs of spice bush
and sassafras.
MAY THEILGAARD WATTS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
MARK MORTON
MRS. ERNEST A. HAMILL II
MRS. JOSEPH M. CUDAHY, Chairman
STERLING MORTON
ERNEST A. HAMILL 11*
. WIRT MORTON
JOHN A. HOLABIRD
JOSEPH M. CUDAHY
DANIEL PETERKIN, JR.
1")
CLARENCE E. GODSHALK *
E. LOWELL KAMMERER* * *
MRS. RAYMOND WATTS ROY M. NORDINE
Director Arboriculturist Natura list Propagator
*Now serving in the armed forces.

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