Every garden is a thing of beauty in the growing seasons — spring bulbs, summer flowers and fall foliage all carry on with extravagance. But winter is coming, so the colorful garden superstars will ...

Mary Jo DiLonardo has worked in print, online, and broadcast journalism for 25 years and covers nature, health, science, and animals. Young trees sometimes have smooth bark that's unbroken by ridges.

With bright colors and interesting shapes, unusual tree and shrub bark can add visual interest to winter landscapes. Many types of bark become more distinctive and sought after during winter months.

The reddish gray-brown bark of the red oak tree with its darker vertical markings is one of the key features to identifying the tree in winter. (Clay Wollney) Leaves are the most useful and frequently ...

The photo is of a sycamore tree at Red-tail’s McVey Memorial Forest. A walk in the woods this time of year is different. It’s quiet and monochromatic. Other than the crunch of your shoes on frozen ...

If asked to describe what tree bark looks like, most people probably would say something like: “It’s rough and brown and covers the trunk of a tree.” That is a good description of many trees, but not ...

Clockwise from top left: (1) Two lodgepole pines growing side-by-side with notably different bark textures, (2) a rough-barked limber pine that has been attacked by bark beetles, (3) a limber pine ...

Trees with smoother bark are better at repelling attacks by mountain pine beetles, which have difficulty gripping the slippery surface, according to a new study. Trees with smoother bark are better at ...