What color are birch tree leaves in the fall?

Birch trees (genus Betula) are flowering medium-sized deciduous trees with thin papery bark and egg-shaped pointed leaves. Birch trees have spectacular fall colors that can be golden yellow, vibrant orange, or fiery red.

What happens to birch trees in the winter?

Because paper birches are highly reflective and their light-colored bark doesn’t absorb the sun’s radiation and heat on cold winter days, the trees avoid the damage caused by rapid heating and cooling.

Can birch trees survive winter?

Another great choice for the wintertime is the birch tree. Unlike conifers such as the Douglas fir, birch trees actually do shed their leaves during the winter. But the tree’s distinctive bark makes it a great focal point amidst barren snowy landscapes.

What does a birch tree symbolize?

In Celtic mythology, birch is also a tree of beginnings and came to symbolise renewal and purification. Birch or Beithe, is the first tree of the Ogham, the Celtic tree alphabet. The birch also has strong fertility connections with the celebrations of Beltane.

How old is birch tree?

The lifespan of a paper birch in the wild is between 80 and 140 years. Cultivated paper birches have a much shorter life if they are grown in the home landscape. Here they may only live between 30 and 40 years. Some species of birch can live hundreds of years under optimal conditions.

What is the best birch tree?

Best birch trees for your garden

• Betula papyrifera.
• Betula albosinensis.
• Betula utilis ‘Bhutan Sienna’
• Betula utilis ‘Sichuan Red’
• Betula utilis ‘Mount Luoji’
• Betula ermanii ‘Mount Zao’
• Betula utilis ‘Park Wood’
• Betula albosinensis ‘Bowling Green’

Why do birch trees bend after the winter?

On a winter morning, freezing rain covers the branches with ice, which then cracks and falls to the snow-covered ground. The sunlight refracts on the ice crystals, making a brilliant display. When the truth strikes the speaker, he still prefers his imagination of a boy swinging and bending the birches.

How hardy are birch trees?

Most birches are exceptionally cold-hardy. Betula pendula and Betula papyrifera can be grown in Zone 2. Some are heat tolerant such as Betula nigra. Birches require little care.

What is special about birch trees?

Birch requires well-drained soil, enough moisture and direct sunlight for the proper growth. It usually grows near the lakes and rivers. Birch is known as pioneer species because it easily populates habitats destroyed by fire. This plant is mainly cultivated because of its ornamental morphology and high-quality wood.

What does birch represent spiritually?

As the birch is a pioneer species this gives it a symbol of rebirth, new beginnings and growth. It’s a sacred tree within the mythology of the Celts and is thought to have very protective influences. The Birch Tree was the centre of the Beltane Festival, now more commonly known to us as May Day.

Why do you plant birch trees in threes?

Height. One possible reason people plant silver birches in groups of three is to reduce their height. Since the birch roots are both deep and wide-spreading, certain gardeners feel that by planting a cluster of three trees, the roots will have to share a small area and, as a result, may limit the height of the trees.

What color is a birch tree?

Birch trees are recognizable by their bark, which peels off in strips in all birches except the gray birch . The bark of the paper birch ranges in color from white to pink and papery. River birch bark is pinkish brown. The bark of young yellow birch trees is golden yellow.

What is the species of birch?

There are dozens, upon dozens of birch species found throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. Birch is of the Betula genus, in the family Betulaceae (which also includes alders, hazels and hornbeams). Some of the more common scientific names for North American birch include: Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis)

What are birch leaves?

Birch leaves are simple in form, with a single blade comprising the leaf. Their shapes vary from the oval form of white birch to the shape that characterizes the river birch . The “National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees” describes river birch leaves as being “nearly four-sided;” their irregular shape somewhat resembling that of a diamond.