CSU Research

Try these underutilized woody plants

Each year researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) evaluate over 1,300 taxa of woody plants for adaptability, flowers, fruit, pest problems and more. Students help maintain the test sites with support from Colorado Horticulture Research and Education Foundation (CHREF), J. Frank Schmidt Charitable Trust, Bailey Nursery Inc., Colorado Agriculture Experiment Station and numerous local and national nurseries. Visit these woody plants in person in Fort Collins and/or view and learn more online at www.woodyplants.colostate.edu.

Here are eight woody plants worth considering for Colorado landscapes. | CG

Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Obelisk’ Standing Ovation™ Serviceberry

This very cold hardy plant has multiple seasons of landscape interest. White flowers in spring turn to edible berries in June, and dark green leaves turn red to orange in fall. This serviceberry has a uniform upright/oval growth habit and is a selection of our native Colorado serviceberry. Tips & Tricks: Can be used to make an informal hedge/ screen or use it to add height in small gardens.

Cornus mas – Cornelian Cherry Dogwood

This plant can be grown as a shrub or small tree to about 15 feet tall. It is pH adaptable and prefers a well-drained soil. Yellow flowers in March are a first-of-spring. Foliage

Photos courtesy Colorado State University

is attractive and has prominent veination.

Tips & Tricks: The red fruit in August is sparsely produced due to early flowering which may be affected by spring frosts.

Pyrus ussuriensis ‘MorDak’ Prairie Gem® Ussurian Pear

This very cold hardy plant—a selection from North Dakota State University—grows to about 25 feet tall and wide and is very adaptable to Colorado’s alkaline clay soils. It develops a dense, oval-to-rounded growth habit. White flowers appear before leaf emergence in April. Dark green leaves turn golden yellow in fall. Prairie Gem develops sparse fruit. Tips & Tricks: This plant is a good choice under power lines or in smaller spaces.

Zone 3 Full sun Adapts to part shade Prefers shadier conditions

Sorbus aucuparia ‘Michred’ Cardinal Royal® European Mountain Ash

This plant has an upright oval habit, grows to about 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide, and is adaptable to alkaline soils. Leaves are dark green above and silvery beneath. Showy white flowers in May are followed by red fruits in September which persist into winter. Fall foliage color is red to yellowish. Tips & Tricks: This plant performs best on either a north or east exposure.

Syringa reticulata subsp Pekinensis Pekin Lilac

This plant is generally grown as a multi-stem large shrub, growing to about 15 feet tall and wide. It is adaptable to alkaline clay soils and has an upright arching habit. Showy yellow

ish-white flowers bloom in May into June.

Tips & Tricks: Ornamental bark exfoliates

LEGEND

in brown flakes or sheets. Zone 4

Useful for containers

Xeric

Requires moisture Zone 4

Heptacodium miconioides –Seven-son Flower

This plant can be grown as a small tree or shrub maturing to about 20 feet. It has fragrant white flowers in August into September in clusters of seven with calyxes that turn a showy red in September. Leaves have prominent veining and little fall color. Tips & Tricks: The plant performs best in morning sun and afternoon shade and the bark exfoliates on larger stems.

Acer grandidentatum ‘Manzano’ (Manzano Bigtooth Maple)

This is a slow-growing maple that matures to about 25 feet high and 20 feet wide. It is a selection from the Manzano Mountains in New Mexico, is adapted to alkaline soils and has reliably excellent red-orange-yellow fall foliage color. Tips & Tricks: This plant is more tree-like than Bigtooth Maple but may be limited in availability.

Maackia amurensis – Amur Maackia

Growing to about 25 feet in height, this small tree is easily transplanted and adaptable to alkaline soils. New leaves are silvery-green, and white fragrant flowers emerge in June or July. As a legume, it can use atmospheric nitrogen and produces a green to brown pod fruit 2-3 inches in length. There is little fall

foliage color.

Tips & Tricks: Plant has olive green to brown bark which peels with maturity adding winter interest.

Zone 2 Zone 4 Zone 4

Contributed by James E. Klett, Ph.D. Colorado State University, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture