Frans Fontaine Hornbeams Holding Their Leaves - Winter 2023 - December 2023

I most-recently posted about the hedge of columnar Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam trees in our yard earlier this Fall in September of 2023.  I covered how they had grown over the years and documented the full-Summer foliage.  These trees are so interesting - their growth habit is the thing that gets most people's attention.  But...their continued marcescence - or holding their leaves late into Winter - is really a big part of the 'why' any homeowner would want these trees in their yard.  They are decidious, so they naturally drop their leaves, which leads to people buying A LOT of Green Giant Thujas and common Arborvitaes to provide screening - they are evergreens.  

But our Hornbeams provide that 'evergreen' look well past when most trees drop their leaves.  Below, is a photo showing the current state - early December - of our Hornbeams.  These are five years old.

You can see plenty of yellow leaves at their feet, but pay attention to all the green foliage STILL on the trees.

Last year, I posted on December 21 how all the leaves had turned brown.  We'll see what happens in the next three weeks, I suppose.