Deciduous Conifers Blur Lines

Did you know that there are evergreens that lose their needles – and I don’t mean your dried out, spent Christmas tree – but living deciduous conifers?

I wasn’t aware of these trees until living at Spring Bird, where there are both larch trees and a dawn redwood. Each Fall, these trees’ needles turn yellow and drop just like the oaks and maples that neighbor them. Like their deciduous counterparts, they won’t regrow their needles until next Spring.

A couple of years ago, we planted another dawn redwood for our son, Abe. Today, I just removed the protective screen as it has already outgrown it! 

Dawn redwoods grow quickly. The one near our green bench meadow has taken off after Patrick removed a dead leader branch. This dawn redwood was planted by the sons of the previous owners. 

And larch trees produce the cutest strings of tiny pinecones that resemble a string of old fashioned Christmas lights. Their wood is very tough and waterproof. It makes sense that larch woods has been used to build boats and as posts, beams, and house cladding. 

Anyway, I think the existence of these deciduous conifers is good evidence that we can’t pretend that everything fits into a neat box. There are always outliers, exceptions, and alternatives and our world is richer for it.