Suggestions for small tree

I am making plans for a new bed this year in our south facing yard. This will be in full sun from sun up to sundown and temps can get as high as 100° in summer and as cold as 5° in winter. I would like something smallish but not a dwarf. 20' would probably be best and can be as wide. I would like suggestions for something a little different but not expensive. We have maples, redbuds, aspens and pines on the block, so not those. Also, no crabapples or anything that would be messy or that would send up suckers or reseed much. Fallen leaves and flowers are okay.

Any suggestions are welcome...deciduous, evergreen, flowering or non flowering. I have been looking at weeping cherries, magnolias, birch...but nothing is jumping out saying "Me! Me! Me!" I have average garden soil over clay and can amend as needed. Any other info you need, let me know.

Thanks!

Sounds like one of the many Lagerstroemia selections might do the trick.

I love the bark on #5. I'll check into those. Thanks, VV.

Several of the Kousa dogwoods, especially the deep reds.
several of the new Halesias, Redbud Rising Sun

Cornus kousa would be great. I believe I would need more shade than I get. This blistering sun fries everything but the hardiest.

Halesia is interesting and I looked up the Redbud mentioned. That might be promising.

Any other suggestions?

Off the top of my head...
How about one of the dwarf deodar cedars?
Weeping katsura
Pseudocydonia sinensis - beautiful bark
I know you said you had maples, but how about acer triflorum or acer tegmentosum 'Joe Witt' - both with beautiful bark.
Parrotia persica.
Carpinus koreana.
I'm sure there are others, just a few I think are worth checking out.

I will check out those suggestions. Thanks, everyone. A deodor would be great. I love the form on them. How dwarf are we talking and do you know cultivars?

Looking up the others now...

Okay...now I'm drooling. I have a tough decision.

If you can find an acer griseum (paperbark maple) that would be the bomb.

Here are a paperbark maple and a cornus alternafolia together on May 25. pic 1

One month later, in June. Pic 2

Here is the fruit on the cornus, in July Pic 3

And the acer has great color in fall Pic 4.

I just installed a paperbark maple in my new yard. I'm trying to find a spot for the pagoda dogwood. I know that they are not considered sexy, but I adored mine.

Sorry I've been so busy. These are all great. However, I have discovered crepe myrtles don't do well here. I saw on a few Utah forums that our soil is too alkaline. Sigh...

Maples are all over our street. I am constantly pulling seedlings.

Weerobin, or anyone, do you know if the trees mentioned do okay here? I have to get my meter out. I don't remember what it is. I will check tomorrow.

Sorry, my Utah knowledge ends with Zion/Bryce/Canyonlands/Arches/Escalante, etc.
And I've surely never seen any of the trees mentioned above in those parts...

I like the Parrotia suggestion, but A. tegmentosum and triflorum might struggle in a hot, full-sun site. How about something Syringa? Selections have been made of S. pekinensis that have glossy exfoliating bark, with 'Copper Curls' coming to mind. They're not very demanding, but I'm not sure how tolerant they are of alkaline soils.

I've killed a bunch of A tegmentosum by putting them in too much sun, especially winter sun.

I like that one, too. After looking at a few sites, it seems they can stand some alkalinity. Yay!

My ph meter says 7.0, so it's average. Two sites said they do okay in clay. I'm hoping that's correct.

Oh dear. I took too long posting. Utah is definitely harsher than Maine. Shoot...back to the drawing board.

I've got 6.8-7.2 soil pH, with quite a few happy 15-20' tall 'Sarah's Favorite' and other Lagerstroemia selections. There are Crapemyrtle growing all over central KY's limestone-based calcareous soils. I think whomever offered the opinion that your soils are wrong (too high pH) is off-base. If you said 8.0 or higher, that would likely be problematic.

Another very drought-tolerant species would be Cotinus obovatus - again, very happy on limestone soils.

Good to hear! Cyberly speaking, of course. Back to looking for the right one. I found what, I think, are 2 nice Crepe Myrtles while looking online for something else here in town. I'm thinking of going to the place where they were growing and speaking to the owner.

Any suggestions for a cultivar? I'm wanting to get 2, one for each side of the house. I have an ornamental cherry that is struggling and I want to put it out of its misery. My DH really likes the idea of CMs. We've been quite taken by the multicolored bark.

I don't know what holds true for Utah, but 'round these parts where it gets a tad humid - disease resistance is the primary factor. Lots and lots of Native American tribal named selections (produced by my hero, the late Dr. Donald Egolf of US National Arboretum), none of which would be unfortunate to grow. In your generally xeric conditions, you may never have any foliar diseases to worry about.

So: color choice is your decision. From pure white through light pink, medium pink, deep pink, red, crimson, lavender, leaning into purple - you decide. I'd suggest a browse through PlantFiles and maybe a grower or two (Byers Nursery, Alabama is one of the longest term and finest growers of the genus) to start to narrow your choices, and then come back here with your Top Ten, or Final Four.

Then we can laugh at you, and say "why didn't you pick so-and-so"...

Please tell me you're going to point at me while you laugh. I do much better under pressure.

I'm pointing at you NOW...

Okay, good. Lol

Is Byer's now Bennett's? I couldn't find a listing of plants.

Top contenders so far...Apalachee, Conestoga, Lipan, Yuma, Catawba and Powhatan.

Let the laughing commence.

This message was edited Mar 28, 2014 8:30 PM