Exfoliating Bark for the Winter Garden
January brings chilly temperatures, snowfall and for the gardener, the pleasure of hunkering down in the warmth of a home with a good garden book! I have long been a fan of plants with colorful or exfoliating bark, a subtle attribute many may fail to consider and a few even find undesirable. I fondly remember the comments of a former college roommate when I showed him a tree with exfoliating bark. “I would take a belt sander to the tree” he commented! Obviously, peeling bark is not for everyone. Fortunately, that sentiment is shared by only a few and I have found many a gardener who appreciates the bark of Japanese Dogwood, botanically known as Cornus kousa.
Bruce Crawford
