Pinus patula

Pinus patula is the weeping pine, and few conifers wear their needles so gracefully. Long, slender, and soft, the bright grass-green needles hang straight down from the branches in feathery curtains, so that the whole tree seems to pour toward the ground, especially in a light breeze. Fast-growing and open-crowned, this is a Mexican pine grown above all for that pendent, shimmering foliage.

Native to the cool mountain escarpments of eastern Mexico, from Hidalgo and Puebla to Veracruz and Oaxaca, the tree carries the Latin name patula, meaning spreading, for the outward, drooping sweep of the needles, borne in bundles of three or four. Mexicans know the pine as pino lloron, the weeping pine, or pino triste, the sad pine, for the same downcast grace. The narrow, curved cones cluster along the branches and often hang on for years.

Beyond the garden, Pinus patula is one of the great working trees of the world, planted by the million across the highlands of eastern and southern Africa, South America, and beyond for fast-grown timber and pulp, a testament to sheer vigor. That vigor is a gift and a caution: the tree grows quickly and has naturalized aggressively in a few mild countries, so plant with a little forethought. In the garden the pine is tender, happiest in USDA zones 8 to 10 and frost-sensitive while young, wanting full sun and sharp drainage.

Give Pinus patula room and a mild climate, and the reward is a graceful, fast, evergreen specimen unlike any hardy pine, a fountain of soft green that softens a hard corner or screens a view in a hurry. Site the tree where the weeping habit can be seen against the sky or a dark backdrop, shelter a young plant from hard frost, and let the pine grow into the loose, elegant crown that has made the species a favorite far from its Mexican home.

Photo courtesy of Sairus Patel from Standord