Thats a tough order to fill - have you considered a silk tree? hah...I would suggest posting this in the tree forum as well. I do have some suggestions, however I cannot personally think of anything that fits every single point on your list of requirements...

Acer griseum - Paperbark Maple. Fits your size requirement and usually are vase-shaped. They are however quite slow-growing, lack any attractive/fragrant spring blooms, and depending on your soil and exact site might require some additional irrigation (at least for the first few seasons. Fall color in them is outstanding, as is the bark. Honestly a decent specimen of this tree is beautiful, a nice specimen is a show-stopper.

Chionanthus retusus and C. virgincus - Fringetrees. I am incredibly fond of these trees and I think they (esp. C. retusus) are very underutilized. They fit your size requirements, have nice spring flowers and late summer fruit. They might require some pruning in youth to develop good, strong forms, but are at their best with and typically have multi-stemmed trunks. Flowers are lightly fragrant and not overwhelming and they bloom later than many other spring blooming trees. Grow best in full sun and has nice clean Magnolia-like foliage. They do have nice bark when mature an are very adaptable as to sites (I have grown mine in horribly compacted alkaline clay in SW Ohio with no additional irrigation even in its first year and it still looked amazing!) I really love these trees...

Cornus kousa - Korean Dogwood. In my opinion much more adaptable than C. florida, also is more resistant to Dogwood Anthracnose which is affecting many native dogwoods (this does however vary by cultivar). I have seen beautiful specimens near my campus at Ohio State growing next in between an apartment and a road where there was no additional irrigation/fertilization etc. They have beautiful bark, nice clean foliage, very nice spring flowers, nice fall color and beautiful fruits in the fall. I don't recall ever seeing specimens more than 25'x25', and they develop a very nice multi-stemmed vase shape.

I just realized how much time I'm taking on this already..so I'll speed up..I'd recommend going to the University of Florida website (just type in UFL and the tree species, you'll get a nice PDF file on it)

Cercis canadensis - Redbud. Nice spring flowers, clean summer foliage, attractive bark, usually vase-shaped. Tolerates full sun. When I moved to Nebraska this year I was surprised to see this tree (that I am used to seeing in my nice eastern deciduous forests) being utilized rather heavily in the Great Plains. I have seen some beautiful specimens of this tree out here used in courtyards, despite our very weird spring/summer/fall.

Amelanchier xgrandiflora - Apple Serviceberry. Fits your size requirements, rather attractive bark, beautiful fall color, spring flowers, early summer fruit, relatively vase-shaped.

Crataegus - Hawthorn. Nice vase-shaped, rather urban tolerant. Spring flowers and nice fall fruit, however the objectionable smell of the flowers and thorns make this unsuitable as an entry-way tree in my opinion.

Styrax obassia or S. japonicus 'Emerald Pagoda' - spring flowers, attractive bark, fits the size requirements, vase-shaped. Rather underutilized.

Wow....that was a lot longer than I had planned...Anyways, hope one of these trees suits you...again I highly recommend looking at the UFL website or UConn

~Mike

Not sure that they would fully satisfy your request, but you might have a look at :
- cotinus obovatus
- quercus turneri ssp. pseudoturneri
Zephirine

I faced a similar decision this past Spring. I was looking for a showy Native large shrub/small tree for a prominent location at the corner of the driveway and front walk. It is part of a mixed border with perennials all around.

I decided on a Serviceberry - Amelanchier lamarkii. Native, lovely spring blooms, delicious berries for people and birds, grows taller than wide, supposedly well-behaved roots that get along with perennials, and the attractive leaves are small and cast light shade. Supposed to have good fall color but mine didn't display that this year. I also planted an Amelanchier canadensis in another part of the border this fall.

I think Cornus florida is beautiful but worried about this location being a little on the dry side. Cornus kousa is also an excellent choice, but I already have one on the other side of the yard and I wanted something native here.

Here is a link to a thread I started on the Native plants forum, with many good suggestions for an ornamental tree or shrub.

Here is a link that might be useful: Looking for ornamental Native shrub/small tree

There are thornless selections of hawthorn that you could find. But they do all have a rather malodorous smell in bloom, but its worth overlooking IMHO

Thanks all for your suggestions. I actually got a rather large response on the tree forum as well. I am leaning towards the cercis (I had been thinking about cercis, parrotia and acer) although it doesn't have fragrant flowers that I'm aware of. It would, however, echo a rhodie that I have in close proximity well and it is just such a beautiful sight in bloom. As long as the flowers aren't malodiferous, since this tree will provide shade for a seating area within the court yard. I had considered styrax obassia but as far as I understand it is hard to keep deer away from them (that was another requirement!).

Marianne

Funny, almost all the above mentioned trees get very wide and are certainly not vase shaped. You certainly couldn't walk in close proximity to a C. kousa or florida, a Parrotia, a Cercis canadensis or a Chionanthus. They're all great trees, but they don't meet your needs as stated.

I'm going to suggest a truly vase shaped tree that you can walk under in close proximity, interesting peeling bark, fast growing, about 20 feet tall. No fall color however, and the bloom, which is fragrant, comes in late summer. It's followed by a long, long show of red calyxes. Heptacodium miconioides--Seven Son Flower. Drought and pest resistant and will grow just about anywhere.

I hope the original poster of this query takes the previous response with a grain of salt, as it is not accurate and I still stand firmly by my original suggestions.

I am not sure where her information was taken from, but with some proper pruning C. kousa, Cercis, and Chionanthus all develop a very nice vase-shaped habit, and in fact look their best in such a form.

Also, the information about them getting too wide baffles me; as a undergraduate at The Ohio State University (which was founded as an agricultural school and is known for having an excellent program in horticulture) working towards a degree in horticulture and urban forestry and shadowing under some great professors in horticulture I had the pleasure of viewing many long-term established specimens of all the above mentioned trees that I suggested. Now while in the wild they may ultimately get larger, I can say with confidence and certainty that only in relatively rare cases do the aforementioned species get wider than 20-25 feet in most suburban/urban landscape conditions.

I am also curious how someone "certainly couldn't walk in close proximity to C. kousa, Cercis, or Chionanthus" as I have done it many times myself at many arboretums, college campuses, and landscapes (seeing as how there are two C. kousa in front of the main library, each about 20' x 20' with an excellent, multi-stemmed vase shape that hundreds of people walked alongside each day). The same goes for Cercis and older Chionanthus...If the trees begin to get wider or you want a stronger vase-shape, then you can selectively prune your tree (which you should expect to have to do with any almost tree in such close proximity to a house).

Also, I must say that I couldn't help but be rather amused at the laceyvails response, for one because I found it rather unnecessarily condescending, but for two because the information in it is not accurate and seems to try and negate the knowledge and experience that I've acquired (i.e. maybe I've never seen vase-shaped Cornus kousa, Cercis canadensis, Acer griseum, or Chionanthus that I walked beneath hundreds of times while on my way to the main library or somewhere else on campus in my five years at Ohio State).

Anyways, my best advice to you is to thoroughly research the trees listed (again, I highly recommend UFL and UConn websites). Also, an invaluable book is Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs manual. This was a textbook that we used for several classes and the manual from which I double-checked my tree sizes and recommendations; although perhaps laceyvail might prefer to write her own manual, as she certainly seems to have more experience and knowledge than Michael Dirr...

Hope that helps!
~Mike

Cercis canadensis is a beautiful tree but of all the species listed above, I think it has one of the stronger tendencies to be multi-trunked and spreading in habit. I have two small Redbuds that are about 3 years old and haven't been planted out yet. They almost look like a multi-stemmed shrubs to me and don't have a central leader at all. Is that normal? (I've started doing a little pruning on the lower branches).

Judicious pruning can make a huge difference in the ultimate shape of a tree even those that have a tendency to spread.

For example, my son received a Cornus kousa seedling in June 03 at the end of the school year. It was just a little bareroot 12 inch seedling. I put it into a pot, it moved here with us, and has been transplanted twice since then.

Cornus kousa has a tendency to grow in a multi-trunked habit too, but I wanted a single trunk with higher branches, so for about 4 years I have ever so carefully pruned it into a single trunk habit. I have never taken off more than about 10% of the wood each year and plan to remove yet more of the lower branches.

This is what the little beauty looked like this Spring. It is now 6 years old and 8 feet tall.
{{gwi:280841}}

Terrene-
Beautiful little tree you have there, and only a little over 4 years old - nice! Thanks for showing us what some good pruning practices will do.

~Mike

Thanks Mike, actually the tree is 6 years old. And I forgot to say, that this past Spring was the first time it bloomed! So it must be happy! That was really exciting and why I took the pic.

Sorry, son got the seedling in June 02! Now I see why you thought it was only a little over 4 years old. It was 1 year old in Spring 02.

IMO, the redbud certainly is the prettiest tree on your list. But one thing to take into account, since it's going to be in a sitting area, is that it does have these pod-like things that hang on the tree and then drop. Pain in the butt. But the beauty of the tree in bloom makes it excusable. I've also heard that the bees like the flowers, but that hasn't really been my experience too much.

Mike, your obnoxious response to my very unoffensive post was totally unnecessary. I spoke from my experience too.

So after much back and forth it really came down to Cercis and Amelanchier. I think I have chosen Cercis because a) it is not on the favourite list of tent catepillars and b) it's growth rate is faster. It was hard, though, since neither of the trees have fragrant blooms (so no edge there) but I do prefer the fall colour of Amelanchier. If I find a large enough plant at my local nursery, I might still go for the Amelanchier...

Thanks everyone for your help and thanks, Mike, for that very useful site at the University of Florida. I knew about the UConn one already and it is also great (at least for an idea of how a certain tree of shrub actually looks at different times of year) but the UF one is more comprehensive in terms of information about the plants.

Marianne

Hey Marianne-
Sounds like you've narrowed it down to two very good trees! I don't think that you'll be disappointed with either one. You're right about the fall color of Amelanchier - gooorgeous. The one other thing are those darn tasty berries in June (hence the another common name "Juneberry")...Granted you can eat the flowers of Cercis as well (and they make a nice snack when you're out doing fieldwork in the spring!).

No problem with the UFL website - when I was given that as a resource a few years ago it was just thought it was too good too be true...its a GREAT resource.

Take care and good luck!
~Mike

I love Cercis, but my first thought when reading this was Magnolia Stellata. A mature Star Magnolia is really a beautiful sight. I also thought of Heptacodium, and also to toss the Witchhazels into the ring. The Cleveland Botanical Garden has a pair of mature Hamamelis flanking a path that are definitely vase shaped and just beautiful trees. The trunks and branches are curving and very interesting, leaves are unusual and eye catching and I personally get a real lift out of having a floral display in January and Feb. Plus the leaves are very colorful in full sun. I am not sure how fast they grow compared to Cercis.

I planted Jelena 2 years ago and it is distinctly vase shaped of its own accord but I am just crazy about those copper-red flowers in the snow.

Other possibilities might be one of the smaller multistemmed birch trees or Halesia - depending on how close you are to truly full sun and the style of your home.

Funny, just as I pressed the send button, I thought of Halesia, but they do in general get a little too tall for the space, I think. I have an early farm house (about 300 years old) and I will try to post a picture of the space where the tree will go. I think M. stellata could work, but I'm not sure about the root issue. Maybe stellata is different, but at my old house I had a Magnolia which really crowded the soil with roots. In the end I think it comes down to how big a tree I can afford and the growth rate (+ fall colour since all of the trees herein mentioned have great spring blooms).

Mike, I have heard about the delicious fruit of Amelanchier, but never tasted it and I didn't know that you could eat the flowers of Cercis. So much the better, since one of my daughters is a toddler!

Marianne

Hey Marianne -
Yeah, I was thinking earlier of both Halesia and M. stellata (I honestly love both of those) but you're right - Halesia tends to get a bit too tall, and in most of my experiences with it it just tends to be a "leggy" tree...they look amazing at the edge of a woodland, but I don't think I'd ever use one as a specimen for an entryway...definitely a great tree though. The M. stellata are nice trees, but living in Ohio and experiencing late frosts, I have seen more years where most M. stellata in the area lost their flowers due to a late freeze...very frustrating.

Those Amelanchier berries are really tasty - make it a point to find some to eat next June!

take care,
~Mike