A White Pine for the Ages

Paton’s Silver Splendor White Pine

For many Minnesotans who love “going up north” to enjoy the extensive forests and lakes, the White Pine is a much loved tree variety.  Mature white pines tower over the northern forests with their signature look that is at one and the same time soft and feathery and tough and cragy.

White Pines can live in excess of 200 years and were an extremely important part of the timber harvests that were an economic mainstay of Minnesota’s growth years that took us from a territoy to statehood.

One problem with white pines has been a disease called White Pine Blister Rust, which gradually kills the bark of some trees.  Not all white pines get this disease, but enough do that finding a resistant strain has been a goal  of the timber and nursery industries for the last 100 years.

Recently, the nursery industry introduced Paton’s Silver Splendor White Pine, which has significantly enhanced resistance to White Pine Blister Rust.  Paton’s Silver Splendor White Pine is a lovely sightly smaller white pine with a bit more irregular growth habit.  Like its’ wild white pine cousins, Paton’s Silver Splendor has a soft, feathery appearance and is also soft to the touch.

Paton’s Silver Splendor White Pine

If you love the white pines of our northern forests, you may want to try some Paton’s Silver Splendor White Pines.  I suspect you will really enjoy them and not have to worry about the blister rust.