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Ornamental Trees
Q. I want to plant some ornamental trees
in my yard that will have white or pink
blossoms (or even another color) I live
in Northwest Pennsylvania. There is less
sun than most places and more snow. I want
the trees for decoration but the practical
side of me was thinking cherry trees. Any
thoughts?
A. Of course you are on the right track with flowering cherries. They are great and well-suited to your climatic zone. I used to garden in NW Ohio. Also: flowering plum
spirea
redbud
lilac
dogwood
mock orange [fragrant!]
You could grow real fruit trees too and
get a bonus from your spring flowers as:
apple
peach
cherry
plum
apricot
nectarine Forsythia is a bush but so beautiful and ornamental. Check out your local nursery and garden centers to see what is for sale. That will give you a good idea of what is best suited for your locale and what they recommend and sell
or else they would not carry it. There are always special order nurseries catalogs or online. Let me know if I can be of assistance.
Q. I am trying to find an ornamental
tree that I can grow indoors that resembles
a Japanese Maple. Are you aware of
any such tree? Is it possible to grow a
Japanese Maple indoors? I am not looking
for a bonsai I'm hoping to find something
as large as 3-4 feet tall. A ficus
would do but I was hoping to find something
with red/purple color.
A. If you have a small greenhouse or solarium with even heat and ample humidity
you could try a maple but for the rest of us home growers
they will die very quickly. It is hard to acclimate a tree to the indoor conditions especially the dry winter conditions. Ficus do quite well indoors with plenty of sunlight and even water
the bottom of the pot never sitting in water. They will drop their leaves right after home introduction but that will slow down as it acclimates. Never have them near a draft
hot or cold. Feed lightly and regularly.
As for other trees in the purple-red foliage
color you would be best getting a hardy
dracaena or diffenbachia or an easy-to-grow
rubber tree. These house plants do very
well indoors but any tree from outside will
usually not adjust to your home conditions.
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