Tree Varieties You’ll Love

We have Joyce Kilmer to thank for her poem ‘Trees’ that starts with the famous line:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

In nature and in the garden it’s the trees that get most of the attention. Cambridge Dictionary defines the Wow Factor as a quality or feature…that makes people feel great excitement or admiration. Majestic and dramatic, no matter the size, a tree makes a garden or landscape speak that it’s here to stay.

Brahea armata – Mexican Blue Palm

Recently I had the pleasure to spend some time in a historic garden that dates back to the 1800’s. Last year this garden was featured on the Garden Conservancy Santa Cruz Open Days. The Conservancy’s mission is saving and sharing outstanding American gardens so I was thrilled to tour this garden, be introduced to several new tree varieties plus see some old favorites that might just work in your garden also.

Many of the hundreds of tall bearded iris were still blooming in the garden as well as early flowering perennials and shrubs. I didn’t see any dragonflies flitting about on this particular day but the stunning ornamental gate and mosaic created on one of the garden paths both feature dragonflies and I’m pretty sure they are regular visitors. The garden is called Odonata which is the order of carnivorous insects encompassing dragonflies and damselflies.

An unusual flowering dogwood from Mexico. Cornus florida ‘Pringle’

One of the most unusual flowering trees in Odonata was the Mexican flowering dogwood. This small ornamental tree, a cornus florida subspecies called ‘Pringle’ had the most unusual flowers. Their white bracts don’t fully open giving them a Chinese lantern look. This tree holds its foliage later than the more familiar Eastern dogwood and has reddish fall color. Glossy red fruit that forms later in the season is readily eaten by birds. This tree is showy and best used where the flowers can be appreciated.

Wedding Cake Tree or Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’

Another dogwood variety growing nearby was also new to me. Cornus controversa ‘Veriegata’ (Wedding Cake Tree) is graceful and spectacular with beautifully layered horizontal branches. Winner of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society the tree was covered with showy creamy white flowers in flattened clusters. Later the blossoms will give way to black berries in late summer that is, if the birds don’t get them first. Fall color is a lovely yellow color.

Golden Chain Tree aka Laburnum x watereri ‘Vossii’

Also in bloom, a laburnum x watereri ‘Vossii’ (Golden Chain Tree) looked spectacular with long, drooping clusters of lightly fragrant, bright yellow flowers. This handsome tree has a beautiful spreading canopy of bluish-green foliage and is a great choice as a single specimen or even in a group planting.

Honorable mention awards would have to be shared between the red form of Henry Lauder Walking Stick ‘Red Dragon’ and the white Flat Rock leptospermum. Well maybe the cryptomeria japonica ‘Dacrydioides’ (Whip Cord Japanese Cedar) or the pinus wallichiana “Zebrina’ (Striped Himalayan Pine) would also place.

Pittosporum ‘Silver Magic’

There were so many other note-worthy specimens in this garden. From showy shrubs like pittosporum ‘Silver Magic’ to large palm specimens such as Mexican Blue Palm and a giant bromeliad variety called a puya this garden is a landscape designer’s candy store. I even enjoyed the more common plants like lomandra ‘Platinum Beauty’, variegated fortnight lily, a huge heuchera ‘a la Rochette’ blooming alongside a brilliant blue native pentstemon as well as gold flowering Moonshine yarrow.

It was an afternoon to remember between rain storms.