Uncommon Yard Trees

Native shade and flowering trees that deserve far more use than they get.

Ninety native shade and flowering trees for yards, from small trees such as flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, serviceberry and white fringetree to canopy trees such as black gum, American basswood, bald cypress and Kentucky coffeetree. Mature heights run from about 10 to 120 feet and hardiness from USDA zone 2 to zone 10 depending on the species. All are sold as saplings, and eighty-nine of them as seed to sow. Saplings ship while dormant, in spring and fall. Which of them belongs near a house is its own question: see six trees not to plant near a house, and what to plant instead.