Winter allows us to see plants in a new way

In winter, we celebrate features of plants often overlooked during seasons of lush foliage and colorful flowers.

Berries and rose hips are welcome dots of color. The vibrant exclamation points fashioned by branches of red or yellow twig dogwood demand our attention. Harry Lauder's walking stick is at its best when leaves aren't obstructing its twisting, turning branches.

Another characteristic that we should consider when adding trees to our landscapes is exfoliating bark. Trees with exfoliating bark are pretty year round, but become sculptural works of art in winter as their bark peels away, revealing interesting colors or patterns.

Here are some trees with exfoliating bark you may want to add to your landscape.

Acer griseum, or paperbark maple as it is commonly called, shows off coppery-orange and cinnamon-colored bark that peels away from the trunk in curious curls. Ideal for suburban yards, it slowly grows 30 feet tall and up to 25 feet wide. Paperbark maples prefer a spot with moist, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade.

The fall color of a paperbark maple's blue-green leaves varies from year to year, but can be bronze, orange or red. Cultivars include Cinnamon Flake, known for its bark that peels in smaller strips; Fireburst, grown for its more narrow form and red fall color; and Gingerbread — a faster growing variety.

Betula nigra, commonly called river birch, sports spectacular salmon-pink to cinnamon-colored bark that peels away to reveal a creamy white layer underneath. Native to Chicagoland, they grow quickly up to 40 feet tall and wide in average, moist and even wet soil in full sun to part shade.

River birches are pretty in fall when their leathery, dark green leaves turn buttery yellow. Heritage is one of the most popular cultivars and is similar in size. Summer Cascade has a weeping habit and grows up to 10 feet tall if staked. Fox Valley is the baby of the family at just 10 to 12 feet tall, and Shiloh Splash is the family showoff, boasting variegated foliage of green and white. It grows 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides, or dawn redwood, is not for small landscapes. On a property large enough for this majestic conifer, it shows off roughly-textured, exfoliating, orange-brown bark when, unlike other conifers, it drops its foliage in fall.

Foliage emerges light green in spring, deepens to dark green in summer and then turns golden-bronze in fall. Grow dawn redwoods in full sun in moist soil.

Ulmus parvifolia, commonly called lacebark elm or Chinese elm, boasts dramatic mottled bark that peels away to display colorful patterns of brown, creamy white, gray, green and orange. Lacebark elms grow quickly to 40 or 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide and prefer a spot in full sun with rich, moist, well-drained soil.

Unlike other elms, lacebark elms have good resistance to Dutch elm disease. Cultivars of Ulmus parvifolia include Emerald Vase, a taller variety with pretty yellow fall color, and Caitlin, a smaller selection that grows just 15 feet tall.

Exfoliating bark only occurs in a small number of trees as their trunks grow and expand. Why not take advantage of one of nature's schemes in the landscape? Add some trees with exfoliating bark to your collection of plant characteristics for winter interest. Then enjoy the wintry view through a window from inside the warm house.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and the garden center manager at The Planter's Palette in Winfield. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.