Trees In the Winter

We Southerner's are really great at preparing for the possibility of frozen precipitation in the forecast. Who already has their bread, milk, and eggs stored up for the upcoming week? Ok, maybe not eggs this time...

Have ya'll ever stopped to think about how trees stand up to the cold during freezing temps? According to the National Forest Foundation, there are three specific characteristics trees have in order to come through Winter relatively unscathed. 1) They have bark for insulation; 2) They drop leaves to reduce the loss of water; and 3) They slowly increase their cold tolerance at the cellular level. I bet ya'll haven't really considered our trees in the Winter..but they have to make adjustments for lower temperatures just like we do!