edlincoln -- Oh, I mean I guess anything is feasible if you have enough money... but in this case I really want a tree to "mark" the corner of the property, as it slopes down. (Having height there helps improve the look of a sloped front yard, at least according to most landscape gardening theory I've been in contact with.) So moving this tree just to potentially get it to flower seems like a waste of money. Those of you who think this is a "too much shade" issue -- doesn't it make a difference that the tree to the south of this one is a (late leafing) river birch? Shouldn't that mean the fringe tree is getting enough sun in the spring?

I haven’t visited these forums in some time and actually rediscovered this thread doing a google search on some rare plants (go figure). Since we have a lot of trees and not a lot of resources and time to protect them, most of my losses are due to deer/rodent herbivory. Instead of dwelling on all of the plants I haven’t been able to keep alive, I’ll mention the highlights and surprises here. I went go in depth on too many so ask if you want more details and I’ll try to keep an eye on this thread and respond back when I can. I have been in Arizona since May and I’m basing the updates from this past growing season on my mother’s observations. -Strongest growing maple is Acer lobelii by far; arrived as a stick broken in half during shipping en route from Colvos Creek Nursery in Washington state and has grown at least 3 feet a year. It towers over all of the other sticks in my maple collection at about 15 feet. -Acer davidii grosseri hersii (what a taxonomic mess!) is the strongest growing snakebark and a new addition since the original post I believe. I don’t give it any “help” nutrition-wise and it has grown 2 feet each year; excellent striped bark turns crimson with the onset of cold weather and the leaves are a mix of red, orange, and purple in the autumn. From Forestfarm and while they are awesome, I have not yet keyed this plant to confirm its identity; either way, doing awesome for a snakebark in a clay-dominated alkaline soil in an exposed area. -Acer rufinerve gets no fertilization either and has some years where it sits back and grows little, and other where it takes off. Apparently this year it grew over 2’, so it now stands about 8’. Bark is excellent, although it doesn’t change to crimson like some of the other snakebarks. Can occasionally develop minor signs of nutrient deficiency but not a big deal. Leaves are amazing both texturally (coarse) and by color in the autumn, a mix of red, orange and violet. -Acer henryi looks like a Boxelder and grows like one in upstate NY. After a rough time establishing and a nasty bout of sunscald, it now grows about 2’ a year and has excellent red and violet autumn colors, with violet usually dominating. -Acer longipes is notable because I was able to get one through a winter (low -13F) with the only damage due to herbivory. Supposedly sprouted up big time this past summer. Not many experts seem to place much faith in its hardiness and it may have been below the snowline at the time of the low temp. Time will tell. -Acer mandshuricum, Acer triflorum, and Acer maximowiczianum all suffer through chlorosis. A. triflorum does the worst, A. maximowiczianum the best. A hybrid from Forestfarm between A. pseudoplatanus and A. griseum has done very well, with violet-backed leaves and red fall color. Hybrid vigor and no cold or soil issues. -Acer oliverianum is starting to pick up steam and has yet to be damaged by temps as low as -16F. Might be benefiting from the protection of a nearby hedge. Fall color is usually reddish-orange; it is deeply shaded. -Calycanthus raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ is a huge success. Massive flowering in the second year and completely hardy. Grows very fast and gets leggy unless trimmed. Flowers are gorgeous and large, with virtually no scent. Numerous visitors that have seen the plants have subsequently scoured google for a dealer. The intense color has even drawn some hummingbirds. Seedless. Highly recommend. -Magnolia grandiflora ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ gets defoliated by about January when the truly consistent cold temperatures begin. This about the time that the soil freezes for good as well, limiting the plant’s ability to care for the leaves no doubt. At times, it looks like a fancy houseplant with shiny green leaves growing amongst the snow. No cold-dieback although it is not yet established and grows only about 6 inches a year max so far (haven’t got an update for this past season yet). It is late to leaf out in the spring. -Have a Stewartia malacodendron that apparently did very well in a shaded and very rich sand lens in a protected area that gets partial shade. It is big enough to be above the (likely) snow line and I will be very, VERY interested in seeing if it overwinters. Perhaps more updates later (and as I receive them!)

Maackia and Firmiana are neat options but there was nothing that exotic at the nursery today, possibly a good thing for my pocketbook. Their Styraxes, both white and pink, were in full bloom with a couple of bees present as if to market them, but their foliage, like that of Halesia, doesn't really speak to me, so I resisted. I have a Styrax obassia in any case, but too small to bloom just yet, so I hope that will prove as attractive to bees in flower as it is to me in leaf. I came home from the sale with just one tree, a Tilia cordata 'Corinthian." In the end the Nyssa foliage didn't do it for me either - and somehow I have always wanted to grow a Tilia - must have read something about Lindens at some point. This cultivar seems to be a realistic choice for the size of my yard. I still have to leave room for the Oxydendrum, which I am determined to get one day! I hope others find this thread as useful as I have, for the sake of bees everywhere! Karin L

The rain this weekend has relieved the drought (the official word from the National Weather Service is found at: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/expert_assessment/seasonal_drought.html) so I think you can plant your tree between now and the ned of October (and maybe even surround it with water lilies). Now, more on the side issue I am still wondering about, the identity of the "messy" tree mentioned earlier. First, the information I posted earlier concerning the fruit of the Eastern Cottonwood tree, Populus deltoides may have been misleading. The true picture of the fruit is as follows: a mass of white cottony material, with tiny brown seeds embedded within the white cottony material, and without any covering, shell, or husk over the cottony material. The individual seeds with their cottony "parachutes" eventually separate from the seed mass and disperse, producing the phenomenon of "cottonwood snow" which anyone who has lived near a mature, seed-producing tree will not forget. (I still remember the blankets of "cottonwood snow" produced by one tree near my grandmother's house.) The following pictures of Populus deltoides should be helpful: Populus deltoides: fruit http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/popde50 Populus deltoides: leaves (note the species name "deltoides" originates from the spade-like or "deltoid" leaf shape) http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/popde10 Populus deltoides: whole tree, growth habit (vase-shaped to rounded, fast-growing to 75-100 feet tall, with coarse (open) branching) http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/popde00 Populus deltoides: bark (medium gray, deeply ridged and furrowed) http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/popde70 At any rate, I don't think the fruit of the "messy" tree mentioned earlier in this thread ("As for the infamous fluffy pods, they are brown and round, and when you crush one they disintegrate into a handful of feathery fibers") is anything like cottowood. Could you describe any other distinctive features of this tree (leaf shape and size, flowers, bark, etc.)?