Whether considering evergreen or deciduous trees, white pines are my favorite and have been a key component of the landscape of every home I’ve owned. My first place—a tiny white cottage—was dwarfed by a gorgeous specimen pine that was totally out of scale. But I loved that huge tree with its long, graceful boughs and, whenever the wind blew, I was reminded of a childhood book. Even though Heidi’s trees were firs, her awe was unforgettable. 

The thing which attracted her most, however, was the waving and roaring of the three old fir trees on these windy days. She would run away repeatedly from whatever she might be doing, to listen to them, for nothing seemed so strange and wonderful to her as the deep mysterious sound in the tops of the trees. She would stand underneath them and look up, unable to tear herself away, looking and listening while they bowed and swayed and roared as the mighty wind rushed through them.
~ Heidi, by Johanna Spyri

What is a white pine?
The white pines native to our part of the country are Eastern white pines (Pinus strobus). The tree has a vast range from the Lake States through southeastern Canada, into the northeastern U.S. and down to the southern Appalachians. The Western white pine (P. monticola) has a small, disjointed range in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia.

White pines have a fascinating lineage. They belong to an ancient group of plants, named gymnosperms, which dominated the landscape between 250 and 100 million years ago. Since that time, gymnosperms have declined and angiosperms, the more evolved and complex plant division, have advanced.

Now only five orders of gymnosperms remain.
• Cycadales:  tropical and subtropical plants that resemble palms and tree ferns.
• Ginkgoales: ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is the only remaining species.
• Gnetales:  an intermediate order between gymnosperms and angiosperms. 
• Taxales: yews and torreya.
• Pinales:  conifers including the Pine and Cypress families. 

The Pine Family “is the largest and most important timber-producing family of the gymnosperms,” according to Harlow & Harrar’s Textbook of Dendrology by James W. Hardin, Donald J. Leopold and Fred M. White. Other members of the family include:
• larch (Larix)
• spruce (Picea)
• Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga)
• hemlock (Tsuga)
• fir (Abies)

White pine facts.
• grows to about 80 – 100’ in height with a spread of 20 – 40’.
• maturity isn’t reached until 200 years of age; trees have been found with 460 growth rings.
• Hartwick Pines State Park in Michigan has 49 acres of old-growth pines with one 300-year-old monarch soaring 155’ tall.
• produce soft, bluish green needles in fascicles, or bundles, of 5.
• needles remain for 2 years then turn brown, die and fall off .
• monoecious with male and female flowers on same plant.
• fruit is a long (up to 8”), slender cone that remains closed the first year and matures/opens the second year.
• produces abundant pollen but isn’t a cause of allergies.
• propagated mainly from seeds which need a 60-day stratification.
• easily grown on a wide variety of soils; prefers full sun but can tolerate some shade.
• pests include white pine blister rust, white pine weevil and deer.
• to estimate age in years, count whorls of side branches and add 2 or 3.

What does Dirr think?
Michael Dirr is my go-to guy for information about plants. He has a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology and is a horticulture professor at the University of Georgia in Atlanta. His Manual of Woody Landscape Plants is the bible for gardeners, landscape architects and other plant geeks. Dirr has incredible breadth of knowledge about plant identification, culture and propagation—all of which leads to excellent pronouncements about landscape design value. His comments are erudite, pithy and, on occasion, hilarious. 

“In youth a symmetrical pyramid of soft, pleasant appearance; in middle-age and on old trees the crown is composed of several horizontal and ascending branches; gracefully plume-like in outline and very distinctive when compared to other conifers.”

“…one of our most beautiful native pines; a well-grown, mature White Pine is without equal among the firs, spruces and other pines.”

Finally…
Last week my husband, Jerry, and I cleared a space just to the north and west of our home and planted three small but exquisite white pines. They are only seven years old now but with a bit of luck, what a legacy.

This also appears in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.