So many trees/shrubs, so little room to plant them all

While teaching a class on uncommon trees/shrubs that have a place in any home landscape, it was very tough to narrow down the list to what could be talked about in an hour and a half. Very difficult.

If I had a whole day, there would still be ones left out. So here's a quick list of some that are absolutely outstanding!

1. A biased #1 -- I absolutely love this plant -- Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)












2. Beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.)








3. Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)












4. Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) or hybrids with our native dogwood (C. kousa x C. florida)
5. Deciduous hollies (Ilex decidua or I. verticillata)
6. Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus)
7. Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
8. Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica)

I'll stop there since my list would be very long if I tried to keep all the good ones on there. For a more comprehensive list, go to my website. It's a work in progress.

Please post your own favorites here. I'll warn you not to even mention ornamental pears or burning bushes -- they are not good plants...in my opinion...and overused to the point of being sickening.

A Good-looking Tree

When I came back to the office today, I told the secretary that I found a good-looking tree that I was leaving to take a picture of. She said 'Beth, you're old!'

If you don't believe me, take a look at this bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) that grows within a mile of our office. A deciduous conifer with rusty fall color. It'll only be a bit before the leaves fall off. Then you get to look at the great architecture of this plant.

When you think of bald cypresses, you immediately think of the 'knees' when the plant is near water. This plant doesn't need a flooded root zone to live and thrive! It does perfectly fine in a regular ol' soil. You won't get any knees, though.

This is a plant worthy of much more planting. Check out more information here.