A Broad-Leaved Evergreen Tree Suited to Our Climate

Southern magnolias are beautiful and majestic evergreen, broad-leaved trees that originate in the southeastern United States. They present a familiar image of the southern US but are also hardy trees that will thrive in our Pacific Northwest climate. Magnolia grandiflora have a rounded pyramidal crown and beautiful patchy gray bark.

Magnolias are in the Magnoliaceae family, which contains some of the oldest flowering plants. These plants are thought to have grown 130 million years ago. 

Characteristics of the Southern Magnolia

The Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is also known as the Evergreen magnolia, as it has very stiff, shiny, large oval-shaped evergreen leaves that consistently drop year round. The tree never drops all its leaves at once as deciduous trees do. The shiny dark green leaves are an excellent identifying feature of Magnolia grandiflora, as are the fuzzy white, orange, or brown undersides of the leaves.

There are only two species of magnolia that are evergreen – Magnolia virginiana (sweet bay) and Magnolia grandiflora, although some magnolias can be semi-deciduous, depending on the climate they’re grown in.

The Evergreen Magnolia has Show-Stopping Flower Displays

The blooms of the Southern magnolia or Evergreen magnolia are magnificent. They are cream or white in color and large in size, as the species name ‘grandiflora’ suggests. They bloom often and intermittently throughout the year.

The flowers are made up of  numerous petals, and at the center is the pistil (made up of spiralling parts called carpels), which is surrounded by spiraling stamens. The center of the flower turns into the seed head and looks similar to a cone. The cone has numerous follicles which open and allow the seeds to fall out. 

Care of Magnolia grandiflora

• Plant in full sun to part sun, depending on the needs of the variety.
• Magnolias like good drainage – amend heavy clay soil and plant on a mound.
• Water deeply and regularly in the summer months.
• Don’t allow roots to sit in water. They are susceptible to phytophthora root rot, which can cause dieback in the branches.
• Prune in spring when seasonal growth begins. Too much pruning will encourage water sprouts to grow, so limit pruning to thinning and removing dead branches.

Uses of the Southern Magnolia

Magnolia grandiflora and its numerous cultivars have many uses in the landscape. They make great shade trees, screens, and accent or specimen trees. These trees are also tolerant of pollution and therefore work well in front yards and as street trees. They provide year-round interest with their shiny green leaves with orange undersides and spectacular flowers.

There aren’t many broad-leaved trees that are evergreen. The Southern magnolia is a special tree to plant in your yard so that you can appreciate a green canopy throughout the year.

Common Magnolia grandiflora Cultivars Available

Magnolia ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ is a stunning variety with large white flowers, 5-6” wide. The tree grows 30-50’ tall and 15-30’ wide. The leaves have showy brown, fuzzy undersides, giving the tree extra interest. This is a hardy variety that tolerates colder weather better than some of the other cultivars. It transplants well and does not lose quite as many leaves as other varieties.

Magnolia ‘Victoria’ is cold hardy and ideal for growing in the Pacific Northwest. It grows up to 30’ tall by 25’ wide. The large white flowers appear in midsummer and have a slight lemon fragrance. The leaves have fuzzy red undersides.

Magnolia ‘Little Gem’ is one of the smallest cultivars available, reaching 15-20’ by 7-10’. It is a great choice as a hedge or screening plant in a smaller sized yard, especially when you’re looking for something different with beautiful blooms.

Magnolia ‘Teddy Bear’ is a dwarf variety of the Southern magnolia that reaches 16-20’ tall and 10-12’ wide. The tree has a pyramidal shape, similar to the plentiful conifers we have in our region, and it fits in well with the conifer garden aesthetic. ‘Teddy Bear’ can be used as an accent tree or a screening tree.

Magnolia ‘Kay Parris’ is a beautiful variety with a straight trunk and pyramidal shape, compared to the more rounded form of Magnolia grandiflora. It reaches 15-20’ tall and 8-10’ wide. It has enormous white, heavily-scented flowers, 8-10” wide, which bloom from late spring into the fall. A relatively fast grower.

Contact Frontier Landscaping to help you select and plant the perfect southern magnolia for your yard.

Profuse Blooms to Liven Up Your Garden

Crape Myrtles, also known by the botanical name Lagerstroemia indica, are deciduous shrubs that range from 4’ in height to trees that can grow up to 30’ tall and wide. There is a great variety of these shrubs and trees that are generally cultivars of Lagerstroemia indica, bred for particular traits such as size, flower color, foliage color, or disease resistance. They are available as single or multi-trunked trees.

Lagerstroemia provide interest throughout the seasons. They offer shiny mid-green to dark green leaves in the spring and summer, vibrant, colorful blooms in the late summer, deep red and burgundy or orange-colored leaves in the fall, and attractive, peeling, mottled gray and tan bark on display in winter.

Crape Myrtles originate from southeastern China and have been in cultivation for over 2000 years due to their many charming attributes. The ‘crape’ name refers to the delicately wavy edges of their eye-catching flowers, similar to the intricately crafted flowers made from crepe paper. This can account for the different spelling of crape myrtles, as they are sometimes called crepe myrtles. These cheerful trees brighten up neighborhoods with their effusive displays of lavender, white, red, or pink blooms in July and August.

Conditions for a Thriving Crape Myrtle

Lagerstroemia love the heat and full sun. Indeed, if they are planted in partial shade, their blooms will turn white and will not be as plentiful. An ideal planting spot is next to a heat soaked patio or a south or west-facing driveway where it can bask in reflected heat from the concrete or stone. For this reason, Crape Myrtles also thrive as street trees and can tolerate some air pollution, provided they also receive enough water.

Crape Myrtles like moist but well-drained soil. It is important to amend clay soil when planting this tree, and be sure to plant it a little above grade to enhance drainage. These trees and shrubs can tolerate drought conditions if necessary but produce more blooms with some summer water. Their preference is for a deep but infrequent watering schedule.

Planting in summer works better for Crape Myrtles than some other trees, which may develop transplant shock. Their roots grow faster in the heat of summer, which helps them to adapt to their new growing site.

Care of Crape Myrtles

• Plant in hot, full-sun locations.
• Feed with a slow-release fertilizer, such as Osmocote to give them a steady flow of nutrients throughout the growing season.
• Water deeply throughout the summer.
• Mulch around the base to help retain water.

Pruning Crape Myrtles

Lagerstroemia species should be pruned minimally in late winter. They bloom on new wood, so trimming in the spring and summer should be avoided, as this would remove the flower buds. Pruning should be limited to general removal of any dead branches, raising the branch level of the tree to reveal the attractive bark, as well as  general thinning to encourage air circulation and discourage powdery mildew, which they can be susceptible to.

Multi-Use Trees

Not only do these trees function well as a patio or street tree, they also make the perfect focal-point tree since they offer year-round interest. These shrubs or trees can be used in mass plantings to line a driveway or path. They also blend in well and provide late summer color in a sunny mixed planting border or a drought tolerant garden.

Lagerstroemia Cultivars Commonly Available:

Lagerstoemia ‘Dynamite’

Bright red and beautiful flowers burst from this show-stopping tree! The leaves emerge red in spring and mature into a handsome dark green. A medium-sized Crape Myrtle grows 15-20’ tall and 10-15’ wide.

Lagerstroemia ‘Muskogee’

The blooms are a delicate lavender color, which light up the tree in late summer and are followed by an orange fall color. The tree reaches 20-30’ tall and 15-20’ wide. A fast growing cultivar.

Lagerstroemia’Natchez’

The flowers are pure white and cover the tree in mid or late summer. It grows to a height of 25-30’ and a width of 15-25’.

Lagerstroemia ‘Tuscarora’ 

Produces vibrant showy coral-pink blooms. The tree reaches 15’ tall and wide.

Contact Frontier Landscaping to help you select and plant the perfect crape myrtle tree for your yard.

Plant a Golden Rain Tree in Your Garden

The Golden Rain Tree is a beautiful addition to your yard. Its name comes from the profusion of small yellow blooms that fall like golden rain and then blanket the ground. Also known by the botanical name Koelreuteria paniculata, this charming deciduous tree originates from North China, Korea, and Japan. It belongs to the family of Sapindaceae. This family contains trees such as the Dodonaea – the hopseed bush, which has similar papery fruit. Another example is Litchi chinensis – the tree that produces Lychee fruit, which are widely used to make preserves.

Beautiful Blooms

The Golden Rain Tree provides year-round interest. In late spring or summer, Koelreuteria paniculata produces large flower panicles rising upwards from the branches. They consist of many individual yellow, fragrant flowers approximately 1/2” in size. Their plentiful nectar attracts honey bees to the tree. In the center of the blooms is an orange speck, which provides an attractive accent. The blooms are followed by papery seed pods like hanging Chinese lanterns, which develop in the fall and persist into winter. They are chartreuse colored, ripening to pink-orange and then bronze as they mature.

The leaves are compound, meaning that they are made up of many sub-divided leaflets – up to 17 in one leaf. The leaflets are irregularly shaped with jagged teeth and are a handsome dark green in color. They range in size from 6” to 15” long. In fall the leaves turn an attractive yellow, highlighting the seed pods and enhancing the tree’s seasonal display. The bark is an attractive grey color with vertical furrows and ridges.

Uses in the Landscape

The Golden Rain Tree develops an irregularly-shaped, but attractive, rounded canopy as it matures. It reaches 30-40’ in height and width, making it a perfect small tree for the landscape. Its seasonal interest makes it a good focal point, specimen, or shade tree for your yard. It also works well as a street tree, as it is tolerant of air pollution and a wide range of soils – alkaline or acidic, as well as clay, sandy, or rocky.

Growing Conditions for the Golden Rain Tree

This adaptable, hardy tree is also somewhat drought tolerant and thrives in our climate (USDA zones: 5-9). The Golden Rain Tree does need full sun and thrives with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. It can tolerate dry conditions but likes a moderate amount of water for optimal growth, which is fairly fast, growing from 13-24” in one year. Once established it needs deep, regular watering in the dry, summer months. It can be susceptible to root rot, so it’s worth amending heavy clay soil with some soil conditioner.

Koelreuteria paniculata is a fantastic tree to plant in landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. It is tough and easily adapts to its growing conditions without fuss, as long as it has the requisite amount of sun! Perhaps as a consequence of this tolerance of a range of environments, there aren’t many cultivars that have been developed. But here are a few to consider:

• Koelreuteria paniculata ‘Fastigiata’ has all the benefits of the regular species but has a narrow, columnar growth habit that can be useful for smaller gardens, with a spread of only 6’. Great for screening out the street in front yards or neighbors in the back!
• Koelreuteria ‘September’ is a smaller cultivar reaching around 25’ tall. Its bloom time is later than the regular species, from July into September. Perfect for adding some late summer blooms to your yard.
• Koelreuteria ‘Stadher’s Hill’ is a slightly smaller tree than the regular species, reaching up to 30’ tall and wide, with bright pink pods following the flowers.

Contact Frontier Landscaping today to help you select and plant the right Golden Rain Tree for your yard.

Donard Gold Monterey Cypress or Cupressus ‘Donard Gold’ is a delightfully bright and bold cultivar. It was developed in Ireland from the much larger Cupressus macrocarpa or recently renamed Hesperocyparis macrocarpa. It is found along the California and Oregon coasts, famously on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Monterey on the Pebble Beach 17-Mile Drive. These beautiful trees have a canopy that is flattened by the strong maritime winds that constantly buffet them.

Characteristics and Use

‘Donard Gold’ is very different from the 40’ tall Monterey cypress, although it does have the same enticing aroma of lemon when the scale-like leaves are crushed. The foliage is a happy chartreuse color, which develops into a bright yellow towards the ends of its upright branches. The peeling, cinnamon-colored bark is another attractive feature of this tree.

The cultivar ‘Donard Gold’ is a much smaller tree, reaching only 20-30’, and staying narrow with a spread of around 8’. Its neat, columnar shape is also very different from the Monterey cypress’ wide open crown. This shape and size makes it a perfect tree to use as a screen, either solo or in a row, similar to arborvitae. A line of ‘Donard Gold’ cypress makes a very attractive and neat hedge. This tree also works well when planted individually as a foundation tree or a garden accent for visual effect.

Care and Conditions

This conifer enjoys full sun conditions. If it is grown in some shade, it begins to turn a darker shade of green and loses its characteristic glow. It would prefer some shelter from harsh winter winds. Plant it in well amended rich soil with good drainage. If you have heavy soil, it’s worth planting on a slightly raised berm to ensure good drainage. Irrigate weekly or more often when grown in containers. USDA Zones: 7-10.

Planting Companions for Donard Gold Monterey Cypress

Conifers are adaptable to our climate. ‘Donard Gold’ Monterey cypress works well in a variety of styles of gardens and combined with many different plants. Their eye-catching yellow contrasts beautifully with dark or mid-green pine trees, such as Mugo pines or other cypress’ such as Lawson’s. They also complement blue spruces and the bright fall color of Japanese maples such as Acer orangeola or Acer ‘Crimson Queen’ with their respective orange and red foliage. Combining these trees will give a rich, Pacific Northwest-style garden, bursting with color for all seasons. Shrubs such as Ninebark (Physocarpus) and Weigela can also contribute to this feel.

‘Donard Gold’ also works well in Japanese or zen gardens with pines and Lorapetalum chinense var. rubrum ‘Blush’ – an elegant broad-leaved evergreen shrub with purple or red leaves. Also combine with Japanese blood-grass (Imperata cylindrica) or Japanese Hakonechloa macra for a restful garden. This golden Monterey cypress can also be sheared for a more formal landscape silhouette along with other conifers.

Contact Frontier Landscaping today to help you select and plant the right tree for your yard.

The weeping Alaskan cedar, otherwise known as Xanthocyparis or Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula,’ is a tree commonly found and used in Pacific Northwest landscapes. There are good reasons for this: its attractive, narrow weeping form and compact, hardy, evergreen attributes make it an ideal tree for both public and private planting spaces in our region.

The original species from which the weeping Alaskan cedar was derived is Chamaecyparis nootkatensis. It is found growing in streams and ravines of the Siskiyou mountains of Northern California up through Oregon and Washington and into Southeast Alaska. The weeping form of this tree has become more popular than the straight species mainly due to its beautiful, pendulous branches.

Characteristics and Uses

The weeping Alaskan cedar is a conifer tree but not a true cedar or cypress, although it is found in the cypress family of Cupressaceae. It is pyramidal in shape and has small scale-like leaves that droop down in small sprays and collectively create what look like long, graceful arms reaching downward. The fruit it produces are small leathery cones up to ½” in diameter.

This tree is much smaller than the straight species, reaching up to 25-30’ tall and a narrow 8-12’ wide. Because of its small size, the weeping Alaskan cedar is a perfect conifer to use in garden settings.

It provides a great accent in mixed woodland gardens, and it’s blue-green foliage contrasts nicely with yellow and bright green leaves in conifer gardens. It also adds great structure and interest to Pacific Northwest gardens, complementing the shapes and colors of various Japanese maples and other broadleaf trees. This tree can also be used to great effect next to boulders and gravel, dry creek beds, and in zen gardens.

The weeping Alaskan cedar can also be used as a screening tree because of it’s evergreen leaves and narrow width. It functions very well as a hedge, providing more interest and beauty than arborvitae, although not providing as tight a hedging effect.

Care for Weeping Alaskan Cedars

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ thrive in moist, humus-rich soils with good drainage and prefer slightly acidic soil pH like most conifers. They like full sun or partial shade and should be watered regularly to maintain consistent soil moisture. Mulching around the base of the tree and root ball will help keep the soil moisture in.

These trees are low maintenance and need very little pruning. However, they can be affected by phytophthora diseases and honey dew fungus, so optimum cultural conditions should be sought to avoid such disorders.

Other Alaskan Cedar Cultivars

Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Green Arrow’ is an even narrower cultivar that quickly grows to 18-35’ tall and 2-5’ wide. This tree makes an interesting specimen to feature in the garden, or they work great clustered together.

Contact Frontier Tree Service today to help you select and plant a weeping Alaskan cedar tree for your yard.