National Arbor Day was founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872 and is celebrated on the last Friday in April. This year it falls on April 30th. The simple goal of this day is to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. So whether you’ve been thinking about planting a fruit tree to feed the family, a shade tree to save on summer cooling, a flowering tree to attract pollinators, or some trees to hang the hammock on this is a good time to plant as well as nurture and celebrate all trees.
Trees are remarkable in how they grow and adapt to their environment. Some trees, like crape myrtle, sycamore, madrone and ch
erry have especially beautiful bark. This is the tree’s protection from the outside world. Continually renewed from within, it helps keep out moisture in rain and prevents the tree from losing moisture when the air is dry. It insulates against cold and heat and wards off insect enemies.
The inner bark, or phloem, is the pipeline through which food is passed to the rest of the tree, It lives for only a short time, then dies and turns to cork to become part of the protective outer bark.
The next layer in is the cambium cell layer which is the growing part of the trunk. It annually produces new bark and new wood in response to hormones that pass down through the phloem with food from the leaves. These hormones are called auxins and stimulate growth in the cells. They are produced by leaf buds at the ends of branches as they start growing in spring.
Inside the cambium layer is the sapwood or xylem which moves water from the roots to the leaves. Sapwood is new wood. As newer rings of sapwood are laid down, inner rings lose their vitality and turn to heartwood.
Finally, the central supporting pillar of the tree is called heartwood. Although dead, it will not decay or lose strength while the outer layers are intact. A composite of hollow, needlelike cellulose fibers bound together by a chemical glue called lignin, it is in many ways as strong as steel.
Leaves make food for the tree. Their shapes help them reduce wind resistance, shed rain that could decay the leaf if left standing and produce chlorophyll. The narrow needles of a Douglas fir, for instance, exposes as much as three acres of surface to the sun.
There is a tree to please everyone. Don’t have much space for a fruit tree? Consider a Garden Annie dwarf apricot, a dwarf Garden Prince almond, Compact Stella cherry, dwarf Red Sunset nectarine or a Garden Delicious apple.
Rather not have fruit to contend with? How about a flowering crabapple, cherry or plum? Want a deciduous shade tree that grows fast? Red maples with blazing fall color fit the bill.
Need to screen a neighbor quickly? Then plant a honey locust or catalpa. Another fast growing,deer resistant tree is the silk tree. It’s flat topped, spreading canopy make this a good patio tree and is especially beautiful when viewed from above, as from a deck or hilltop. If left unpruned it will become a multi-stemmed tree but with training can be grown as a single trunk 10-20 foot umbrella. Fluffy pink flowers like pincushions bloom in summer. Grow it in full sun to partial shade. With regular water it grows fast. They are attractive to birds, too.
Be kind to your trees. They are a valuable asset to your home and our environment.
, tiny urn-shaped bells you’ve missed a spectacular sight. The flower buds form in fall and are colorful all winter then open slowly over many months. This plant sails through winter weather, hardy to 0 degrees and is scorned by deer. Even the bark is beautiful on this 5-7 ft evergreen shrub. Add a Red-leaf maple underplanted with pink and white Bleeding Hearts and pale pink Biokova geraniums and your woodland scene is complete.
to come up in the garden. The shoots are now about 6" tall but they are a long way from blooming and I’m looking forward to those huge, fragrant, white trumpet-shaped flowers. Still I pick up a few new blooming plants each year to enjoy now and celebrate Easter. It’s a tradition that marks spring along with decorating eggs, chocolate bunnies and Easter baskets. 
refers to the position in the sky of the constellation Leo, the lion, at the beginning of the month and Aries, the ram or lamb, at the end. As I write this week’s column, the saying rings true so far this month. Beautiful weather and more daylight hours to enjoy it. What’s not to like? 
around the plants as this would injure the surface roots. Finally, most rhodies thrive in partial shade or morning sun. The hot afternoon sun that we get during the summer would burn even those varieties that tolerate some sun. Since their leaves remain on the plant for several years you’d have to live with burnt leaf centers and edges for a long time if they got too much sun.