Spring's loveliest trees
I took a long walk this afternoon and was bowled over by the beauty of the 鈥� from and several kinds of ornamental cherries to pink and white dogwoods and the charming old-fashioned flowers of crab apples.
They were almost always accompanied by underplantings of . So often the trees were massed in rows or groupings, which definitely multiplies their impact when they鈥檙e covered with blooms, as they are now.
It was a highlight of spring for me. Never mind that it was so cold and windy that I was sorry I hadn鈥檛 worn wool gloves. That鈥檚 Boston.
I鈥檓 not sure why I see few here. (I live in the city; maybe there are more of them in the suburbs.) They鈥檙e among my favorite flowering trees. I plant them wherever I live and find them carefree.
I鈥檝e grown Forest Pansy, which has purplish leaves and has to be protected somewhat from the sun. (It鈥檚 hardy only to Zone 6.) It鈥檚 an attractive curiosity. But mostly I鈥檝e planted unnamed redbuds that nurseries generally have priced reasonably, and all have shone.
One nice thing about living in a cold climate is that in mid-May I still am able to look forward to the bloom of Cornus kousa or . In many places around the US, these aren鈥檛 planted nearly enough. They鈥檙e a good choice for extending spring鈥檚 season of bloom several weeks beyond the flowering dogwood.
The flowers are larger than on common flowering dogwood, and you鈥檒l either like the way they鈥檙e arranged on the tree or not. (I do.) But you may want to try planting a kousa dogwood where you can look down on it from above. One cultivar that blooms a long, long time is called Summer Stars.
Somehow, in fall, when we think ahead to spring, we gardeners tend to concentrate on daffodils, tulips, crocus, and other bulbs. And I can鈥檛 imagine spring without them.
But flowering trees are a longer-lasting contribution to the season. And they fit nicely with my no-fuss gardening philosophy: You plant a tree once and it blooms every year from then on without any effort (or very little) from you.
That鈥檚 a good long-term investment.
