I love the delicate silver birch. We are lucky enough to have these in our garden to enjoy.
I’ve only just realised that giving someone the birch, ie a beating, was so called because the punishment was inflicted with birch rods. A more benign use was to make the sticks into besoms.
Old names for the silver birch are ‘white birch’ ‘lady’s birch’ and ‘weeping birch’.
Birch trees often have ‘eyes’. One of ours certainly does.
