Denny's Soapbox

Spring's Welcome Wagon

Flowering trees are a big part of spring’s welcome wagon. Granted, not all flowering and ornamental trees bloom in April, but most do, which can give our landscapes a fairy land appearance. Drive down Kenwood Road in Sycamore Twp and Blue Ash and view all those Cleveland Ornamental Pears in bloom and you will understand where I’m coming from. Let’s start our discussion of spring blooming trees with some new 2008 tree introductions. We’ll then discuss some trees which have been around one or more years but they also deserve lots of consideration for a place in your landscape.

Magnolia Sweet Bay ‘Moonglow’

This magnolia has a very distinct narrow and upright growth habit. It’s multi-trunked with a beautiful dark green/semi-evergreen foliage. It has extra large, lemon scented 3” diameter flowers that bloom over a one month period in late spring. You can maintain a desired height and width by pruning.

Japanese Maple ‘Shirazz’

This new cultivar has strongly marked variegated leaves. The leaf color is a combination of green and cream with a bright pink edge along with an overall pink flush. The leaf colors intensify in the fall, with the green turning to a strong purple-red. This tree does best in full to a half-day of sun and grows 12 to 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide.

Florida Dogwood ‘Spring Grove’

This tree was selected from Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. It has very showy large white 5 inch flowers on a tree that grows 20 to 25 feet high and wide. This is absolutely the best Florida type dogwood for this area. Other types of dogwoods which do well here are the Kousa (Chinese) Dogwood, it has white flowers in June and the Rutger’s series, a cross between ‘Kousa” and Florida. These trees bloom pink or white in June.

Flowering Crabapples (by variety)

This family of trees has been around for years. The older varieties of Crab trees were negatively known for early leaf drop and messy fruit which would fall from the tree in late summer. The newer varieties of Crab trees have been improved to the point where leaves now remain on the tree until fall and the fruit stays on even longer, all winter until the robin’s cleanup in early spring.

Flowering crabs come in several varieties and some of my favorites include:

• ‘Sargent’ Flowering Crab – dwarf, growing to 6-8 feet high and wide, pink to white flowers.

• ‘Louisa’ Flowering Crab – weeping, growing 15 feet high and wide, true pink flowers.

• ‘Prairifire’ Flowering Crab – narrow, upright growing with pink flowers and dark red fruit in the fall. Grows 20 feet tall by 15 feet wide.

Other varieties to check out include:

‘Donald Wyman’, ‘Coral Burst’, and ‘Sugar Tyme’

Red Bud

The Red Bud family of trees is very hardy and does well in full sun to full shade. All Red Buds bloom purplish/pink flowers in the spring before the leaves start to grow.

• Standard Red Bud - grows upright and spreading, growing to an average size of 20 feet tall and wide.

• ‘Forest pansy’ Red Bud - grows the same but with purple leaves. Best leaf color occurs on trees that receive at least a half day sun.

• ‘Lavender Twist’ Red Bud - weeping green leaf tree with contorted arching branches.

Other flowering trees that deserve your consideration:

Flowering Pear - all varieties

‘Double Pink’ and ‘Snow Fountain’ Weeping Cherry

‘Service Berry’ (Amelanchier) - several varieties including ‘Princess Diana’

‘Winter King’ Flowering Hawthorne

Every landscape has room for another tree; make it a flowering variety for added color.

Drought Damage Update

The jury is still out. Many evergreens are now showing some drought damage signs of brown needles. It’s too early to tell the amount of drought damage to other trees. Have patience before you start to prune, because you can always cut but you can’t glue limbs back on. There will be more info to come in the following weeks as we continue to discover what’s still healthy and what’s not.