california wonder purple pepper mini brown bell pepper shungiku edible chrysanthemum wonderberry, soy bean/edamame crystal apple cucumber tiny melons (that can be trelissed) sweet potatos cherry tomato-any color-rainbow mix would be awesome first pick tomato juane flammee tomato mammoth red rock cabbage strawberry spinach viking purple potato red brussel sprouts

Missed this thread last year while I was working way too much, but here are some I believe fits the theme. Chalk Maple Acer leucoderme Southern Sugar Maple Acer floridanum BigToothed Maple Acer grandidentatum American Fringe Tree Chionanthus virginicus The already mentioned. Yellowwood Cladrastis kentuckea(lutea) Decidous Holly Ilex decidua (allot of this native locally and it looks great in winter) Acer pseudosieboldianum Acer triflorum Acer griseum White Oak Quercus alba Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea Chinkapin Oak Quercus muehlenbergii Carpinus caroliniana On a related note, here is one to look up. Ozark Chinquapin Castanea pumila var ozarkensis Work is ongoing to develop blight resistant trees.

Hi Jeff, Steve Bost contacted me in the late fall and sent me seeds in December. You have to be patient. This is not his day job. He won't send seeds in the mail while the temps are freezing and you might have missed the window of opportunity for those this year anyway. They need to be cold stratified for a number of months before they break dormancy. Mine have been in the frig since December. They still show no signs of sprouting but given the weather conditions this year, that is okay if they take their time. I do not know if their foundation offers plants in the spring. That might be your best bet now if they do. Margie

Kwanzan Cherry - short lived and frequently afflicted by a number of pests and diseases (aphids, bacterial canker, black knot, borers, crown gall, leaf spot, powdery mildew, twig cankers, viruses). This is one of the few trees that I've seen that frequently caries a warning about potential pest and disease issues by most nurseries trying to sell it. Kwanzans are just plain finicky, IMO. _____________________________________________________ Dogwood - if there aren't a lot of these around where you live, give it a try. From a Cornell publication: "To avoid or lower the risk of dealing with (dogwood anthracnose), consider using resistant (cultivars). The white flowering Kousa Dogwoods, Cornus kousa have shown good resistance and require less input to maintain a healthy tree. A number of crosses between C. kousa and C. florida have been made in attempts to produce the flowering characteristics of the Flowering Dogwood with the resistance of the Kousa Dogwood. These cultivars are available on the market and are known as the 'Stellar' Hybrid series, 'Aurora', 'Celestial', 'Constellation', Ruth Ellen', 'Stardust', and 'Stellar Pink'. A resistant Flowering Dogwood cultivar named 'Appalachian Spring' has also been developed from a living tree in an otherwise devastated Maryland forest and (is fairly widely) available." 'Appalachian Spring' has received a LOT of good press recently and is in high demand. _____________________________________________________ Crabapple - I'd definitely considering using a few of these. Be sure to find one that is resistant to the four major crabapple disease. Here's a list of some cultivars (and species) that are pretty disease resistant. The ones with *** are also frequently ranked very high for aesthetics. I have not narrowed down the list for size or appropriateness for our area, but this list should give you a good start. 'Adirondack' 'Bob White' 'Camzam' (Camelot) 'Centennial' 'Christmas Holly' 'Donald Wyman' *** baccata 'Jackii' *** 'Ludwick' 'Mary Potter' *** 'Molten Lava' *** 'Ormiston Roy' 'Prairifire' *** 'Professor Sprenger' sargentii *** 'Sentinel' *** 'Silver Moon' 'Sinai Fire' 'Strawberry Parfait' *** 'Sugar Tyme' 'Tina' 'White Cascade' *** If you have junipers (especially Eastern Red-cedars) near the planting location, you may want to be sure to choose a variety with EXCELLENT cedar apple rust resistance. Here is a link that might be useful: Cornell Article on Dogwood Anthracnose