Tri-color Beech

I was at a garden tour today and there was the most amazingly beautiful tree. I was told it was a tri-color beech.

Wish I had gotten a close up of the leaves.

They look nice in spring and early summer, but the pink leaf margins readily burn brown in high summer heat, and it looks awful for the rest of the year. So don't get too carried away!

Resin

Thanks Resin, I read that they are good for a shady spot, if left out in the bright sun they get sunburned. I have no idea where I would put a tree that size where it would be shaded. LOL They did say slow growing but still eventually it's going to get big. That's what I love about DG you all have such a wealth of knowledge. I have very little space for shade trees so I have to pick carefully.

Yes, they can get large - there's one in Britain 27 metres tall and with a trunk 84cm diameter. Hard to find a shady spot for that!! ;-)

Resin

Holly, I have one in St Louis in 6a which is probably 10ft tall or so.
As Resin says, it's nice right now - spring thru early / mid summer.
But it's pretty crispy by end of summer.
It needs at least partial shade, in my experience. Sadly, no fall color.
I still like it overall...

I talked to my friend that was with me on the tour, she was very interested in them, too. We are going back to the street with the tree the first or second week of August and see what it looks like. Neither of us are in a big hurry. She has much more room to plant trees than I do. Our house is solar both active and passive and there is a pool in the back yard so we have very little in the way of shade trees in the back. There are a few smaller trees kousa dogwood, ornamental plum,red buds, apple pushed back at the edge of the yard area. A wonderful old hedgerow of native trees that run down the other side of our lane. There is a row of Leland cypress down the one side of what had been a pasture and a few odd trees out there too before you get to the woods. I could put it back there and the woods would shade it a bit but seems like such a waste to put it that far from the house. I have been seeding the edge of the woods with native dogwood and redbud. But to put something like the beech out there doesn't make sense to me. Out front there is a good size evergreen group, red maple, atlas cedar, white birch. I am expecting to put in a prairie fire crabapple as soon as I get the forsythia removed. I like my trees to have space to grow and wouldn't want to crowd them. I have maybe one spot for an extra tree but the yard isn't empty.

Logged on to ID a shrub and saw this beauty. Wow factor ten!

pajonica

You are right pajonica, It is a WOW factor ten. At least it is right now, guess we will see come August if I still think that. LOL

I'd rate it wow factor minus 3 by August . . . ugly, twisted, shrivelled, burnt-brown edged leaves, looks diseased. While normal green beeches retain healthy green well-formed leaves.

Resin

A friend here in zone 5 has one and its gorgeous. It may depend on how hot it gets where you are. I think we only get two or three weeks of hot weather. Usually those two or three weeks may hit the low 90's. Maybe you should check with others in the same zone. Resin, I think I've been to Northumberland. If I'm remembering it, there was a castle there ?

We went to Alnwick.... I have a video and a book (when I posted last I was having a brain lapse... ).. lol I'm not new to Dave's but I'm new to posting... so, I'm very sorry to have mixed subjects.

Don't apologize to Resin; he'll have his vigorous UK opinions, which don't always translate well to eastern North America but are always cogent and direct.

Fagus sylvatica and its clones can do perfectly well in the US; the key is proper siting and plant selection. Many sites that have acid soils, cooler summer temperatures,and average moisture conditions can support European beech and its selections perfectly well. If you stray outside of these conditons in your plantings, then you ought to pay attention to Resin's admonitions.

Decide what you really want, and then decide if your site can adequately provide it.

I planted a 9 footer about five years ago, it was beautiful the first year ,but not as nice in the following years, it is not very leafy. The edges turned brown, but I still love it. I love the shape of this tree! I moved it last fall, but will move it again into a more shaded area. I have it in full sun thats probably why it's not as nice as it could be. I'm glad to know that someone else had the brown curled leaves. I can't wait to move it this fall. I'm hoping that will make a big difference.

My friend would likely put it out in her sunny field, It is a good size field and she is putting in some trees that can really grow large and with nothing to interfere with their development like houses, poles or wires. The spot that I would most likely plant would get some morning shade from the hedgerow to the east of the yard but then it would be full sun all day. I love getting all the different views and info. I very well learned (the hard way) about proper siting. I just love willow trees and thought that one would look beautiful in the middle of my yard. It was damaged as a young tree which didn't help but I watched that tree struggle on my somewhat windy and dry hilltop. It was almost a blessing when it came down after a storm. Thanks for all the info.

Well, My friend and I went back at the end of summer to look at those beautiful trees. We almost forgot and didn't get back until the end of August maybe the beginning of Sept. They were diffidently browner than the other trees around them. We didn't think they looked that bad from a distance they looked much like other trees that would change to brown shortly. We really should have checked them out at the end of July. I wonder how long they had been that brown?

Here we are with a closer look at a large area of branches. I noticed that most of the tree looked like this but there were areas that were a bit more or less sun-burnt.

Last shot, I just love this tree but I have such a small area for shade trees I doubt that I will plant one. I think my friend will she didn't seem to mind the sun burnt look enough to over shadow the Spring beauty. Thanks everyone for the in put.

One note: There are many so-called "Tri-color" beeches on the market in nurseries. BUT, most of these trees are really 'Purpurea Tricolor' (narrower leaves with edging and variegation in rose and pinkish white), and the overall appearance is definitely not as nice, even in the spring. TRUE tri-color beeches, 'Roseomarginata', have a nice wide margin of variegation. Since there is real confusion in the trade, for anyone interested in getting such a tree, be sure to see the tree in leaf. At nurseries, in a block of tricolor beeches, there will be wide differences in leaf pattern and quality. Regardless, either cultivar needs afternoon shade, good soil, and consistent moisture. In the right situation, even in less-than-perfect areas, they are a real beauty right into the fall.

Holly, Don't forget how much rain and how few really sunny days we had this year. Everything had great goliage. Many leaves fell without even changing colors.