Larix Species, Tamarack, American Larch, Black Larch, Eastern Larch, Hackmatack, Red Larch

I planted this as a first or second year sapling in 2010. It was a 2' tall stick back then. It is now about 10' tall with many side bra...Read Morenches. The caliper is about 2". The needles are very soft all season and the cones are a beautiful burgundy/brown when young. Fall foliage is killer and often a bright golden yellow. The tree has a very unique stature in the landscape and grows well here despite being in the southern end of its natural range.

I was told I'd never get this to grow in the hot dry summers here. I have 2 that are doing just fine. I just water the heck out of them d...Read Moreuring the summer. It's impossible to overwater these as they can even grow in standing water.

Beautiful trees.

This Larch is growing in coastal Oregon but even in July has lost most of its needles. Never-the-less it continues to gain height!

I have seen it growing in the bogs and swamps of the northwoods in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin and it is native over most of Canada,...Read More Alaska, and New England, plus northern New York and Pennsylvania, and spots in northern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. I have seen some growing in central Wisconsin along Route 41 near the Kettle Moraine area in an uphill situation, and I finally visited Volo Bog in northeast Illinois, just south of Fox Lake off Route 59, to view a big colony along the bog and lake. It has a wonderful airy, bright green, fine texture. It can be grown in regular landscapes in the northern USA from USDA Zones 2 to 6. There are a few cultivars that have been developed for landscapes. In June 2015 I saw one maturing specimen at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois that is doing well in the Northern Illinois Collection in well-drained silty soil of pH 7.0 in a lawn area. (Many assume Tamarack only grows in very acid, wet soils, where it is the most commonly found, but it can adapt to neutral pH, upland soils.) I found one planted in the conifer collection at Cantigni Gardens in Wheaton, IL, in August 2014 with a few European specimens nearby. College of Du Page in Glen Ellyn, Illinois planted a whole bunch of this species in a regular landscape up a hill and also in a low area near their Kirk Prairie where all are doing well. (The European Larch is the most used species in northern landscapes of the USA and some Japanese are occasionally found.) The only way I can be sure it is American and not Eurasian is that this native species has needles in clusters of 10 to 30 rather than 30 to 40, and its abundant tiny cones are 1/3 to 2/3" long rather than 1 to 1.5" long. Some northern native plant nurseries sell some and there are a few mail order nurseries as Eastern Plant Specialties in Clark, NJ, that sell some. It grows about 1.5 to 2 feet/year and lives about 150 to 200 years.