Bald cypress

* Common name: Bald cypress

* Botanical name: Taxodium distichum

* What it is: A large, fairly slender and fairly fast-growing conifer (cone-bearing tree) with soft, flat, green needles that turn a beautiful russet color in fall before dropping. It’s a U.S. native tree usually found in swampy areas. In wet areas, it will develop knobby growths called “knees” coming up from the root zone.

* Size: 50 to 60 feet tall and 25 to 30 feet wide in 25 years.

* Where to use: Bald cypress will grow in standing water, so it’s one of the best trees for a wet area or rain garden. But it’ll also grow in dry soil, so any sunny to lightly shaded area with adequate space will do. Just be aware it drops its needles in fall in case you’re looking for an “evergreen” that screens a view in winter.

“Knees” of a bald cypress tree in damp soil.

* Care: Water deeply once a week in lieu of rain for the first two years to establish, then soak every few weeks in drought conditions. Usually doesn’t need fertilizer, especially if the tree is growing in a lawn that’s being fertilized. Don’t panic when the needles drop in fall… it’s supposed to do that.

* Great partner: Underplant with a colony of dwarf Virginia sweetspire or summersweet – native shrubs that tolerate damp conditions. Cardinal flower is a native red-blooming perennial that pairs well and tolerates wet soil.