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okiedawn1

What trees are blooming/leafing out where you live?

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
19 years ago

I know I'm at the southermost tip of Oklahoma, so maybe the trees here are earlier than the trees where y'all are. I'm curious, though, about what trees are in bloom or even leafing out where all of you live?

On our property, we have:

one hybrid plum in full bloom

a "Jane" magnolia with four flowers open and dozens more in various stages

something in our woods---maybe elms---is putting out leaves

ALL my fruit trees are budding and threatening to bloom.

Near us, in the area covering the Red River to Ardmore, I have seen:

some woodland trees leafing out--they look like elms also

a HUGE Mexican Plum in Thackerville flowering for a couple of days now (and my much smaller one is about to flower)

Chickasaw plums which grow along the fencelines of pastures here are just starting to bloom

And I've seen willows starting to leaf out.

BTW, while in Fort Worth on Thursday I noticed that many trees are leafing out. This includes pecan trees and some mesquites, which are usually quite late to leaf out. Guess they are confused. Usually our trees leaf out about two weeks after Fort Worth's, which is 80 miles south of us, but this year they are leafing out more or less together.

What have y'all seen?

Comments (48)

  • owiebrain
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've had my head buried in the dirt lately so haven't spent much time looking up. I did notice, though, that our Japanese Maple was budding out about a month ago--then it got cold again. Last week, I noticed more buds and they were still doing their thing today. Oh, I also saw what I think were redbud trees (??) starting to wake up when we were out driving today.

    Other than the one Japanese Maple, our land has mostly pine, post oak, hickory, and a few cedar. There's a mulberry or two of some sort further back on the property but I haven't seen them lately.

    I need to get a bunch of fruit trees going!

  • OKC1
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I noticed today, here in my little OKC yard, that my ornamental peach is covered in swollen buds. This happened in the space of a week! A
    Clematis is also leafing out already.
    Crab apple isn't ready yet, though.
    The roses all have leaves and the Carolina jessamine is nicely budding up and some have opened.
    The forsythia is starting to bloom as well.
    The elms haven't begun, however, nor have the other trees.
    Daylilies are up about three inches as well.
    Haven't checked the redbud, but it is surely about ready to bloom.
    Hate to think the freeze forcasted for this week will get them all.

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  • Boomer _Lady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bradford Pear & Redbud both have buds on them but no blooms yet.
    Some of the maples are just starting to leaf out.
    The locust trees haven't started yet.
    Clematis has lots of new growth. So do the roses.

    Inside the garage the plumbago is leafing out. Some clematis I never got around to planting last year are actually blooming in the garage. Not good! It was my first time overwintering them in the garage & I should have put them in a dark corner instead of in front of the west window.

  • OKC1
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Or, you can pinch the flower buds on the clematis and let them get some top folliage.

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My peach trees have very swollen buds and look as if they will open any day. I have been talking to them and scolding them to prevent them from doing so before this.
    My mature apricot tree has started its swelling as well. The buds on the bradford pears look like they will open soon.
    Roses are leafing out. :-( Still need to prune them.
    My crocuses are blooming like crazy and look lovely. Daffs are just starting to bloom.
    Hellabores look great.

    What are Mexican and Chickasaw plums?
    ~Heidi

  • katrina1
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In the 6b areas of OK right now a few of the cherry varieties are blooming, along with the crocus plants, and a few buds on the redbud trees are loosing their hard covering and beginnig to swell. Some of the rose bushes have begun leafing out leaf buds of new growth and other early flowering tree varieties' buds seem to be on the verge of exploding in bloom. Yet, spring still has a ways to go before fully arriving and gracing us with it's completed symphony of bloom.

    Today, even though the surface temperature has recovered to the low 40s after a period of about 5 hours of freezing or below temps, there is abundant snow falling down from upper-level himid and cold currents pushing through and above our warmer, drier, lower surface air. I think that God might be gracing the vegetation with a gift of naturally occuring nitrogen wraped up in the falling snow crystals that melt once they hit the ground. The sight is quite beautiful.

    Clearly you describe a much more advanced green-up process in your region. Is that timing usually the case in zone 7, or have you, like us, had an unusually mild winter this year?

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Katrina, my winter has abeen a little milder than normal. We seem to have escaped quite a few days of at or below freezing temperatures. Our summer last year was awesome too, in the fact that it, too, was milder than normal. I can go for those milder summers with noooo problem. :-)
    ~Heidi

  • Tomato_Worm59
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Forsythia is about all gone. I have a large silver maple in the yard that is showering the car and drive with shed catkins. I noticed the neighbor's rose bush is budding. The tiny pre-leaves are red. No sign of life for the black oak, elm and paper mulberry yet.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just to add a couple more...

    My flowering currant, aka clove currant or Ribes odoratum opens its first yummy-smelling, tiny yellow flowers today and has already partially leafed out

    Banana shrub (Michelia figo) has had its tiny flower buds for a month. They are cute and fuzzy brown. They haven't opened yet and after tonight's COLD temps, they probably won't open for a while yet. But when they do, my whole yard will smell like BANANAS!!!!

    Flowering quince is blooming but forsythia is not.

    The buds on the redbuds have been swelling for about a week.
    They normally bloom here in mid-March.

    My roses ALL have leaves, except for one that looks absolutely dead. Maybe it is just smart enough to wait a while longer.

    OwieBrain: When you plant fruit trees, and peaches in particular, how many chilling hours do you look for when purchasing the trees? I usually buy them in the 800 - 1000 chilling hour category, but think I may add a couple that need 1000 to 1200 hours.

    Heidi: Keep talking sense to those fruit trees!!!! It is too cold for them to bloom and I know it will be cold at our house and at yours tonight, cause the National Weather Service says so!!! You have a apricot tree??? Everyone here says you can't grow them here because they "always" bloom too early and lose their crop. Are they wrong?

    Mexican plums and chickasaw plums are my favorite kind of tree---native to Oklahoma and they are tough and can withstand drought and total neglect like nothing you've ever seen!

    Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicanus) usually gets about 15' tall, although old ones can reach 35'. They flower early, often about the same time as the redbuds, smell incredibly sweet and attract bees like crazy for the week or two they are in bloom. The plums start out sort of yellowish and then turn mauve to purple as they ripen. These plums are about the size of a large olive. I don't pick 'em and eat 'em though. I let the birds and mammals have the wild plums, and in return they seem to leave my hybrid plums alone. They are lovely as a specimen tree in a yard.

    Chickasaw Plums (Prunus angustifolia) aka Thicket Plum, Sandhill Plum or Hog Plum, are smaller, shrubbier trees that are often seen growing along fencerows or as a thicket in the middle of a field. They are commonly anywhere from 6 to 10 feet tall, although I've seen a few get up to 12' or 14'. They bloom early many years, and often lose their fruit to a freeze. But, when they do make fruit, the small grape-sized fruit make excellent jelly or jam. They are flat-out ugly. Nothing pretty about their shape or form. When it gets really hot, all their leaves dry up and fall off, Sometimes they leaf out again as soon as it rains. Other times they don't, BUT they are merely dormant and not dead and they always come back the next year!

    Katrina, Southern Oklahoman has had a bizarre weather year. Last summer we had LOTS of rain and only broke 100 degrees at our house on one day. One! (Note: I AM NOT COMPLAINING!)

    As Heidi said, it has been an abnormally mild (and wet) winter too. It seems like most of our plants are trying to get ahead of themselves a little too much. Probably it is because we've had about 15 days at or above 70 degrees during the last six or seven weeks. And we keep getting down ALMOST to freezing, but not quite there, so the trees must think winter is over.

    That's it for my tree/shrub report, answers to questions y'all raised, and my one question for Heidi.

    What's happening elsewhere? Let's try to keep this thread going for a while and we can "track" spring as it moves across or through Oklahoma.

  • Boomer _Lady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OKC,
    Thanks. Today I picked off the blooms & buds of the clematis. I sure hope that helps. It's 4 Henryi clematis I bought last summer & I love the big white blooms they had.

    Count me in with Heidi & Okiedawn who loved our cooler summer last year.

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Going on an internet search when I get done here to look for the banana shrub and the clove currant. I like the ease of growing shrubs and if they have a fragrance, even better. :-)

    Thanks for the info on the Mexican and Chickasaw plum. I do have a sand plum, received at the first Oklahoma garden forum swap. :-)) Only one survived, but it looks to be doing great and I did notice bits of green starting to show on it yesterday. Maybe this year I will see fruit produced on it. :-)

    OkieDawn, oops, I guess someone forgot to tell my apricot tree it isn't supposed to produce here. This is a mature tree of unknown variety here when we bought the place. For the past 3 years I have lived here, I have thinned off over 500 apricots each spring because it is such a heavy bearer. This tree is usually the first to bloom in my yard, but my peach trees are beating it this year and I do fear I may lose their crop if they don't slow down a bit. My apricot is just now starting to show bud swell. When in full bloom, it is a beautiful tree...and one of the largest trees in our yard, fruiting or non fruiting. I planted a Moorpark apricot 2 springs ago and it has not yet started its swelling. I do love edible landscaping. *sigh* Too bad DH isn't as crazy about it as I am.
    ~Heidi

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Heidi,

    To interest DH in edible landscaping just refer to all fruiting trees/bushes as football trees, baseball trees, etc. By the time he realizes you were telling a little white lie, you'll have a healthy stand of fruit trees/bushes/vines, etc. LOL

    I bought my banana shrub at Lowe's about three years ago. They had them there in the March time frame.

    The flowering currant doesn't produce currants that are edible (at least mine doesn't), just so you know, but the aroma of the flowers is intoxicating. I got it at a native plant sale in Texas but I'm sure they are available from nurseries.

    Now that I know that some hard-headed apricots ignore the conventional wisdom that they don't do well here, I will have to go and buy one and plant it. There! See what you're making me do!

  • fishermans_wife
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Isn't it so exciting!! I can't wait to see some green around here. I have become obsessed with all of my gardening magazines and books the past few weeks. Here comes spring!!!

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    *LOL* I love to help people spend their money...and DH loves it more because it isn't "his" money I am spending. Yeehaw!

    Is your banana shrub planted in a pot or are you considered zone 7B? The reading I did suggested that shrub was hardy from zone 7B and above. Also, is a common name for the clove currant a spice bush? If so, Mom has one in Kentucky and raves about the wonderful fragrance.

    ~Heidi

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My banana shrub is in the ground, in sandy soil amended with compost (I have one strip of nice sandy soil running rough my maddening red clay), mulched with an inch or two or mulch. Has taken temps. as low as 10 degrees on several occasions. Sometimes shows a little tip burn after a hard freeze, but not much. Sometimes loses buds/flowers to a hard freeze, but always puts out new ones right away. I am in Zone 7B, but it is supposed to be hardy throughout zone 7.

    The only other names I've heard applied to Ribes Odoratum is clove currant or flowering currant. That doesn't mean anything though. As with many old passalong plants in the south, it could have many nicknames.

    The plant I always think of when I hear spice bush is Calycanthus occidentalis. That might be what your mom has in Kentucky. It would grow here, I think. (It can handle our winters, but I'm not sure what kind of soil pH it needs in order to do well.)

    Heidi---If you want, I can dig up one of the suckers that is coming off my clove currant. It is a two-year sucker so it should be strong enough to survive after I sever it from the mother plant. (Doesn't that sound cruel--severing it from the mother plant.) I'd be happy to pop it into a mailing tube and send it to you. Let me know.

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the offer, OkieDawn, but I better decline right now. My first new tree arrived yesterday and I still have to get 2 more of them to come and plant in the yard without raising DH's ire tooooo much. I have to let him establish a mowing pattern before I change it again. *lol*
    ~Heidi

  • pokesalad
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Let's see.. I have one apple tree that has already leafed out.
    My other 4 apple trees have bud swell.
    My goumis are going to be leafing out any day now.
    Apricot, Peach, pear and Plum have bud swell

    All of my roses are leafing out.

    I have been keeping my head in the dirt as well, planting my seeds for the past 2 days.

  • OKC1
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just love seeing everything start greening up. Only draw back is the nail biting winter to spring transition period when all the new green stuff can get whacked by frost.
    I think squirrels are eating some of my muscari bulbs. Grrr.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    South-central Oklahoma's trees are waking up! Many more trees leafing out now--lots and lots of elms and willows, including weeping willows.

    Saw my first redbud blooming yesterday. Yippee! When the redbuds bloom, spring is ALMOST here!

    Also, these are NOT trees, but they are up, out and about in our part of the state:

    ladybugs

    moths

    crane flies

    mosquitos!! (Have had them on and off since late January.)

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Pokesalad, when do the goumis develop their fruit and when do they generally ripen? I have a goumi bush, thanks to a generous person at the first OK GW swap and I am hoping this will be the year I see-and taste-fruit from it. It is starting to show teeny green spots where the leaves are ready to pop out.

    Okiedawn, the one thing I have not seen yet is bees. Because the trees seem to be budding earlier this year, I went ahead and ordered some orchard bees. They come out of dormancy earlier and are very low maintenance. Looking forward to watching them do their work. :-)

    ~Heidi

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Heidi,

    You have not seen bees (which I forgot to put on my list of buzzing insects) because all the bees in Oklahoma came to visit my early-blooming plum tree when it bloomed two weeks ago. I am sure they are headed your way right now! Let me know if orchard bees do well for you. I've always wondered if they could take our heat.

    Dawn

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dawn, you did give them a map to the Lawton area, didn't you? If so, sure hope you marked off the road to my house because I love the bees. If I could I would have a hive or two. But that would be another mwoing obstacle for DH. Grrrrrr Ok, in my next life I am definitely putting "Do you like playing in the dirt and growing all sorts of fruits and veggies?" on the marriage application.

    ~Heidi(who truely has a wonderful husband....but his inner dirt playing child hasn't come out yet)

  • OKC1
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bees are great.
    My yard is full of them when everything is blooming. In fact, I have to kind of work around them when the datura are blooming because they hit those blooms first thing in the morning, and it can be tough to deadhead around them.

  • pokesalad
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just got back from inspection this morning.
    For the record, i am in northeastern oklahoma.

    Heidi, I just planted these last year so only can say what I was told, goumis should fruit in June/July according to a source of mine. Now I bought these 3 goumis last year and when they arrived they were 2 feet tall in height. Just in a years time they have added 3 feet. They've really taken off. As of this morning they have the green tips you were talking about is on yours. I seen bees yesterday afternoon after it warmed up a bit and around a week ago when we went through warmer weather the bees were all over the place. I put in many perennial bee loving plants and herbs over the past 2 years, they are planted around my greenhouse so I never am short of bees it seems.

    OKC, I've noticed quite a few ladybugs here and sorry to report that I have noticed mosquitos just as you have... since around January.
    Lots of baby mosquitos that is.
    I grow many datura as well and the bees like it. I currently have black currant swirl, yellow double and triple purple growing in the greenhouse but in January I planted some seeds from last year and they are already up as plants in the greenhouse, though around 2 inches tall, just repotted a few of them.
    Todays weather forecast for us is 70 !!!
    Perfect yardin weather :)

  • heidibird
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I haven't noticed the mosquitos or ladybugs yet. I don't miss the skeeters at all, but do like my ladybugs.

    Pokesalad, my goumi is only about 4 feet tall but has lots of nice branching to it. I'll cross my fingers we both get fruit this year. :-)

  • pokesalad
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    4 feet is a good size heidi, I hope we get fruit this year as well. One of my goumis leafed out yesterday. That warm weather did it.
    On another note, I just placed an order yesterday for an apricot,cherry and another pear tree as well as strawberry plants. I usually order from raintree and this will be my first order with stark brothers. Checked them out on gardenwatchdog and seems they're pretty good.
    Will let you all know how that turns out.

  • mtilton
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My mother's japonica is blooming - it's very pretty. I noticed my Silver Maple is budding, and my spirea is also getting little white blossoms. Most of my rose bushes have leaves or buds.

  • markapp
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am up north in wichita ks area we are now in full bloom of bradford pear redbud forsynthia and the sand plums are just starting asparagus up for a weekor 2 now. zone 6 pecan and grape still sleeping elms rubbing their eyes.

  • owiebrain
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My butt is blooming. Does that count?

  • heidibird
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Not even gonna try and picture that. Uh uh..no way *covering eyes*

    ~Heidi

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Markapp in Kansas! It is nice to know that spring has made it that far! Most of our spring blooming trees here in southern Oklahoma are finished blooming now, and have leafed out. I already miss the flowers and sweet aroma in the air.

    Owiebrain, I am rolling on the floor laughing....I guess the little one in the oven can be blamed for your condition?

    Heidi, At least Diane didn't post a picture of her "blooms". We are too silly! :D

    Dawn

  • HFK123
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm in the Tri-Cities area. Most of the many Post Oaks on my lot have budded out in the last week or two. However, a couple had not, and they happened to be two important trees, one along my driveway and another next to the house. I was getting a bit dejected at the thought that they might be dead, but today I noticed that both were finally budding. I'd been told that there were a couple of Blackjack's on the property, and I presume that's what these two trees are, and I'd just mis-identified them. Do Blackjacks typically bud after Post Oaks?

    I'll be able to ID them soon, whenever the leaves become mature.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Frank!

    We have lots and lots of Post Oaks on our acreage and they all do not leaf out at the same time, so your two late trees might just be tardy Post Oaks. Our earliest Post Oaks started leafing out about 3 or 4 weeks ago, but our latest one, which sits right in the front yard, only leafed out 8 or 10 days ago. It is always the last one.

    After I read your post, I went out and wandered the property, looking at the few Blackjacks we have, which are fairly far away from the house and get little observation. The Blackjacks are fully leafed out and have already blossomed. Their blossoms are still hanging on the tree, looking like dead dry caterpillars. Their leaves have been out long enough that something (maybe tent caterpillars?) has been chewing on them, and folding some of them over with a little caterpillar inside. The post oaks seem to have leafed out AFTER the blackjack oaks here, but I can't say that for sure.

    One way you can tell the blackjack oaks is by their branching structure. They tend to retain dead branches that hang downward at the bottom of the tree. Also, the bark on the black jack oaks is blackish, much darker than the bark of the post oaks.

    Have a terrific day!

    Dawn

  • HFK123
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the information Dawn. It doesn't sound as though the trees are Blackjacks. They must be late-comer Post Oaks. The one on the side of my house, presuming it's a Post Oak, looks unhealthy: the bark is smooth, but with bumps in patches that resemble the rougher bark of an Post Oak.

    Thanks again.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Frank,

    Do you know if anything happened to the Post Oak to make it "ill"? I ask, because I had to go to extraordinary lengths to protect my trees when we built the house.

    Here's what I learned about Post Oaks along the way. They are very tough trees and thrive in areas with somewhat poor soil. They can take a lot of drought. They are very tough trees. I guess this is why they often colonize old farmland.

    Guess what they don't like? They don't like having their roots disturbed by digging or the ground around their roots compacted by heavy construction equipment. They don't like more moisture than they are used to getting, so they don't appreciate sprinkler systems. They don't much care about being fed a fertilizer, especially one heavy in nitrogen. In other words, they are a native that prefers to grow naturally with as little human interference/intervention as possible.

    Despite my effort to not disturb the post oak closest to the house when it was built, that tree "sulked" for 2 or 3 years. It just didn't look good and wouldn't grow. Then, all of a sudden, it got over it. It started looking good and begin putting on new growth. I am careful to leave it alone, to the extent I can, and it does great with no fuss and no attention.

    Hope that info is useful and hope your tree gets well.

    Dawn

  • okstacy
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Because this seems to be the place to talk about trees - I have a tree question. I live in SW OKC and have a typical starter home with a small front yard. I have a decent size flowerbed, but would like to plant a tree in the yard.

    I don't want the typical one stick with a few leaves on the branches and don't want a bradford pear. I really like the look of a Purple Robe Locust - but have heard some conflicting reports about them. (i.e. their sprouts, and thorns) I would like something that is different but can't spend a lot of money on it. I would like something that is fast growing, but healthy.

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks!

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Stacy!

    What a hard, hard question! There are so many trees to choose from, and you didn't say what kind of soil you have, but here's a few.

    Keep in mind that many, although not all, fast-growing trees have health issues. How about a tree that grows at a medium rate and would have fewer health issues? Most of these would probably be considered more moderate than fast in growth rate.

    Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis)

    Eastern Redbud (Cersis canacensis) Oklahoma's state tree
    Some Redbud cultivars available include:
    'Alba' or 'Oklahoma White' if you want a rarer white-flowered one
    'Forest Pansy' is a glorious hybrid with foliage that emerges purple in the spring and turns purplish-green later on. A beautiful, beautiful tree.

    If you have really heavy alkaline soil, Mexican redbud might do better for you. It is Cersis mexicana. It is smaller and has glossier leaves with wavy leaf margins.

    Lacebark Elm (Ulmus parvifolia)--tough and durable, and don't confuse it with the Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) which isn't as good.

    Red Maple (Acer rubrum) IF you have good drainage. Some named ones are: 'Red Sunset', 'Autumn Flame', 'October Glory'.

    Smaller maples include:
    Shantung Maple (Acer truncatum)
    Trident Maple (Acer buergeranum)
    Tatarian Maple (Acer tatarocim)
    Amur Maple 'Flame' (Acer ginnala, 'Flame')

    Shumard Red Oak (Quercus shumardii) (my personal favorite as it has lovely fall color). For a strong-wooded, quality tree, it is actually a fairly fast grower. This is a good thing, as most fast-growers have weak wood. It doesn't.

    There's lots of lovely oaks, so here's a list of a few:

    Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) -- will make a huge, stately tree but is slower growing than Shumard

    Oklahoma Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis)--is native to the Quartz Mountains, so should do well in SW Oklahoma for you.
    Is more cold hardy than the native Texas live oaks. If you buy one, be sure is is an Oklahoma live oak. It is evergreen.

    Chinkapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii)

    Sawtooth Oak (Quercus acutissima)

    Avoid Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) which suffers greatly from iron chlorosis in our half of the state.

    And, remember, with oaks you will eventually have acorns! (Some people don't like the mess.)

    Sugar Maple 'Caddo'--also native to southwestern Oklahoma, so should do well for you. It does need pretty fertile soil and it needs good drainage.

    Kentucky Coffee Tree- (Gymnocladus dioicus)--native to Oklahoma and EXTREMELY drought tolerate once it is well established. It gets really big and prefers rich, moist soil, but will tolerate poor soil. The females can be messy, though, and the named male cultivars are hard to find.

    Hope this list helps.

    Dawn

  • okstacy
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you so much Dawn! I will have to do some research on the list you gave me... I will let you know what we decide to do!

  • HFK123
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi folks,

    First, thanks to Dawn for her list. I will keep it handy for furture reference.

    Second, I finally figured out what the problem was with my 'sick' oaks: they're not oaks at all. They appear to be Hackberry. Hackberry's not the most desireable tree, from my point of view, so I'm not so worried about them. However, they seem to be doing fine now: they appear to be a bit slower than the Post Oaks have been.

    Thanks again,

    Frank

  • Boomer _Lady
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Purple Robe Locusts are finally blooming. They look beautiful.

  • heidibird
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have Locust trees and do not like them any time of the year except now..when they are blooming. They look beautiful and smell fantastic! The bees really enjoy them as well. You can hear the buzzing from many feet away.

    ~Heidi

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi everyone,

    I've been spending ALL my time in the veggie garden this week, and in the herb and perennial border, trying to plant everything before some of the forecasted rain hits.

    OKStacy, I hope something on that list will grow in your soil and summer weather. I think you have even tougher growing conditions in SW Oklahoma than we do in South Central Oklahoma! I will tell you that during the horrible, horrible droughts we experienced here in the very late 1990s and very early 2000s, the trees that survived best among the natives were the Kentucky coffee trees, native oaks, honey locust and hackberries. A lot of the less-worthy trees in our woods that died included elms, ashes and anything that was very old or already under stress.

    Frank, Hackberries, huh. Oh, well. Not the best tree on earth but it grows fast and tall and makes lots of shade. I had lots of them in Fort Worth and they did shade our entire back yard. I hated the little galls they got on the leaves though.

    Debbie, I'm not familar with Purple Robe Locust, but love the name. Will you describe it for me and tell me how it does for you? Pretty, pretty please.

    Heidi, I don't care for our native honey locust trees because of their thorns, but I am in agreement with you on the spring bloom/bee invasion. We cut down the ones closest to the house, but still have some on the edges of our woodland.

    Dawn

  • HFK123
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "I don't care for our native honey locust trees because of their thorns"

    I'd never seen, nor had I imagined, that there were trees on this continent with thorns like those. Some of the ones I've seen are inches long, and could do some serious damage to an eyeball. So now I have to look down for Poison Ivy and straight ahead for Locust thorns...

  • heidibird
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    But oh that fragrance......mmmmmm mmmmm.

    ~Heidi

  • Boomer _Lady
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dawn,
    I can't tell you too much firsthand info about the Purple Robe Locust, I just planted two of them last fall. I bought them because I fell in love with the blooms. They remind me of wisteria blooms. They smell wonderful.

    They don't have thorns like the honey locust, or at least they don't as of now. Maybe when they are more mature they will develope thorns, I don't know. I don't really care either because I think the blooms & fragrance are worth a few thorns, like my roses. :)

    Here's a picture I took of my blooms today.

    {{gwi:1082771}}

    Too bad the birds didn't hold still so they weren't blurry. LOL

    The trees were pretty tall when I bought them last year. I have a 6' privacy fence & you can see they are well above it. I read that peak height is 75'.

    {{gwi:1082772}}

    I'm hoping they start bushing out some this year. I planted that one where I did to eventually hide that power line pole from my view.

    Here's a link with info & a better picture of the blooms.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Robe Locust

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Debbie,

    Thanks for the info. What lovely trees. Love those blossoms. I am now wondering where I could plant a couple of those as I have developed a severe plant envy since seeing your photos!

    Dawn

  • MariposaTraicionera
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm in NE Oklahoma and would like to know what type of shrubs I should plant in an area that's pretty shady for most of the day. Been reading your posts Dawn and you seem to know so much. Sorry to butt in like this but I hope I could get some suggestions. Also, when is a good time to plant dwarf crepe myrtle? Is there such a thing as a dwarf oak thats reddish? I don't want a lot of tall trees but wouldn't mind some flowering shrubs for other sunny areas. Thanks much.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    Original Author
    18 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi MT!

    Oh, gosh, thanks for the compliment that I "seem to know so much". I want you to know that I am rolling on the floor laughing because EVERYTHING I know I have learned the hard way by doing everything wrong and then having to educate myself to correct my errors!!!! Of course, experience is the best teacher, but it can be a painful (and expensive) one. Anyway, if we'd had an internet with something like Garden Web when I started gardening as a young adult in the 1970s, I think the learning experience would have been a lot less painful. LOL

    I'll try to come up with some suggestions for shade, but I don't have a lot of experience with shade, as we built our home in an old cow pasture in between two wooded areas, so I have almost all sun, except for the shade of the one large pecan tree in the front yard. I do have lovely natural wooded areas on some of our acreage, but the copperheads and rattlesnakes enjoy them more in the warm weather than I do.

    First, when you say you have shade, I don't know what kind of shade. Heavy shade? Dappled shade? Shade all day? Most of the day? For the sake of making a list of shade-loving shrubs, I'll assume you have fairly heavy shade all day long.

    Some good shrubs for shade are:

    Abelia grandiflora, aka Glossy Abelia: This is a graceful, arching, spreading shrub that will become about as wide as it is tall. It can grow in full sun to part shade, but I don't know if it will flower well if it is in heavy shade. The leaves are fairly small. It flowers in late spring to early summer, and the flowers are small, sort of tubular and white to pink. The old standard form gets about 6' tall and 6' wide. There are smaller dwarf varieties, like "Sherwoodii" and "Compacta" which eventually get about three feet tall. A taller one (3' to 5' when mature) that has really pretty purple flowers is "Edward Goucher". Abelia is considered semi-evergreen to evergreen.

    Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hyndrangea quercifolia). Different from most hydrangeas, this one has leaves shaped like an oak leaf. It will get about 6' tall and will eventually spread out that wide. It has lovely fall color, which is a bonus. It blooms in early summer. There are many cultivars in different sizes. It isn't truly evergreen, but its foliage and flowers will stay on the plant until mid-winter.

    Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium): One of my favorites for shade. It gets from 3 to 6 feet tall, and 3 to 4 or 5 feet wide. It has beautiful bluish-green evergreen foliage. It has lovely yellow blooms in the spring, and the berries are bluish-black. It is really prickly, so don't plant it too close to paths or play areas.

    English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) does better in our climate than Japanese (littleleaf) Boxwood. It is just your standard, compact green foundation shrub that has little pest and disease problems. Sometimes in very cold winter the foliage will turn brown, though, so that's a negative. It does need very well drained soil as it will drown and die if it sits in waterlogged soil for any length of time. There are many cultivars of English Boxwood available.

    Kerria aka Japanese Kerria (Kerri Japonica) is a lovely flowering shrub for shady sites. It prefers shady sites with rich, humusy soil. This is one of those shrubs that grows in an arching manner, so it needs room to spread out.
    You can't prune it tightly like you could Boxwood, for example. It blooms in spring and early summer. And it is prone to foliar dieases, so it needs good air circulation.
    It is deciduous.

    Possumhaw Holly (Ilex decidua). I have these everywhere on my property, from full sun to full shade. When mature they can get to be the size of a small tree...15 to 20 feet tall and spreading 5 to 10 or 15' wide. It is deciduous but has lovely berries that stay on the plant until mid- to late-winter. I think it will grow in any soil. There are many named cultivars. One of the prettiest is "Warren's Red" or "Warren Red". It has gorgeous red berries and lots of them. There are some dwarf and compact cultivars that stay much smaller. The birds love the berries.

    Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera). Another of my faves.
    There is a standard version and a dwarf version, which is Myrica pussilla. Wax myrtles are in the same family as bayberry and the foliage has an attractive aroma sort of like bayberry. The standard wax myrtles can be pruned and limbed up like trees, which is how I treat mine, and the dwarf ones will top out at about five feet, while the standard ones can go to 15 or 20 feet. They are fairly fast-growing. The foliage is a light green that is almost a yellowish-green. I had to look for quite a while before I found some of them at a Lowe's, as they are not easy to find.

    Viburnum (Viburnum species) There are many cultivars available in many different sizes. Some are tall, some are short. Some are evergreen, some are deciduous. I have the common native Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum. Many named cultivars are available commecially.

    Spirea (Spiraea species) These are fairly compact shrubs, reaching from 2' to 6' in height and from 2' to 4' or 5' in width, depending on which cultivar you plant. They bloom in late spring and early summer, and most have flowers in various shade of white, pink or red. They are deciduous. I have them in a place where they get early morning direct sun, and then dappled shade at mid-day and full shade from mid-afternoon on. They are easy to grow. There are many, many cultivars available.

    Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) Many cultivars of this evergreen shrub are available in many sizes. They will grow in almost any soil, and in everything from full sun to almost total shade. Mine get some afternoon shade. They bloom in early spring, and the berries are lovely. Some of the common ones you'll see in stores are "Stokes" which is a dwarf and "Pride of Houston" which is a tall, upright version.

    I don't know of any dwarf red oaks, but Shumard Oak is among the prettier oaks with red fall color. If you have heavy shade and good soil, there are a lot of red-leaved dwarf Japanese maples.

    You can plant dwarf crape myrtle anytime now, I would think.

    Hope this info helps.

    Dawn