Roll Gardening & Green
Trees: Why not plant one this Spring?
by Luanne Panarotti
A Flowery Display
With so many species in the genus, there is a dogwood perfect for just about any landscape. All offer a flowery spring display, colorful fruit beloved by birds and splendid fall hues. Cornus florida, the native flowering dogwood, has creamy white blooms that float along slender, graceful boughs. The bright yellow flowers of Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry) line its bare branches in March, a welcome relief from the dull palette of winter.
Delights for all the senses
Trees offer more than just visual delight, with traits that engage all the senses. Are you a more tactile person? Then choose a tree with touchable bark, such as Striped maple, Acer pennsylvanicum, with white vertical fissures against a greenish background, or Parrotia persica (Persian Parrotia), with textural “camo” bark that exfoliates to reveal shades of cream, green gray and brown. If it’s music that soothes your soul, consider the Quaking Aspen, Populus tremuloides. Its leaves balance delicately on flat petioles, trembling with the slightest breeze to create a soft, fluttery rustle. Or how about some backyard aromatherapy? The pristine white flowers of Styrax obassia (Fragrant Snowbell) fill the spring air with a heady perfume, while the senescing leaves of the Katsura, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, give off a delectable aroma reminiscent of cooked sugar.
Fruitful Planting
Hungry now? The lovely native Serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.) offer plentiful airy white flowers followed by edible fruit; the purple-black berries are reminiscent of Highbush Blueberries, and are excellent in jams and pies (if you can beat the birds to them!)...
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