Give Now  »

Noon Edition

Evergreen Trees

evergreen

During the winter, evergreen trees assume more importance in the landscape than they do in summer. Undoubtedly because the deciduous trees are just bare silhouettes.

Experts suggest that at least one third of our plantings should be evergreen because they are so important during the winter months. Of course, evergreens provide a whole range of shades of greens and grays and yellows to add much needed variety in snowy gardens.

Their textures also contribute significantly to the winter landscape.

Trees always provide a feeling of permanence, as well as providing shelter for birds and other small animals.

Alfred Joyce Kilmer's poem about trees makes us appreciate them in all seasons. The first two lines are familiar to us, but the rest of the poem is less well known. Though Kilmer died in the war in 1918 at only 32 years of age, his words still speak to us on a number of levels today. He wrote:

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.



Alfred Joyce Kilmer, (1886-1918)

Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

About Focus on Flowers