Late spring blooming trees

I thought I'd post a few pictures of some late spring blooming trees.
Some are blooming today, some from a week or two ago.
All are in a little too much shade under a high canopy of oaks, but bloom OK nonetheless.
#1 is stewartia rostrata. Blooms about a week earlier than s. pseudocamellia here. Picture is from today.
#2 is cladrastis kentukea Perkins Pink. It's just at the end of his season, so bloom is a little ragged.
#3 is chionanthus virginica.
#4 is aesculus x carnea Ft McNair.
#5 is aesculus pavia.
Most of these guys would bloom more spectacularly with more sun, I presume.
I've seen some aesculus x carnea in particular which can be spectacular with dense bloom.

Those are all handsome and worthy plants.

If you want, I can rub it in by posting images of these species in full-sun regalia...

They're beautiful, so I'll bite. Rub it in. (Sorry, Weerobin!)

Best I can do on short notice...but I noted locations!

#1 Stewartia rostrata - dang it, can't seem to find spring blooming images (Polly Hill Arboretum)

#2 Cladrastis kentukea 'Perkins Pink' (Versailles KY)

#3 Chionanthus virginicus (outside my office, Louisville KY)

#4 Aesculus ×carnea 'Ft McNair' (Louisville KY)

#5 Aesculus pavia (Brookside Gardens, outside Washington DC)

OK, you win hands down for sheer florabundance.

How 'bout the shrubs?
#1 Sinocalycanthus chinensis.
#2 Calycanthus x Venus
#3 Rhodotypos scandens
#4 Sinojackia rehderiana
#5 Neviusia alabamensis

Edited to add: As for locations, all are at my house...

This message was edited May 26, 2014 4:25 PM

I sprayed for all those (handsome) pests...

I really like that Neviusia - wish I had planted that for myself when I used it on the horse farms 25 years ago.

Lovely, thanks VV!
Weerobin, you must have an amazing yard.

Doublefile Viburnum, Japanese Snowball Bush 'Mariesii'
Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum

Wow, talk about floriferous! That's a plant in full strut!

Weerobin-I know you had a heartbreaking amount of losses this past year, but these are lovely. I hope you keep on planting and experimenting, it is so much fun for us to watch.

Weerobin, I didn't know you had lost so much. That's really too bad. I hope your weather calms down.

These are rhododendrons that aren't past their prime too much.

One last rhodie, then I'm out of flowering shrubs. How about you, mlm? Anything at your house today?

Wow, you guys can really grow rhodies. I'm completely jealous, of course.
They're not so fond of our heat/humidity, at least that's the excuse I use.

#1 Paeonia lutea bloom
#2 Paeonia lutea growing in dry shade under a Redcedar!
#3 Choisya ternata 'Sundance' in dry shade!
#4 Ceanothus 'Victoria'. I can't believe how easy they are here.
#5 Deciduous azaleas by my porch. Also easy here.

I'll enjoy your choisya & ceanothus pics, as we certainly can't grow them here.
I have a tiny choisya in a pot - doesn't look so good.
That peony looks great! It's has a woody stem, doesn't it?
And I love the flame azaleas! Very nice.

Momlady, what Rhodie is that in the first pic? Is it Golden Showers?

Sequoiadendron, I don't think it's Golden Showers. I will try to find it in my notes, but I think I might not have the name. I got some plants from my sister-in-law when she moved to CA and this might be one of them. I will keep looking!

Weerobin, you get "cool envy" and I get "heat envy." There are tons of things I've tried that want more heat than I can provide. I put them in, they sulk, they whimper, then they die. I planted a Callicarpa dichotoma "Early Amethyst" this spring in a fit of optimism/rationalization. I have already killed a Callicarpa bodenieri.

I hate to say this, but my callicarpas are a little out of control.
They have spread well beyond their bounds!

The grass is always greener...

Weerobin yes the P. lutea is a tree peony with woody stems. But the first few years I had it it died to the ground and had to resprout, now it survives fine even though it was really cold this winter.
I drool over your shade plants (Anemonella for example), but with acid clay, and no rain in the summer I can't grow many of them here. But I don't envy the deer. I have only ever seen one here, and it looked nervous and lost.

Yeah my callicarpa is bullet proof. Yanked that thing out this spring in dormancy after chopping it to the ground last fall. Threw it in a hole left by an outgoing holly that burnt to a crisp over the winter. Threw some soil on top and that was it. There's even a root sticking out of the ground I did such a bad job planting it. It's growing like wildfire now.

OK - getting around to posting images from this weekend. Wee isn't the only one having flowering fun in middle America...

1. Viburnum dilatatum 'Asian Beauty'

2. Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk'

3. Indigofera kirilowii

4. Viburnum dentatum clones - 65 plants, 13 taxa in replicates of 5

5. Chionanthus virginicus var. henryi

But this is the one that was most exquisite!

Styrax americanus?

Indeed. This is one that's referred to as 'Kankakee Strain'.

Very handsome - I've never seen one before. Thanks for showing it off.

That's what it can do when you protect it from bunnies. It languished for a couple years, severely bitten, before I caged it.

It has had absolutely no other assistance since I got it at a Holly Society meeting auction. I need to transplant it away from that brutish Thuja plicata behind it.

That is a lovely tree, very delicate.

I have a sort of styrax menagerie. A relic from my 'got to have one of everything' past.
Alas, I ran out of room, which cured that affliction. Those species which remain include:
#1. Styrax japonica. Pure florabundance. My big tree has been a reliable spectacular performer, but last year suffered a significant die-back. Looks a little better this year, but nothing like the vigor of prior years. I worry it's being shaded out, like the rest of my yard.
#2. Styrax confusus. Cute jester's hat flowers, but a shy bloomer.
#3. Styrax formosana. Slimmer flowers. Picture from a couple years ago - I fear it's another victim of the polar vortex, since it just has a single anemic shoot low on the trunk. Sigh...
#4. Styrax obassia. Flowers along a raceme. Tree is too tall, so I often forget to look for the flowers, so I really don't have good pix. But it has big bold felted (softer than Charmin!) leaves.
#5. Styrax japonica Pink Chimes. Using the term 'pink' very loosely.
I have s. wilsonii and s. hemsleyana also, but no s. americanus.
And finally I have this really cute 'yatsubusa' cultivar of s. japonica.
I'm not good enough at bonsai for it to look good, but it's extremely cute.


This message was edited May 30, 2014 4:49 AM

Aahhhh, I love these! I am sorry you have casualties. It's really hard when you lose something.

This is really a stretch, but it is a Tree Peony.

Ahhhh! It counts for me!

What, Pseudo? The frozen tundra has thawed?
That definitely looks like springtime!

Yes, spring has arrived in the great white north. It took its time getting here, but what a lovely spring we're having -- a nice mix of brilliant sun and regular precipitation.

It looks like we're about two weeks behind those of you living in tropics.