Why plant a rare or uncommon native tree in your yard

A rare or seldom-planted native earns its place in a yard three ways. It is a kind few neighbors grow, so a pest or disease that kills one common kind is likely to leave it standing. It can be a living copy of a species scarce in the wild: the Franklin tree, last seen in the wild in 1803, survives only in gardens. It also brings flowers, fall color or a fit for hard ground that few other yards on the street have, and it feeds wildlife as any native does.

Two kinds of rare

Some trees are rare in the wild. Bottlebrush buckeye grows wild in so few places that NatureServe ranks it vulnerable, and the Franklin tree is no longer known anywhere in the wild.

Others are common in the woods yet seldom sold or planted. Post oak is abundant across the Southeast and South Central states, yet it is seldom planted in gardens. Shellbark hickory is rare in the wild and rarer in nurseries, which skip it because its deep root makes it hard to move. The plants we mark rare are of either kind, uncommon in the wild or in nurseries. Why species dwindle is the subject of why native trees become rare.

A tree few yards have spreads the risk

Pests tend to follow their hosts’ botanical groups: a species, a genus or a whole family. Dutch elm disease reached the United States in the early 1930s, and every native elm is susceptible. The emerald ash borer attacks all 16 native ashes, healthy trees of any size among them. Before 1970 the street trees of many eastern cities were mostly elm, and when the disease reached Minneapolis in the 1960s and 1970s, over 90 percent of its street trees could catch it.

The usual rule of thumb since 1990 caps a city’s trees at 10 percent in one species, 20 percent in one genus and 30 percent in one family. Native street trees covers how a city applies it block by block. By 2004 only 17 percent of the Minneapolis street trees could host the ash borer, yet a city’s share is cold comfort on a block planted to one kind:

“Although a potential 17% city scale loss was a much more operationally achievable outlook, a full street block of all susceptible trees was still daunting and alarming from the perspective of an individual property.” (Potyondy, Minneapolis Street Tree Planting Guidelines to Increase Diversity, 2025)

A rare tree of a genus your neighbors do not grow is one their trees’ pests tend to pass over. No mix stops every pest: Armillaria root rot, Verticillium wilt and the Japanese beetle are among those that attack trees of many genera.

A living copy of a species

A planted tree can outlast its species in the wild. The Franklin tree grew wild on two or three acres beside the Altamaha River in Georgia, where John and William Bartram found it in 1765, and nowhere else. William carried its seed home to Philadelphia in 1777, and most if not all Franklin trees growing today trace back to the plants he raised there. Even so, the species nearly slipped away in gardens too:

“Prior to 1900 Franklinia was extremely rare in gardens, and could easily have been lost to the world altogether.” (Bartram’s Garden, Franklinia Series: Finding Franklinia alatamaha, Part One)

Gardens have not sent it home. Phytophthora root rot, which is everywhere in southeastern soil, kills the Franklin tree, and the tree thrives in northeastern gardens where the rot is absent. A genetic study of cultivated trees found two groups, a sign that the seed came from at least two wild trees.

Florida torreya is in the same straits. A fungal canker has killed nearly every wild tree since the 1950s, and the survivors are stump sprouts that die back before they bear seed. A healthy tree planted far from its home river helps keep the species alive.

Gardens in the Center for Plant Conservation have held over a third of North America’s globally rare plant species in conservation collections. Such a collection is worth most when it records where each plant came from and draws on many mother plants. A yard tree with no record of its seed is not one, though it keeps the species growing in one more place.

What a rare native gives a yard

Rare in the wild does not mean frail in a yard: American smoketree is rare on its limestone bluffs, yet hardy, tough and spectacular in the garden. A rare oak still belongs to the genus that feeds the most caterpillars. Each plant below does a job few common yard trees do:

• Late flowers: Franklin tree opens fragrant white flowers from July until frost. Zones 5 to 9, 10 to 25 feet.
• Midsummer plumes: Georgia plume, wild only in Georgia, holds upright white plumes in July and turns bright red in fall. Zones 6 to 9, 10 to 16 feet.
• Spring bloom on a shade tree: Yellowwood hangs wisteria-like white flowers in late spring, and few nurseries grow it. Zones 4 to 8, 30 to 50 feet.
• October color on dry ground: American smoketree turns orange, scarlet and purple all at once. Zones 3 to 8, 20 to 30 feet.
• Shade on hard ground: Kentucky coffeetree takes drought, alkaline soil, road salt and compacted city soil. Zones 3 to 8, 60 to 80 feet.
• A pond shore: Seaside alder stands in water, feeds its own soil and hangs gold catkins in August and September. Zones 3 to 9, 12 to 30 feet.
• A shady corner: Bottlebrush buckeye lifts white flower spikes up to a foot long in early summer, when few other shrubs bloom. Zones 4 to 9, 8 to 12 feet.
• A thin, rocky bank: Georgia oak, a small red oak of granite outcrops, turns red in fall. Zones 5 to 8, 25 to 50 feet.

What a rare tree asks of you

We sell rare natives young, as saplings or seed, and a small sapling catches up with a big transplant within a few years. Many grow slowly, among them the Franklin tree, Georgia plume, American smoketree and Georgia oak.

Each wants ground like its wild home. The Franklin tree needs an acid soil that stays moist but drains freely, since wet ground rots its roots, and it has a reputation for being difficult to grow. The site check grades a species against your zone, sun and soil before you plant.

Ask where the seed came from, since seed source decides how well a tree keeps time with your seasons, and leave wild plants where they grow. What the federal and state lists allow, and how to buy a listed plant, is the subject of buying and planting a rare or federally listed native.

Where to start

Blue Whale Trees grows every tree it sells from seed, not grafted, so each seedling is genetically distinct. Start with these:

• Tree finder: the rare natives we grow, narrowed by zone, size, sun and soil moisture.
• Rare trees and shrubs: the whole list in the shop, from shrub oaks to Florida torreya.
• Rare oak collection: five oaks almost nobody grows, planted together as a living collection.
• Why native trees become rare: ten rare eastern species, and why each is scarce.

Common questions

Why plant a rare tree?

It adds a kind few neighbors grow, so a pest that kills one common kind cannot take every tree on the street. It can also keep a scarce species growing outside the wild, as gardens have kept the Franklin tree since 1803.

Should I plant an endangered tree in my yard?

Yes, if it was grown from seed in a nursery and suits your ground, since a healthy planted tree keeps the species growing in one more place. Leave wild plants where they grow, and ask the seller where the seed came from.

What are some unusual native trees for a front yard?

Franklin tree and Georgia plume bring white flowers in summer, and yellowwood hangs wisteria-like blooms in late spring. American smoketree turns orange, scarlet and purple at once in October, and Georgia oak fits where a big oak would crowd the house.

Are rare trees harder to grow?

Some are: the Franklin tree has a reputation for being difficult, and wet ground rots its roots. Many are not, since American smoketree is hardy and tough in a garden and Kentucky coffeetree takes drought, road salt and compacted soil.