Ever need a tree for a small area or as an accent and not know which ones will grow in East Texas? Listed below are several good choices that will also add color to your landscape. If the nursery does not have a tree in stock that you are looking for, all of them will be happy to order it for you.
Crabapple (Malus) 'Thunderchild' - A new introduction. Deciduous tree 15-20 feet tall with pink flowers and dark maroon foliage. Good disease resistance. Plant in full sun.
Crabapple (Malus) 'Weeping Candied Apple' - Deciduous weeping tree 10-15 feet tall with single red buds/pink flowers and small fruit that persists all winter. Good disease resistance. Plant in full sun.
Downy Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) - Deciduous tree 20-25 feet tall producing white to pinkish flowers in early spring. Good fall color and attractive silhouette in winter. Plant in sun to partial shade.
Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) 'Grancy Graybeard' - Deciduous tree 12-20 feet tall producing fragrant white flowers in late spring or early summer. Will take poor drainage. Plant in sun to partial shade.
Possumhaw (Ilex decidua) 'Warren's Red' - Deciduous tree 15-20 feet tall producing a heavy crop of red berries. Plant in sun to partial shade.
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) - Deciduous small tree 25-30 feet tall. Foliage is bronze tinted in early spring, rich green in summer, orange and scarlet to blackish purple in fall. Blooms in summer with fragrant creamy white flowers in 10-inch drooping clusters that turn into greenish seeds pods hanging on late into the winter. Grows in well drained moist conditions in sun or partial shade.
All of these trees can be seen growing in the IDEA Garden, located in the southeast corner of the Tyler Rose Garden (1900 W. Front Street).
Sue Adee, Smith County Master Gardener
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