TAMARACK: DRAMATIC BEAUTY DURING THE SEASONS

TAMARACK IN FALL COLOR

Friday, 8:30 AM.  40 degrees F at the ferry dock, 35 on the back porch.  Wind N, with strong gusts.  The sky is overcast, cloudy, and it is raining.  The humidity is 89% and the barometer is rising, currently at 29.47".  We have received another .3" of rain.
   Tamarack, also called American larch, Larix decidua, in the Pine Family (the Pinaceae) is an iconic tree of the northern landscape and of eastern mountains.  It's natural habitat is cold swamps, but it also spreads to drier sites farther north.  It is the only deciduous conifer I can think of, its needles turning from bright green to gold and finally to bronze in the fall.  It is one of the last trees to change color, and thus stands out distinctly in the landscape.
   Tamarack is one of my favorite trees at all stages of its growth, which is very fast.   Planted in a wet spot it will help immeasurably to dry it out.  It's young female cones are small but very beautiful, looking much like tiny roses.  It is spire-like when young but spreading and irregularly shaped in old age.  It grows extremely large so must be used with care or removed at some time, so it is very difficult to use in the smaller landscape. the tree pictured being in the Ode back yard.
   Once the tree has lost its needles in the late fall it stands like a skeleton in the landscape, picturesque and relatively un-obstructive to views.  For sheer dramatic beauty during the seasons, there are few trees to compare it with.  The European and the Japanese larch are also used in landscaping but I see no particular advantage to them over the native.