Would a pink dogwood fit the bill? I have Cornus Florida Rubra in my front yard, fall foliage color from maroon to red, last year the foliage was almost scarlet in color. Mine gets full sun and after the first couple of years was watered infrequently.

Not a woodland tree, but otherwise this comes to mind. Don't know if it has been brought into Canada.

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Raindrops® Crabapple

here has tended to be of the burgundy or maroon persuasion.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I do love the dogwoods, a neighbor down the street has a pink one and it's gorgeous. In my backyard, I have a native white dogwood with anthracnose. It's probably going to have to come down, but I keep putting it off because it's a good 30' and is the specimen shade tree in our back yard. Do you think I need to worry about anthracnose spreading to a front yard dogwood?

BBoy re: the crab apple. Do you know how much of an issue apple scab and rust, etc, will be? I don't want to have to spray anything.

Thanks again.

Pink dogwood also gets the disease syndrome, just not as badly. The crab cultivar is completely clean in my area. I've grown it for years and have by now seen many other planted examples. If it was a poor one for this region I would not suggest it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I do like the unusual shape of the leaves. I will add it to the shortlist and see if it is available.

If I have anthracnose on one tree should I assume every dogwood I plant is likely to get it? How far does disease resistance go in a Kousa, for example? Anyone know?

There is some but not as much as with the other two. People routinely plant Kousa expecting no trouble, but pink forms may be marred noticeably - there is a genetic susceptibility linked to pink bract color in this species.

You could also try one of the other dogwood hybrids - 'Eddie's White Wonder', one of the Rutger hybrids or the new-on-the-market supposedly anthracnose-resistant 'Appalachian Spring' -- all will be markedly more disease resistant than other Cornus florida selections (especially pink flowering forms) and often more resistant than kousas, although they are not known for having a lot of disease problems in the PNW. I would not consider dogwoods to be the most drought tolerant of trees, however.

Crabs are a good choice as well :-)

As far as the berries are concerned, I didn't see anything else on google other than the crapapple. Do all crabapples have a problem with a lot of suckering?

Crape myrtles, Lagerstroemia, can apparently grow rapidly into a small tree and have fall color as well as lots of flowers in summer to fall. They like it hot so don't do as well in Seattle unless they are in a parking lot or near pavement to get some additional heat.

They can grow fast-

http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/CrapeMyrtles.htm

I saw one article on good trees for fall color in Seattle, perhaps someone who is familiar with them could comment if any are particularly good, most seem a little big, some look really great in photos, the Stewartia pseudocamillia has nice flowers in spring as well as good color, I don't know how fast it grows.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seattle pi suggestions for fall color

Thanks Hemnancy, I"ve seen that link too on the fall color trees for Seattle.

I heard Stewartia are quite slow growing, and it seems like they would have a dense canopy.

I think I would prefer a lighter canopy.

Does anyone have any feedback around serviceberry? Which is the best variety for disease resistance. I've been looking at Amelanchier Grandiflora 'autumn brilliance' and amelanchier alnifolia.

Summer conditions will be the main general filter in this region. Most forested areas elsewhere in the world have rainy summers. Southeast Asian trees like Japanese stewartia and Kousa dogwood come from places where it rains buckets in summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: 25 Trees that thrive in the maritime Northwest's Dry Summers

I don't know if this would be suitable for your needs but another tree that does well here is Oxydendrum arboreum, sourwood, beautiful fall color.

We have Acer campestre, Hedge Maple, that came with our place over 30 years ago. The tree is now about 30 feet high. We have pruned it up so that it looks like a tree. It makes a perfect climbing tree for kids.
No berries, but flowers that the bees like and squirrels keep us entertained all winter going for the seeds. Most of the seeds stay on the tree. The branches look good in the winter and dense shade in the summer.
I suspect it is very slow growing and have no idea where to find them. Only other ones I have seen were in Oregon where a line of them were pruned into a twelve foot hedge around a circular drive. I have given a few seedling trees away and they are about 10 foot tall after about 10 years.
The hedge maple is very drought resistant and has yellow with red edged leaves in fall (just starting to color now).

Gardengal - thanks for the other suggestions on Dogwood. I hadn't heard about Appalachian Spring. I might give that a go in my back yard, where it's moister.

Aftermidnight -- thanks I've been considering sourwood also. I do like the color. My only hesitation is the shape - they're a little lollipopish.

I think I'd prefer a more open, spreading canopy.

Cedar - I haven't heard of that variety of maple. I'll check it out.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone!

Hedge maple is being planted in quantity on local streets. Multiple cultivars are on the market. Sourwood is excellent but slow. The shape varies widely between individuals but most older ones here are much taller than wide, forming a sort of column down which the inflorescences appear to cascade. The way each bends down and then levels off near the tips is interesting. At this time of year the leaves have gone red but the infrutescences are still light greenish, forming a contrast.

Disanthus?

A shrub. 15' would be a big one for this area, don't know about 15' in 10 years requirement being met.

I planted a white blooming Kousa under our native dogwood that had a bad case of anthracnose just to see what would happen. The Kousa became infected with the fungus. After removing the native dogwood, the Kousa was fungus free the following year.

My pink Kousa, 'Satomi' came down with a mild case of anthracnose this year. First time. Guess I'll have to take down the one remaining native Dogwood that has had Antracnose every year. Maybe my Satomi will do better next year if I do.

Thanks Botann for sharing your experience. I was afraid that would be the case.

Oh, I sorely wish we did not have to take down our Dogwood. But it is so infected every year.

Merry Gardener - thanks for the suggestion. Disanthus is a little small for my needs in that spot, but how pretty! It's on my covet list, if only I can find a spot.

Nobody has anything to say on the amelanchier (serviceberry) option?

I think ( to put it mildly) Ameliancher is lacking in ornamental appeal compared to the other plants that have been discussed in this thread. Not that it is inappropriate for the right situation and uses.

Is there a such thing as a weeping Parrotia and how big does it get? I can't remember. Might be tough to find anyways. So far I think the best suggestion is Acer campestre.

There IS a weeping form of Parrotia and a very nice but rather small tree it is.......doubt you would be happy with the mature size (about 15' max, give or take) and it is slow growing.

The serviceberry is a lovely tree and with great fall color typically. Not as showily ornamental in spring as say a flowering crab but vastly more so than the maple. Personally, I'd lean towards either the dogwood or stewartia - both are great trees for this area if irrigation is provided in summer. And I'd not consider the stewartia to have a particularly dense canopy......depends a lot on specific selection.

Here is a link that might be useful: check out this link for photo of weeping Parrotia....also other potential tree choices

Serviceberries are being planted in numbers on Seattle streets. In this climate they do not seem to be as problematic as flowering cherries (and older, obsolete cultivars of flowering crabapple trees) can be. But the showy tree form ones are almost all forms of eastern North American species adapted to summer moisture. So, although generally satisfactory some effects of summer drought can be seen in the appearance of some specimens.

The western serviceberry is not as decorative as the eastern ones. The clean appearance it has in flower can be handsome but there is seldom much fall color, and its tufted-looking inflorescence and rounded leaf never produce the elegance of eastern species like Amelanchier laevis and its hybrids.

Speaking of native trees vine maple makes a good summer screen.

also lousy for us on the Camano Island property - except for grafted purplish foliage cultivar 'Burgundy Jewel'.

We have an "Autumn Brilliance" serviceberry that's about 4 years old. It does get nice fall color, but it's not a very attractive tree for a specimen. The flowers are pretty enough but don't last long---only a few days, it seems like. The birds LOVE the berries. Cedar waxwings go nuts for them. Since ours is in a prime spot, we might end up taking it out if it doesn't start looking better. As far as disease goes, it was covered with rust (or something that looked like rust) this summer.

gardengal48:

Do you know of a source for a weeping parrotia? I've tried to find one and been unsuccessful.

Had rust sweep through the serviceberry collection on Camano Island one year but have not seen much of it other years. Weeping Parrotia listed by 7 vendors in The Plant Locator - Western Region sourcebook published several years ago so it has been on the market comparatively recently. List included usual suspects Gossler Farms, forestfarm, Wells Medina nursery and Greer Gardens. I know I've seen it offered locally but did not note which places and when. At one time there was a specimen planted conspicuously by itself in an island bed near the entrance to the parking lot north of the Lam Asian Garden at the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver. I assume it is still there but have not been to Canada for awhile now.

that the strawberry tree bark picture on the home page of the Kim P. article (linked to above), which I just now looked at shows a madrone trunk instead.

And the redbud shown in bloom is a Chinese rebud or similar, and not an Eastern redbud. When you click on her highlighted link to a another picture of an Eastern redbud in bloom that shows the correct tree.

lucretia - it is not the most common item but I have seen the weeping Parrotia at various area garden centers over the years. If this is really something you are seeking, you might request one from your favorite local garden center ASAP. Most are just finalizing their spring tree orders and various local tree wholesalers DO show it available. Pretty easy for them to do an add-on now -- much harder to bring one in next spring if not pre-ordered.

I'd tried (unsuccessfully) a while back to find one on line, and when I asked my local nursery about it, they said that they'd never heard of one. I see that Greer Gardens now shows several parrotia cultivars marked as "NEW"--including the weeping form. Time to find more room in the yard...

Thanks, everybody!

Thank you all for your latest suggestions!

You might also consider Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki'. I have a tough spot in full sun where I originally planted Oxydendrum arboreum. The Oxydendrum has very fine roots, and did not tolerate drought at all. Osakazuki is thriving. It seems to be a relatively fast grower and has the best fall color I've seen around here - intense crimson.
This picture does not do the fall color justice:

Here is a link that might be useful: Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki'

Some maples have been terrific this season.

Yes, good suggestion annuka. Our acer palmatum 'Osakazuki' has grown very well to about 12 feet in only four years and the colour is nothing short of spectacular. Even in the very dull light this afternoon its crimson colour was almost flourescent it glowed so brightly.

In my garden, generally speaking, the maples haven't colored up as well, nor have the colors lasted as long as usual this year. There have been some exceptions though.

Here's a 'Garnet'.
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In my, admittedly limited, experience, removing all the fallen dogwood leaves, and making sure the tree gets enough water goes a long way toward controlling anthracnose. With a place as big as Botann's that's not practical, but for a normal suburban or urban garden, it's doable.

So glad people are still chiming in. I'm especially glad to hear from Annuka and Bobb - Osakazuki is on my shortlist and I wondered how it would do in sun. Also glad to hear it grows relatively fast.

I do love the japanese maples for their wonderful branching structure. That Garnet is a beaut too.

Hallerlake - I do try to pick up detritus, but it just doesn't work. This tree is 30+ feet, and was not really planted in an ideal spot to begin with. I will be more diligant next summer about watering, but I do think it's doomed to my great sadness. Removal is going to be hell and visually it will be such a loss to the yard.

Thanks again everyone!

Note that like Kousa dogwood and Japanese stewartia Japanese maple is another monsoon climate species expecting significant summer moisture. Although apparently not very fussy in local plantings and a western native vine maple belongs to the same group and is characteristic of moist sites in the wild, where it has to endure all variations the climate may through at it each summer.

Anything native to Japan and vicinity is liable to be coming from places that get buckets of rain during the hot time of the year. The mountains of Taiwan in particular are extremely wet.

Just a note about the Parrotia-- I have one, and I am extremely annoyed with it. I have it between the sidewalk and the front of the house (a West-facing slope), and it fries horribly every year. It has also barely grown at all. And, yes, I planted it right, and watered it right. I have noticed that the other Parrotia in my neighborhood (which is on an East-facing slope) fries, too.

Conversely, my Bloodgood Japanese maple (next to the Parrotia) has done beautifully. It never has any scald.

I have several Parrotias. I have found them to be a really tough tree. I whacked one down, yeah, whacked it down, and it sprouted right away. Give yours a season or two and see what happens.
I grow a lot of different trees, and Parrotias are one of the toughest.
Mike
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