Frequently, Hollywood takes artistic license but when Friends of the Congaree Swamp president John Grego was describing cottonwoods while leading a group, it made me think of the song “The leaves of the cottonwoods whisper above, Tammy, Tammy, Tammy’s in love,” from the movie Tammy and the Bachelor. Debbie Reynold’s character Tammy is a young woman living on the edge of a swamp with her moon-shine making grandfather -- exactly the place where cottonwoods are most happy – areas that are occasionally flooded. I personally have never seen a cottonwood in any other setting but they can grow in a myriad of conditions, making them good trees for reclamation sites. The trees are fast growing with limbs prone to breaking in winds, but those resulting snags are good places for wildlife to nest in or take refuge.
Cottonwood trees in the swamp
