Does anyone know the differences between River Birch Nigra and River Birch Heritage? My garden center has both and they don't know the difference between the two.
Heres an article I found... Read more: http://www.kosmix.com/topic/heritage_river_birch#ixzz0yfeH12K2 So in this article they are saying that it is the same plant, with two different names. .
Variants * Betula nigra 'Heritage' (also known as 'Cully') - the popular cultivar of choice, possessing great vigor, but primarily noted for its heavily exfoliating (peeling) branches in the 2" to 6" diameter range which yield a cream, salmon, orange, lavender, and gray combination of bark colors, making it an excellent Midwestern and Southern substitute in the United States for Paper Birch and other white-barked birches, the latter of which often develop heavy Bronze Birch Borer infestations with age, leading to apical branch dieback and tree death unless annual preventive spray programs are implemented. Heritage River Birch and other selections of this species are superior substitutes for the over-utilized shade tree known as Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum), since, in addition to its above-listed attributes, River Birch has wood that, although rapidly growing and relatively lightweight, is not brittle and therefore not prone to wind or ice damage, as is Silver Maple. River Birch is also much more symmetrically growing, has fewer and smaller surface roots, and does not have fruit litter problems, as does Silver Maple. http://hcs.osu.edu/plantlist/description/be_nigra.html This tells us it been selected for high ornamental quality. That doesn't mean a different tree will be inferior just that this one has certain desirable characteristics that may or may not appear in a seedling.
