# 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flowering-dogwood/index.html.md), [eastern redbud](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-redbud/index.html.md), serviceberry and [white fringetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-fringetree/index.html.md) to canopy trees such as [black gum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/index.html.md), [American basswood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-basswood/index.html.md), [bald cypress](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bald-cypress/index.html.md) and [Kentucky coffeetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/kentucky-coffeetree/index.html.md). 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/trees-not-to-plant-near-a-house/index.html.md).

16 of 364 plants matching native to North Carolina, Rare. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/yard-trees/?native=NC&want=rare. Each plant links to its own Markdown page with the full facts, description and growing guide.

Columns: Zones are the USDA hardiness zones the plant takes, from the coldest to the warmest it is rated for (zone 2 is the coldest, 10 the warmest); Height is mature height in feet; Sun and Soil list every condition the plant takes; Grown from is what the nursery offers it as (saplings, or acorns, nuts or seed to sow); Price is the lowest current price, or "ask" when the plant is not yet priced online (email captain@bluewhaletrees.com or join the waitlist on the web page).

This table accepts the shop's filters as query parameters on this address: size (shrub, small-tree, medium-tree, large-tree), sun (full, part, shade), moisture (dry, average, wet), zone (2 to 10), native (a state's two-letter code in capitals, such as PA: the plants native to that state by the USDA PLANTS records), want (a trait: flowers, fall-color, wildlife, honey, edible, evergreen, rare, drought, wet-tolerant, shade, early-bearing, screening, nitrogen-fixing, salt, winter-interest, street-tree, erosion-control; rare means uncommon in the wild or in nurseries, honey a nectar source for bees), as (acorns, seed, nuts, saplings) and q (a search word). Several values may be joined with commas.

| Plant | Botanical name | Group | Type | Height (ft) | Zones | Sun | Soil | Grown from | Price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Carolina Hemlock](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-hemlock/index.html.md) | *Tsuga caroliniana* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Medium tree | 40–60 | 6–7 | Part, Shade, Full | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Fraser Fir](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fraser-fir/index.html.md) | *Abies fraseri* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Medium tree | 30–55 | 4–7 | Full, Part | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Clammy Locust](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/clammy-locust/index.html.md) | *Robinia viscosa* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 30–40 | 3–8 | Full, Part | Average, Dry | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Swamp Cottonwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-cottonwood/index.html.md) | *Populus heterophylla* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Large tree | 70–90 | 6–9 | Full | Wet, Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Yellowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellowwood/index.html.md) | *Cladrastis kentukea* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Medium tree | 30–50 | 4–8 | Full, Part | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Cucumber Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cucumber-magnolia/index.html.md) | *Magnolia acuminata* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Large tree | 50–80 | 4–8 | Full, Part | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Carolina Silverbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-silverbell/index.html.md) | *Halesia tetraptera* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Medium tree | 30–40 | 4–8 | Part, Full | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Common Hoptree (Wafer Ash)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hoptree/index.html.md) | *Ptelea trifoliata* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 10–20 | 4–9 | Part, Full, Shade | Average, Dry | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Chalk Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chalk-maple/index.html.md) | *Acer leucoderme* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 25–30 | 5–9 | Part, Full, Shade | Average, Dry | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Water Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/water-hickory/index.html.md) | *Carya aquatica* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Large tree | 80–100 | 5–10 | Full, Part | Wet, Average | Saplings, Nuts | ask |
| [Dwarf Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-hackberry/index.html.md) | *Celtis tenuifolia* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 15–30 | 4–9 | Full, Part | Dry, Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Water Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/water-elm/index.html.md) | *Planera aquatica* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 30–40 | 6–9 | Full, Part | Wet, Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Bigleaf Magnolia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bigleaf-magnolia/index.html.md) | *Magnolia macrophylla* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Medium tree | 30–40 | 5–9 | Part, Full | Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Table Mountain Pine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/table-mountain-pine/index.html.md) | *Pinus pungens* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 20–40 | 5–7 | Full | Dry, Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Sweetleaf](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweetleaf/index.html.md) | *Symplocos tinctoria* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 15–30 | 7–9 | Part, Shade, Full | Average, Wet, Dry | Saplings, Seed | ask |
| [Tough Bully](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/tough-bully/index.html.md) | *Sideroxylon tenax* | Uncommon Yard Trees | Small tree | 12–30 | 8–10 | Full, Part | Dry, Average | Saplings, Seed | ask |