Anonymous wrote:Serviceberries are great, but are vulnerable to cedar rust. I have cedars, and they for sure have rust, so no serviceberries for me.

Please don't plant kousa dogwoods -- they are spreading in natural areas because birds love the fruit, too, and they are non-native.

OP here, not looking at a kousa dogwood, but am looking at hybrids. Not sure if these pose the same issue?
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cornus-hybrids/

Serviceberries are great, but are vulnerable to cedar rust. I have cedars, and they for sure have rust, so no serviceberries for me.

Please don't plant kousa dogwoods -- they are spreading in natural areas because birds love the fruit, too, and they are non-native.

serviceberries are delicious and the trees are pretty though not, in my opinion, as ornamental as dogwoods. if you get a dogwood, the kousa varieties get delicious fruit!

Serviceberries are yummy.

I'm also looking at small trees to replace a dying ornamental in our yard. I have it narrowed down to a Serviceberry or Fringe tree. Did you consider serviceberry?

Anonymous wrote:Have you considered a redbud? It might also fit your mandate, and not be susceptible to diseases. I think its leaf is attractive throughout the growing season.

We have. It's beautiful in bloom, but not a huge fan of the seed pods that hang around most of the year so trying to find something different.

Have you considered a redbud? It might also fit your mandate, and not be susceptible to diseases. I think its leaf is attractive throughout the growing season.

Anonymous wrote:I have a hybrid, and while it is resistant to anthracnose, it isn’t immune. But, it flowers well, and the birds love the fruit. I adore my fringe trees. The fragrance is incredible.

Thanks!

I have a hybrid, and while it is resistant to anthracnose, it isn’t immune. But, it flowers well, and the birds love the fruit. I adore my fringe trees. The fragrance is incredible.

Looking to plant a small-ish tree in the corner of our small backyard that will get partial sun. Any of these trees should work from that perspective.

However, I think the native flowering dogwood may grow too tall/big, and have also read a lot about dogwood anthracnose fungus that seems to be a problem for the native dogwoods. I'm not a native purist by any means, but happy to do native (to North America anyway) where possible. I'm not sure where the hybrid dogwood fits into all of this - is there any native benefit of it? I know the white fringe tree is native, and smells good, so there's a lot to be said for that. But the pink flowers of the dogwood and the red fall foliage (vs yellow of the white fringe tree) also appeals.