12 Feb A (Tasteful) Collection of Tree Nudes, Winter’s Unsung Interest

It’s easy to take defoliated trees for granted when you’re surrounded by them — as we did when we were growing up back East. But out here, winter-stripped deciduous trees feel like a novelty.

Actually, there are plenty of them, and they stand out brilliantly against the lush green hills and canyons of Southern California, melancholy foils to nearby warm-weather plants like palms, elephant ears and cycads.

We snapped some intriguing skeletal trees we found in and around our neighborhood: naked rose bushes with thorns in tact, squat shrubs resembling a dance party in silhouette, a many-branched tower at sunset resembling a brittle candelabra.

The lack of leaves makes it difficult for us to ID these specimens; we will follow up when they start to bud!