Bald Cypress. I love this tree!

Three weeks ago I took some photos of my bald cypress tree, thinking I'd do a post about it. Although I've been sneaking photos of it into other posts once in a while, it's such a beautiful tree I wanted to collect enough photos to give it an entire post of its own.

For a deciduous tree at this time of year, a lot can change in three weeks. The tree completely changed its color palette in that time, which makes this post so much better I think. Green is nice, but add in some other colors and you really have something to look at.

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There are a few things about this species of tree that I really like. First and foremost, it has beautiful, delicate feathery foliage:

Second, it's got a very nice form which is very pyramidal when the tree is young, but turns more oval as the tree matures.

Third, it's got strong branches. I already have trees that are susceptible to wind damage (silver maples), and having one that I know can take a pounding is reassuring.

Fourth (which I can't really show in these photos) is that it grows quickly when young, gets pretty large when mature but not too large for a suburban yard, and is a long-lived tree -- up to 600 years or more!

I've heard someone say that "bald cypress is a great tree for fall color, but only if you really like the color brown". That's almost true, but I have to say that there are a lot more red tones in the brown, at least for a few days.

I think the fall color is quite beautiful, as long as you're looking at it the right way. Looking at it from the sunlit side, it's sort of blah:

Take a look at the tree from the back though, with the sunlight streaming through the leaves, and you get a completely different show:

Since this is a deciduous tree, it will be dropping all of its leaves in the next couple of days. I'll miss them, but I'll still get to see the cool rough bark and strong branching pattern:

Bald cypress is also a conifer, which means it produces cones. Well, it will at some point when it's older -- mine is too young for that. All mine produces right now is an intense feeling of satisfaction whenever I look at it.

That's really what I strive for with every plant in my garden, and this one really needs no care in order to deliver it.