Every garden is a thing of beauty in the growing seasons — spring bulbs, summer flowers and fall foliage all carry on with extravagance. But winter is coming, so the colorful garden superstars will ...

With bright colors and interesting shapes, unusual tree and shrub bark can add visual interest to winter landscapes. Many types of bark become more distinctive and sought after during winter months.

Mary Jo DiLonardo has worked in print, online, and broadcast journalism for 25 years and covers nature, health, science, and animals. Young trees sometimes have smooth bark that's unbroken by ridges.

When we think of bark on a tree, we tend to compare it to the skin of a human. The primary function of both bark and skin is to protect the material within and beneath it. In Grade 7, we learned that ...

Clockwise from top left: (1) Two lodgepole pines growing side-by-side with notably different bark textures, (2) a rough-barked limber pine that has been attacked by bark beetles, (3) a limber pine ...

Editor's note: Once a month, the OSU Extension master gardener's office of Franklin County profiles a plant that occurs naturally in central Ohio. As the growing season fades, we bid adieu to many of ...