Trees

Trees are very different in the South. Up north, we have red and white pine; balsam fir; bur and pin oaks; silver, Norway and sugar maples; horse chestnut and Eastern hemlock; white, black, and blue spruce; paper birch, and quaking aspen.

In the south, there are live and water oak, bald cypress; slash and scrub pine; royal and palmetto palm; river birch, flowering dogwood, southern magnolia, shagbark hickory, sweetgum, sassafrass, basswood, pecan, black walnut.

Yes, of course there is overlap – you can find some maples in the South, and the North has some varieties of magnolia, etc. I’ve even seen palm trees in Victoria, BC (Canada). But overall once you get into the Deep South, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

What I miss about northern forests is the fall color. Birch and quaking aspen trees turn bright yellow, oaks turn golden and red, and of course maples are known for their spectrum of red through orange through gold to yellow. My favorite of all is the sugar maple, which has dark branches and the leaves turn from gold to red on the outside, while pale green hangs on inside the crown. In the sun it gives off a luminescent glow that is impossible to capture in a photograph. Even if you live in a cave (like I do) it is impossible to miss fall in the north.

On the other hand, the south stays green overall. Many trees are not deciduous, so they keep their leaves year-round (live oak, southern magnolia, etc.). And I do love a nice palm tree. If I must live in Florida, the least I can do is have a palm tree. My new house has a nice landscaping collection of Pygmy Date Palms, which are not native (most palm trees in Florida are not) but are cute nonetheless. A landscaping ad says “This wouldn’t be Florida without the waving fronds of the tropical palms. Palms are the easiest way to “tropicalize” your garden and give great shade but also allow the breeze to flow through.”

I’ve learned that some palm varieties are self-cleaning, meaning when a frond is dead it will fall off on its own. Other types of palms retain the dried fronds as a "petticoat" under the green fronds.

Live oak trees can also be very majestic looking (as oak are wont to be) and when dripping with Spanish Moss, are the poster child for the Deep South overall.