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| Hi,
I’m looking for an accent plant for the front of a light colored house in Canadian growing zone 5b. It must be wind and ice damage tolerant. Because of the light colored house I was thinking something with red / purple or yellow foliage. House is also two story so maybe a medium to large tree. Any recommendations? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Maybe some type of ornamental flowering crab with purple leaves? Sorry, I don't know any specific cultivar but I believe there are a few. Maybe a shubert chokecherry? They have pretty purple leaves as well. For golden trees maybe a golden catalpa 'aurea'. There are probably more but these are the few that I know of. Glen |
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| Prunus cerasifera 'Newport' gets only 18' tall and 15-20' wide at maturity, and has purple foliage. 'Thundercloud' is about the same. Although not dark-colored in leaf, many of the deciduous saucer magnolias (Magnolia x soulangiana) look stunning in front or at the corner of white houses. Just make sure you choose a violet-pink blooming cultivar for most effect--such as 'Lennei' or 'Verbanica', 'Alexandrina' or 'Rustica Rubra'. Crabapples are grand, too. Do ask for a selection that is rust and scab resistant so your tree looks super in summer and fall. Even if you choose a non-purple leaved accent tree, you can have purple-leaved shrubs to anchor your planting beds around the white house's foundation--sand cherry, leuchothoe, fringeflowers may work, not sure this last one is hardy in zone 5 though. |
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| I have a 'Makamik' crab that I love. The foliage is dark and it has gorgeous deep pink flowers in spring, not to mention that the fragrance is awesome! It does have fruit but it really isn't a messy tree. I don't know how tall you want this tree to get but the Makamik grows to about 30-40'high and just as wide, according to Lois Holes book. We've had it 10 years now and it is still only about 15' and rounding out nicely. Marg |
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| I agree about the Shubert cherry. They grow to about 15 ft. |
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