Help me choose an ornamental tree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
-shadblow/serviceberry- early spring bloom, fruit is small and eaten by the birds, bluish green leaves, nice color in the fall. The fruit taste like a cross between blue berries and a cherry. Three season tree.

redbud- interesting early spring blooms, the trees can struggle at time. Forest pansy has reddish purple fall color, but most are yellow. 2 season tree

-crapemyrtle - some have interesting bark, summer blooming, litter after blooms and some have fall color. Size varies. Can be a 4 season tree. Depends on the variety

-snowdrift/crabapple- spring bloom, will get fruit litter, some will have some nice color other will not, 2 season tree.

-purple leaf plum- spring bloom, fruit late summer fruit(1 1/2”), purple leaf color in summer 2 season tree

-kwanzan cherry
-yoshino cherry - these are one season trees kind of boring after they bloom. Most are short lived.

-ivory silk tree- so this tree is marginally hard here(in terms of the heat). It does well in areas with cool summers.

Since it's in front of your house, I recommend the only tree on the list with four seasons of interest. PP said three seasons but I think it's four since it usually has multiple trunks that look interesting with winter snow.

I was going to say the same. Very pretty in three seasons and the fruit is too small an popular with birds to ever get messy. I do like crepep myrtle, but they have a long "boring period" in spite of nice bark and the are a mess after blooming.

Also consider what else is on your street and in your front yard. I would try to complement the street but create seasonal variety for the yard. If your yard is great in spring, look for a great summer/fall tree, but if your yard is boring in spring, go for a great spring bloomer.

[Anonymous]

The ivory silk tree is great and smells nice, but IMO the blooms start to look dirty after a while.

[Anonymous]

I love Kwanzan cherries (thanks, didn't know what they were called) but once they are done blooming they turn brown and messy.

[Anonymous]

I love redbuds--beautiful in the sprig!