Kira Dirlik wrote:
I looked at the needles we have for sale in the Chatham Arts Council,
and the tag says they are birch. They are beautiful and wonderful to
touch. I haven't seen any birch trees growing around here (central
NC) that are the standard, white barked ones I knew in NY state. But
we have lots of River Birch, which are quite a different tree. If I
ever meet the artist of the needles, I'll ask a bunch of questions....
and recommend them to try the dogwood.
Kira

Paper birches (the white ones in NY state) don't grow as far south as
NC, Kira, they don't even live very well here in Maryland, to my sorrow.
We have one badly infested with borers, planted by the (northern)
person who originally owned this house. River birches, or heritage
birches, grow well in the south (our river birches are quite healthy),
but no matter how people talk about how interesting the peeling pinkish
brownish bark is in winter, nothing beats paper birches for breathtaking
beauty. I remember them fondly from my Michigan childhood.