Evening star., 1961-03-17
BLOOM AND COLOR
Towering T rees
For Sn1oII Yards
By w. H. (BILL) YOUNGMAN
Star Garden Editor

By W. H. CBILL) YOUNGMAN =,
Star Garden Editor
Washington is particularly |
fortunate in having the choice
of a large number Of the smaller
Towering trees to decorate
and enhance the yards. In
addition to the familiar dog
wood, Towering cherry, crab
apple, peach. and magnolia
there are at least a dozen which
can be expected to fill some |
particular need, or perhaps to
extend the Towering season.
The main problem is space and
so the following list is not Sug-
gested as a compilation of the
things which should be planted
but rather one from which Sc
lections may be made to fill a
given need.
The following are listed in
the approximate order of bloom
but this will depend upon the
season. In 1860 for example
many of the early-flowering
kinds we're retarded by an un-
favorable March and in April
the several days of 90-plus tenn
peratures brought them along
with many Of the later-floWer-
ing ones so that all bloomed
at once.
The Cornelia cherry, Cornus
mas, yellow flowers in March
or April. Is a small tree to 20
feet, but may be kept as a
bush.
The shadbush, Amelanchier
canadensis, white flowers in
April, a small tree to 20 feet.
Both the shadbush and the
Cornelia cherry will thrive in
light shade or full sun.
Magnolia steallata, the star
magnolia is another April
bloomer, the strap-leaved flow
er petals are not frost hardy
and are frequently nipped by
late frosts. A small tree to
Is feet.
The Kobus magnolia, flowers
a bit later and is also a larger
grower. The AniSe magnolia
(M. salicifolia) also flowers at
about the same season and is
a much stronger grower-to 80
feet.
OF the well known fruit trees,
the pears and plums are usually
the earliest to flower followed
by the apricots (they usually
get caught by a late frost and
so do not fruit, then the cher
ries, apples and peaches-some
varieties flower before the ap-
pies. About this time the en-
press tree (Paulownia tomen-
tosa) puts on its snowy display
of violet colored flowers. 1t
is a medium sized tree, to As
feet. 1t could be considered a
shade tree. A very fast grow
ing tree.
The KWanZan cherry follows
the single whites that grace the
Tidal Basin, but precede the
weeping cherry in many situa-
tions. Occasionally. the re-
verse is true within a block OF
two of one another. The Kwan-
zan is a small tree, with more
or less upright growth habit
The weeping cherry-Sargent is
a large grower and may attain
rs feet under very favorable
conditions.
Magnolia Virginiana is otter
mistaken for the Southern
Magnolia, but is less often in
jured by frosts, moreover, it,
blossoms are much smaller anC
being a small tree is better
adapted to the smaller yarC
than its big cousin.
The Towering crabappleS fol
low the magnolia in general
although the magnolia has
long season of bloom. Their
are many kinds of the crab
with varying growth habits
some only 6 to 8 feet, others 2
to 80 feet in height. There ar
single flowered as well a
doubled flowered blossoms an,
the colors vary from white t
deep rose pink. The fruits ar
equally varied.
The redbud (Cercis canaden
sis) is a native that used to b
considered very desirable for 1t
floral display. However, diseas
renders it rather short-live
and many prefer the Chimes
species, a tall growing Shru
which is immune. They flowe
early in the season and max
an excellent companion for tn
dogwoods.
The Towering dogwoods al
too well known for commen
although few plant the Kousi
a late-flowering species whic
blossoms after the leaves az
pear. The Chinese form of tt
Kousa is preferred by many
the Japanese. The flowers al
very similar to the native e2
cept they do not have tt
notches at the ends of tt
petals.
The red buckeye (Aescull