The redbuds are nice. Cercis canadensis 'Hearts of Gold' or 'The Rising Sun' are great. While visiting Michigan in July, I seen Cercis canadensis 'Hearts of Gold' first hand for the first time. I must say I never thought much of it while searching the internet. It's a nice tree! I've purchased one for fall planting. Cercis canadensis 'Hearts of Gold' (picture taking at Duvall Nursery, Michigan) I always wanted a Robinia pseudoacacia 'Lace Lady', 'Twisty Baby' because of the cool contorted branches. Well I purchased it two years ago, and I've hated it since. I live in Southern U.S., so it may be hardier here. It grows like a weed! It grew about 4 ft in every direction the first year. I pruned it extremely hard back to the trunk. This year, it has grown 6 feet in every direction. I can handle the very aggressive growth because I enjoy pruning for shape. The main issue is the suckering. I have black locust shoots popping up 4-8 feet away from the trunk in my surrounding bed. I'm constantly removing them. Earlier in the summer, I missed a shoot from below the graft site. I was waiting until fall/winter to remove it because it was too large, and I tried to prevent making a large cut during the harsh summer conditions. Well...What a mistake! Now the shoot is a 1.5 inch caliper (almost as large as the main trunk) and 8 ft tall Robinia pseudoacacia covered with thorns extending straight up. I'm removing the tree this fall! I think it might be larger than what you're looking for. Other slow growing maple considerations Acer pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset' Acer campestre 'Carnival'

Hello hello Ostrich! Still working out that bed eh? Can't believe it's that time of year again. Seems like yesterday that you started that bed. First and foremost, you should follow George's advice about waiting....even though you have some dead branches, she is capable of throwing off many new branches from the existing live wood (even if only the trunk was alive) and she might surprise you yet. Why throw away a season of plant/root establishment if you don't have to? If you're still not happy....For what it's worth, (not much), and based solely on photos, my #1 choice would be the Kyushu. (for all the reasons George mentioned and because I've seen HIS Kyushu pics) If the SM is a similar or "improved" version, I would not hesitate to go with it again either. If other Paniculatas do well in your yard, (and they certainly appear to) then you may have just gotten a dud and should not sour on the whole cultivar. Hopefully, other SM growers will chime in with their observations. Having said that, the (potentially) failed SM as well as the return policy gives you a chance to re-think (second guess?) the bed yet again and do a little more clear headed refining as opposed to the "oh my goodness, I just had to have it" planting that usually transpires when one runs into the latest, greatest hydrangea. Oh, the fun! Yes, you should choose and plan wisely, but you should LOVE whatever you choose. You're the one who has to look at it everyday. Have fun and welcome to a new hydrangea season!....yg ps....Where's the photo album George????? You had all winter to get it together! How can we start another season without those mouth watering photos to get us inspired??? lol

As promised: FROM A NEWBIEÂS EYE: With all the recent craze for H trees & several ???  whether to get this or that in tree form, I decided to take a good look at my 9 H paniculatas  I'm excluding Unique & Limeligh  just acquired this Spring, too early to judge their true personalities & Little Lamb, for obvious reasons. As earlier mentioned, I harvested each, a med. sized (avg.) blossom from 2Tardivas  (planted-FallÂ05), Kyu (SummerÂ06), Quick Fire (SpringÂ07), Pink Diamond (Fall Â07) & AngelÂs Blush (SpringÂ08). As a (forever) newbie  my vote: #1  QF  for being the earliest bird ... first to break dormancy, lush out, form cluster buds, flash & change color!!! Uprightness in my piece of soil, is the best  due in part to beautifully formed  more ovalisque & looser panicles w/ possibly, lesser fertile florets (seeds at maturity) that weigh down the canes  at this stage of pink, the tips of fertile/seed-like clusters, have a tint of rosy-pink as well! Really pretty, to me!!! #2  Toss up between: Pink Diamond & AngelÂs Blush (PDÂs baby)  PD has daintier panicles than ABÂs, however PD is arching a bit more than AB. Even with 12" panicles on center, taller canes, AB seems able to carry her blossoms more upright! PD has, more uniformly sized, panicles at 7". Also noted that ABÂs leaf formation is all in 3s (ternate, according to bk) PD is usually opposites w/ a few in 3s closer to bases of blossom cluster. AB's sepals, a hint larger than PD's #3 Tardiva & Kyushu both canes arch  weighed down by blossoms as they mature  fertile florets mature to seed-like clusters. KyuÂs infertile florets are petite compared to TÂs avg. sized. My tree is Kyushu  absolutely love her, with all her arching branches & more petite florets!!! FWIW!!!

Well, my two Ruby's (Angel's Blush) aren't overly large. I have them in areas where I will keep them pruned back as well. Monrovia lists this one at 8-12' tall and 6-10' wide. I think with pruning it could be kept in the 5-6' range. If you do a search I think you could find a picture ego45 posted of a non-pruned paniculata just showing that with no pruning they can, in fact, become quite large. Size is also a factor of environment. Mine seem to grow slower than those further south - probably due to the shorter growing season. Ditas - I'm so sorry to hear about your granddaugher - what a nice way to remember her by. Dirtdigger, there is a link above if you are willing to go mail order for Ruby. I like my Pink Diamond as well - but love the color of Ruby more. By the way, I don't put a lot of store into what Dirr says about paniculata. He doesn't like Ruby either - and it is amazing IMO. His various comments in his book about the paniculata make me think that they perhaps perform better in the more northern climates than in the deep south - in particular those that fade to pink. He does comment that many of the paniculata were evaluated in the cool European climates that rarely experiences the heat and humidity of the US. I would be curious to see what he said about Quickfire. I purchased it this year but it is too small to really evaluate.