Do you prefer evergreen, like a Holly (such as Oakleaf Holly) or deciduous (like a Bloodgood Japanese Maple)? About how close is 'next' to your house? A lot of trees need to be planted a good deal further away than folks originally plan, so you might want a 'Fireglow' Japanese Maple instead of a Bloodgood, for example. Do you like narrow/columnar trees like a Skyrocket Juniper or Emerald Green Arborvitae, or a somewhat broader-based pyramidal tree (such as Boulevard False Cypress), or do you like the rounded crowns seen with some mature maple trees like sugar maple? By 'ornamental' do you mean flowers in Spring (e.g.: redbud, dogwood), colorful foliage (e.g.: Thundercloud purple plum, I believe, or some Japanese Maples such as Fireglow or Crimson Queen) or perhaps even peeling bark (e.g.: Paperbark Maple)? I know you mentioned 'that flowers,' but be mindful many plants that are highly ornamental when they flower do so briefly, and aren't nearly so impressive most of the year. Richard.

Im going to say Chamaedorea for sure, probably Chamaedorea seifrizii (aka Bamboo palm). They are slow growers, but nice palms! They cant handle frost well though (maybe they will handle down to 28F). We used to have 99 cent stores in the NYC area, but they all were bought over years ago. -Alex

Try the "Name that Plant!" site in Gardenweb. It has been a life saver for me.

It appears there are pairs of leaves at the terminals. I would also think catkins would be present on this if it were Corylus. The foliage on my Corylus is all eaten but there are still some catkins. pictures from my moth eaten Corylus. I used a tulip tree leaf behind the catkin to put it in focus.