Small Native Ornamental Trees

Small native trees noted for their flowers

Pink dogwood in Christian County, KY

I don't think any of the trees in this list will grow over 50 feet, and many of them won't grow nearly that high. Their scientific names are listed as they appear in the USDA Plants Database (and the links lead there.)

Amalanchier -- Serviceberries, including Amelanchier canadensis (L.) Medik. (Canadian serviceberry), Amelanchier alnifolia (Nutt.) Nutt. ex M. Roem. (Saskatoon serviceberry), and Amelanchier arborea (Michx. f.) Fernald (common serviceberry).

Cercis canadensis L. -- Redbud (Judas tree)

Cornus florida L.-- Flowering dogwood

Crataegus L. -- Hawthorns of many sorts including Crataegus pedicellata Sarg. (Scarlet hawthorn), Crataegus crus-galli L. (Cockspur hawthorn), and Crataegus punctata Jacq. (Dotted hawthorn)

Hamamelis L. -- Witchhazels

Malus ioensis (Alph. Wood) Britton -- Prairie crabapple (and other American crabapples)

Prunus L. -- Plum and cherry family, many members including Prunus americana Marsh. (Wild plum), Prunus pensylvanica L. f.  (Pin cherry, Fire cherry), and Prunus virginiana L. (Chokecherry)

Sorbus americana Marsh.. -- American mountain ash,

Viburnum L. -- Some of the tree viburnums are Viburnum dentatum L. var. dentatum (Southern arrowwood), Viburnum lentago L. (Nannyberry), and Viburnum prunifolium L.  (Black haw).

Dogwood: Beautiful In Winter

A great ornamental tree, even in January

Dogwood in January, Christian County, KY

Even in winter, the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is a beautiful tree. Its branching pattern is attractive. A typical dogwood is somewhat flat on top with several tiers of branches that stretch out horizontally. The tips of the twigs are turned up to the sunshine.

The dogwood's bark is gray with a segmented pattern. It looks as if it were made up of many small rounded or squarish tiles fitted together. The distinctive bark is a good clue of the tree's identity anytime, but especially so when the tree has no leaves.

The pattern and color of a tree's bark, the angle of the twigs, and the arrangement of branches may seem like insignificant details. However, when winter reduces a tree to its essence, the tree's framework is its prominent feature.

In January, it's a joy to see a graceful dogwood tree silhouetted against the winter sky.

In late autumn and early winter, this little tree was covered with red berries. They're all gone now -- eaten by birds and other wildlife. Dogwood berries are a great favorite of wild creatures.

And of course, the tree will put on new leaves next spring, followed immediately by its showy and distinctive blossoms.

I must add a few words of caution, though. In nature, the dogwood is an understory tree in the forest. For the dogwood to survive in an open, sunny setting, like my neighbor's pretty little tree in the photo above, it needs water during dry spells. He does have it planted in a well-drained spot -- that's good.

The dogwood doesn't like compacted soil. This tree seems to be doing all right along a ditch beside a rural blacktop road, but dogwoods aren't recommended if the ground has suffered a lot of heavy traffic. They also don't like heavily polluted air or constant bright light at night.

A large dogwood tree may be 40 to 50 feet tall and about as wide as it is tall. When choosing a planting site, it's important to allow plenty of room for the tree to widen as it grows.

Photo of the dogwood bark: W.D. Brush @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Redbud tree in autumn

Cercis canadensis

This nice little redbud tree grows in front of the Christian County Water District office in Hopkinsville, KY. The building shelters it a little from the weather, so that's probably why it still has so many of its leaves in the middle of November.

The white building provides a dramatic backdrop to the redbud when it blooms. Sometimes people plant redbuds against a background of evergreen trees to showcase the bright lavender blossoms. These strategies highlight the autumn color of the redbud as well as its spring blooms.

The golden yellow of this tree's leaves is the typical fall color of the species. If you could look up into this tree's branches, you'd probably see some of its seed pods. The redbud is a legume and it produces a "bean pod." The pods are brown, flat, and up to four inches long.

The branches of redbud trees are usually more sprawling and widespread than this. I suspect that this tree has been pruned or topped to keep it away from the electric wire at the upper left of the photo. Redbuds can grow up to 35 feet in height, so they're not a good tree to plant under power lines.

I suppose you could plant a redbud seed, but it's easier to transplant a little tree that has sprouted in the wild. Move them in spring or in autumn, keeping as much dirt as possible around the roots by using the ball and burlap technique.

Or buy a young tree from a nursery. Various cultivars are available. Some even have white or pink blooms rather than the lavender that is usually seen in the wild redbuds.

Related posts:
Native beauties: Redbud and dogwood
Eastern redbud: A tree I love

Flowering dogwood: Beautiful in all seasons

Cornus florida

Flowers of Cornus florida
Morguefile photo by ronnieb

The dogwood is one of our loveliest native trees. It is highly attractive in all seasons, due to its graceful shape, upturned branches, attractive leaves, beautiful blossoms, and red fall foliage accompanied by red berries.

Dogwood has the added virtue of being a great wildlife tree. If you want to plant a beautiful tree that will attract birds, you can hardly go wrong with a dogwood. Its berries are eaten by many species of birds (as well as by a number of animals.) My neighbor has commented to me that she wishes the beautiful red berries would last into the winter, but the birds usually remove all the berries in short order.

Dogwood is also strong enough to withstand some wind and ice without serious damage, so that's a big plus for the tree.

It can grow up to 40 or 50 feet in height, and it will be about as wide as it is tall. In other words, you should allow a 25 foot radius around the tree's trunk when you plant it.

Sadly, dogwoods have been decimated by disease for the last few decades. During the 1970's, they began contracting dogwood anthracnose, a fungal infection that kills adult trees within three years and kills young trees in a single season.

Anthracnose has been particularly hard on the wild dogwoods that grow in forest conditions -- shady, humid areas with little air movement where fungus can thrive.

Dogwoods can also get spot anthracnose which spoils the appearance of the flowers and leaves, even though it's not usually fatal to the tree. Powdery mildew can also be a problem.

One of the preventive measures for dogwood anthracnose is to plant the dogwood where it gets full sun and good air circulation. It's also important to keep the tree in good health to improve its resistance. Cornell University suggests providing water during dry spells, avoiding injury to the trunk, removing leaf debris from under the tree, and spraying with fungicides during the spring.

The University of Tennessee Dogwood Research Group (UTDRG) identifies several cultivars that resist the various dogwood diseases. If I were planting a dogwood, I'd look for one of these rather than digging up a dogwood from the woods.

UTDRG developed the dogwood-anthracnose resistant cultivar "Appalachian Spring" which was released in 1998. I like it because it's 100% native dogwood, not a cross with a Korean dogwood. Hopefully, they'll eventually get a cultivar that's resistant to both spot and dogwood anthracnose and powdery mildew as well.

Meanwhile, don't be afraid to plant a dogwood. Look at all the beautiful, healthy dogwoods that are growing in other people's yards! Chances are good that you'll be able to grow a beautiful healthy dogwood too.

Related:  Dogwood thoughts for Easter

Native beauties: Redbud and dogwood

Learning landscaping lessons from nature

I drove across part of northern Christian County by the backroads today. The dogwoods and redbuds are surely at their best right now.

Notice in the photo above how the dark evergreen background at right makes the blooms of the redbuds and dogwoods stand out clearly. This would be a nice effect when planting them around your home.

Eastern redbud: A tree I love

Cercis canadensis, a native ornamental tree

Redbuds and dogwood along the roadside,northern Christian County, KY

I love driving along the backroads of Christian County this time of year and seeing the redbuds and dogwoods in bloom. The dogwood above is just beginning to bloom. From my observation over the last 15 years, I would say that we have many wild redbuds and some dogwoods. The redbuds do well along the edges of woods because they like full sun or partial shade.

In the May 20, 1896, edition of Garden and Forest, Professor Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927) wrote, "The Redbuds, as usual, opened with the flowering Dogwoods, and it cannot be too often said what a fine forest border or background to a shrubbery these two trees make at this season." This is still true! They are especially beautiful against evergreens.

I ordered ten ornamental trees from Arbor Day about a dozen years ago. I don't remember all of the trees that were included, but the ones that survived were 3 redbuds and 2 Washington hawthornes. (All the trees were tiny bareroot sticks, and I didn't baby them much.)

I had read that redbuds were understory trees so I planted a couple of them under a big maple tree. I guess I was thinking I'd be able to see their blooms as I came and went through the kitchen door.

Truly it is a miracle that they survived at all in the dense shade of that big water-sucking maple. One of them has never yet bloomed. Both are growing very slowly and they're contorting themselves, growing sideways to the light. This little story falls under the category of really dumb tree mistakes.

I planted the third tree outside the maple's canopy where it gets good sunshine for at least half the day, and it's amazing how much better it has done than the other two. It began blooming several years ago, and it's at least twice as tall -- about 10 or 12 feet. It blooms nicely.

The seeds of the redbud aren't an important food for wildlife. In fact, Hightshoe classifies redbuds as having very low wildlife value. The tree is slow growing, and it's short lived (50 to 75 years.) It's also prone to weather damage, though it's not bothered much by insects or diseases.

Because it's a beautiful tree, I forgive it for having these faults. I love redbuds in spring with their lavender blossoms blooming close against dark, bare branches. I love their heart-shaped leaves in summer. I love their yellow leaves in autumn. And even in winter, the tree is a pleasant sight, usually with several trunks and branches clustered at the top of each.

Redbud flowers

A good blog article about Eastern redbud: "Texas Redbuds"