River Birch

Betula nigra

River birch's most distinctive feature is its bark. peeling in sheets of salmon-pink, tan, and cream, changing color and texture through the seasons in a way that makes the trunk itself a year-round focal point. In winter, when everything else is gray and brown, the peeling multicolor bark of a river birch catches the light and reads as warm from twenty feet away. Plant it near water, near a window, near anywhere you look at in January. Fast-growing and adapted to wet sites, river birch fills the wet-corner role where most ornamental trees struggle. Catkins in early spring provide pollen when native bees are just waking up. Goldfinches work the seed catkins through fall and winter. Multi-stem forms are especially ornamental. One of the best tree choices for rain gardens, drainage areas, or the low corner of a property that's always wet.