Sitting here in winter, looking back, I am reminded how important the trees are to this garden. Providing food, shelter, shade and character, they are the workhorses of the property. They are my stalwart friends of comfort and largesse. Without them, nothing else I plant would make sense. The butterflies love the nectar from these tulip poplar flowers, as do the hummingbirds. In fact, they produce so much nectar, they weep tears of honey in the late spring. Butterfly larvae feed on the tender leaves. Hawks sit in the top to patrol for rodents. The exposed roots on one side of a drainage channel, house a local groundhog. The roots also stabilize the soil in a very slopey garden. So many practical things to notice. On a more romantic note, I love how they ask my eyes to rise up and seek the sky in all seasons. Even in the grey of winter, those skies are worth looking at if you tone down your expectations a little. As I stroll down the hill into the lower garden, the shade deepens and air cools by degrees. I can't imagine a garden in the South without big trees. And for all that, I see these friendly giants being cut down or topped every year, leaving the homes they sheltered naked and baking in the sun. How can a few leaves or twigs falling be worth the loss of energy savings and cool comfort? Yes, some trees were planted in the wrong place and have to be dealt with for safety's sake, but cutting down your channel to blue heaven because you don't want to pick up leaves?