Young River Birch Bark Color in Winter

I was staring longingly at my yard through the sliding glass door, as I tend to do - wishing for Spring to come early - and I noticed my 5-stem river birch [Betula nigra] looked pinker than usual. The direct sun brought out the salmon or rusty-pink color in the thin trunks against a backdrop of white melting snow. It was a high of 48°F here in Indiana today.

Bark detail of the young river birch [Betula nigra] has a nice rusty pink color. The bark isn't peeling much on this young tree except down at the very bottom of the trunk.

My dad put two of these mini river birch groves in for me last summer, and they haven't had a real growing season yet - since they are so young, I'm hoping they had a chance to root in and that they will really take off this Spring! I love the shape of the mature trees and I can't wait to have a little more privacy in the backyard.

Here is the same river birch last summer when my yard was peaking with hydrangea blooms and the Liriope around the trees was perky and flowering