*Eastern Red Cedar provides winter interest and wildlife and shoreline protection*
(Photos by Betsy Washington unless noted)

The January Plant of the Month, Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, goes by many names such as Eastern Juniper, Red Cedar or even Pencil Juniper. This widespread handsome native tree is found from Nova Scotia and Ontario south to northern Florida and Texas and west across the Great Plains and is extremely cold and heat tolerant. Despite its common name, Eastern Red ‘Cedar’ is not really a Cedar at all but is a Juniper (same family but different genus). It occurs in every county in Virginia. In fact, its native range makes it the most widely distributed conifer in the Eastern United States occurring in old fields, open areas, fencerows, dry rocky or gravelly ridge tops, barren soils, dry uplands, and even around brackish, marshy sites -an important attribute in our coastal area.

*Showy blue cone-berries provide a feast for our eyes*

These tough evergreen trees can grow where other plants would quickly perish, tolerating extreme cold, heat, drought and salt and salt spray, making them an ideal candidate for surviving the many weather extremes over their broad range let alone the changes brought by global warming. They are considered “pioneer” species because they are one of the first woody plants to colonize abandoned fields or other open areas. Eastern Red Cedars can also be extremely long-lived, surviving for well over 300 years. In fact, the oldest known Eastern Red Cedar, found in West Virginia was reliably dated to be 940 years old! Despite their rugged nature, the best growth is obtained on deep, moist but well-drained alluvial soils with full sun. In these sites, they can grow 1 – 2’ per year reaching landscape heights of 30 – 40’ high and 10 – 20’ wide with a dense pyramidal habit although specimens in the wild have been documented reaching well over 60’ in height and become broad with age.

Eastern Red Cedars have handsome, aromatic, evergreen foliage with two types of leaves – sharp, needle-like juvenile foliage arranged in opposite pairs on young specimens and new growth and then tightly overlapping, scale-like foliage on mature specimens. The foliage is a handsome blue-green in summer but often takes on rich bronze tints in the winter. The handsome reddish-brown bark is also distinctive, exfoliating in long fibrous strips. All parts of this Juniper are strongly aromatic with a rich cedar fragrance. Eastern Red Cedars are dioecious, meaning that there are separate male and female trees. Females produce the handsome blue-purple cone-berries which persist through the winter creating a feast for both the eyes and for appreciative winter wildlife. These cone-berries average about ¼” wide and are covered in a waxy coating giving them a lovely powdery blue look and are frequently so profuse, the entire tree appears powdery blue. In contrast, male pollen cones are yellow and quite small, while held on the tips of branches. In late winter-early spring they release clouds of pollen carried by the wind to female trees

The nutritious cone-berries are a favorite of Cedar Waxwings.
(Photo by Mark Chamberlin)

Despite its many wonderful qualities, Eastern Red Cedar is often overlooked as a landscape tree. It is easy to grow, transplant and its adaptability to extreme site conditions -wind, salt, and barren acidic or alkaline soils – recommend it for widespread use. Although young saplings have a penetrating taproot, the roots quickly become fibrous and wide spreading, allowing them to grow in shallow soils and on rocky outcrops and stabilize the soil. Handsome alone as a specimen tree, they are excellent in a group or as a windbreak or screen. Try them in most gardens -butterfly, drought-tolerant, winter-interest gardens or even in upper shoreline gardens near brackish water. This amazing tree seems to take everything in stride except shady sites.

Juniper Hairstreak young depend on cedars as a host
(Photo by Maeve Coker)

Eastern Red Cedars are relatively trouble-free, but they can harbor the Cedar-Apple Rust fungus which can infect them during a wet, warm spring. The Rust does little harm to the cedars but creates curious round (or apple-like) galls on their twigs that can grow up to 1” in diameter. After spring rains, gelatinous orange protrusions emerge from the gall and release spores carried by the wind where they can infect any nearby apples or other pome-fruited members of the Rose family, like quince and serviceberries. The fungus causes unsightly leaf and fruit spotting which does not harm the tree but renders them unsightly. To avoid this, plant Apples, Pears, or Serviceberries at least 500 feet away from Eastern Red Cedars. Bagworms can also occasionally be a problem but are easily picked off by birds or you and destroyed.

The strong, richly aromatic, and fine-grained heartwood of this Cedar is highly decay resistant and has been used by humans for centuries. It was prized by early colonists for log cabins, furniture, fence posts and rails and even coffins. The aromatic wood has been used for ages to repel moths and other insects. It is still sought after to make cedar chests and to line closets to safeguard wool clothing from moths as well as for pet bedding. Native Americans used it to make flutes, furniture, mats, and flat and long bows. As mentioned, one of the common names of Eastern Red Cedar is ‘pencil tree’; so named because they were the sole source of wood for making pencils prior to 1940, since then the western Incense Cedar is preferred. The showy cedar cones-berries have long been used medicinally as a tea to treat sore throats and coughs (although it supposedly is mildly toxic) and in flavoring food and gin.

And if all these assets aren’t enough to excite you, these wonderful ‘Cedars’ have very high wildlife value and provide excellent shelter, nesting sites, and critical food for a diverse variety of wildlife. Over 50 species of birds feed on the carbohydrate-rich, fatty cone-berries including bobwhite, wild turkeys, and songbirds such as Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Sparrows, and, as many of you know, flocks of the distinctive Cedar Waxwings. These Waxwings descend in mass to feast on the fruit and are in fact, named for this tree. A variety of mammals also rely on the fruit in winter including foxes, rabbits, raccoons, possums, and even Black Bear. Eastern Red Cedar is also the host to about 30 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars including the beautiful green Juniper Hairstreak (also named for this tree) and the Imperial Moth.

Eastern Red Cedars are a feast for all eyes – ours as well as for wildlife and will add evergreen beauty and life to every garden. They are tough, beautiful, and resilient, creating a perfect evergreen sanctuary for birds, butterflies and, of course, humans.

Plant of the Month January 2024: Eastern Red Cedar