[Magdalen] Tricolor.

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

Tree stuff:
 
Our Tricolor Beech - a cultivar of European Beech ( Fagus sylvatica)
with green leaves and white and rose-colored leaf margins, is  really
looking good this spring.  This is despite chronic White Tail  Deer
browsing and periodic defoliation from Gypsy Moths.  The tree  has
mostly outgrown the deer, but I'm not sure how the moths are going
to be this year.  Supposedly the abnormally cold 2 weeks this spring 
with patchy frosts have been bad for them.  Since oaks, the  favorite
food of these moth pests, are in the Beech family (Fagaceae), beeches
are susceptible to defoliation.
 
Though we live in a Pocono development named "Beech Mountain
Lakes," after the natural groves of American Beech (Fagus  grandifolia),
here, the North American species is generally not used for  landscaping
purposes because it doesn't  have the large number of cultivars
and fast growth of the European species. As a result there are two
other European Beech cultivars that are popular here for landscaping.
They are the maroon-leaf variety ("Copper Beech") and the latter's
weeping variety.
 
These beech varieties are not so popular as the frequently planted
maroon-leaf variety of Norway Maple, these two species (beech and
maple) are a welcome invasion from the Old World.
 
 
David S.