Photo: Raul654, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped · Wikimedia Commons

Carolina Silverbell

Scientific name: Halesia tetraptera

Also called mountain silverbell, snowdrop tree, Halesia carolina.

Rows of white bell flowers hang beneath the branches in April on this graceful Appalachian understory tree.

Be first when Carolina silverbell is priced

Saplings ship bare-root or in a pot, usually 12 to 18 inches tall, in the dormant season, and their height and age are stated here with the price, once available.

We grow it as saplings and seed. One email when it is listed with prices, and nothing else. Or ask, and we reply with what is ready now. Live plants ship February to May and October to November.

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Showy flowersFall colorRareWinter interest

Type: Medium tree
Mature height: 30–40 ft
USDA zones: 4–8
Growth rate: Medium
Flowers: April to May
Fruit: Winged fruit, August to September
First crop: A few years (first flowers; heavy flower crops from 20 to 25)
Mature spread: 30 ft
Sun: Full, Part
Soil moisture: Average
Grows wild in: Rich moist slopes, the Appalachians and stream banks
Native range: 18 states, north to New York and south and west to Texas
List all 18
Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia
Also recorded, not native, in Connecticut, Michigan and Rhode Island. See what is native in your state

Hardiness zones Find your zone by ZIP code

Silverbell is hardy far north of its southern mountain home. It becomes a multi-stemmed small tree with yellow fall color and four-winged fruit. Rarely available because the seed needs two winters to germinate; ours are past that. Nurseries often sell it as Halesia carolina. Some botanists keep that name for a separate coastal species and call this tree Halesia tetraptera, as we do; others count the two as one species. Ideal for a woodland garden, planted above a path so you see the bells from below.

Size, growth and what to expect

A Carolina silverbell seedling blooms when only a few years old, and the heavy flower crops come every year once the tree is 20 to 25. It grows at a medium pace, roughly a foot and a half a year in its youth on an average site, which is the rate our growth estimator uses for it. In the wild it is a small tree of 20 to 40 feet with a crown 15 to 30 feet across and a trunk 5 to 11 inches through. The white bells are half to three quarters of an inch long, open in late April and May, and draw crowds of bees.

The dry four-winged fruit that follows is 1 to 2 inches long and holds on into winter. The tree lives about 100 years, and the oldest known has been ring-counted to 197. In the southern Appalachians it is called mountain silverbell.

It grows wild in the Piedmont and mountains of the Carolinas, eastern Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. Scattered stands reach western Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio, and west to Arkansas and Oklahoma.

How to grow Carolina Silverbell

Carolina silverbell does best in part shade with morning sun, in average, well-drained soil that stays moist and runs acid. Full sun works where summers stay cool. Allow the tree 25 feet of width, and as much from the house. Set trees 25 to 35 feet apart.

Plant in the dormant season. Saplings come bare-root or in pots. Dig a wide, shallow hole, put the root flare at grade, and refill with the soil you dug, not peat or compost. Mulch a broad ring, off the bark, since the roots run near the surface. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in fall and be patient, since it usually needs two winters to sprout.

Water deeply through the first two summers, and more often on sand. Deer browse it, so cage the young tree until the lowest branches are out of reach. Prune, if at all, right after flowering.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. Silverbell throws several stems from the base; leave them for the layered look or pick one leader early. On limestone or high pH soil the leaves yellow between the veins, and watering will not fix that, so test before you plant. It carries few pests, and the winged fruit hangs into winter.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

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