Description: Green Ash grows into an upright pyramidal form when young, maturing to a rather open, oval silhouette 55 feet tall by 40 feet wide. The tree grows quickly and can sometimes reach 80 feet in height. The foliage turns a brilliant yellow gold in fall.
Location: found in moist bottomlands or along stream banks, however once established it tolerates high ph., salt, drought, wind, and sterile soils.
Light: Full sun
Moisture: tolerates a wide range of soils
Hardiness: Zone 3 - 9.
Description: American hornbeam is a handsome little deciduous tree that can get as large as 50 ft. tall with a spread of 40 ft. However, they rarely exceed 15-20 ft. (4.6-6.1 m) in height.
Location: It grows in bottomland forests, swamps and along rivers and streams in association with other deciduous hardwoods including maples, ashes, oaks, birches, alders and hickories.
Light: American hornbeam does well in shade, but also thrives in sun light.
Moisture: Although American hornbeam grows naturally in wetlands, once established, it is tolerant of moderate droughts and does fine in well-drained soils. It can tolerate occasional flooding.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 3B - 9.
Description: Eastern redbud is a small to medium sized tree usually staying around 20 ft. tall. It sometimes has multiple trunks and its branches form a spreading, flattened or rounded crown up to 30 ft. across, but usually less. The leaves are simple and heart shaped, appearing after the magenta flowers bloom in early spring.
Location: Eastern redbud is found in fertile, moist sites along streams and in moist woodlands. It is part of the sub canopy in mixed hardwood forests.
Light: Eastern redbud does well in full sun to light shade. Plant redbuds in the shade of larger deciduous trees; they seem to do best when they get plenty of sun in the late winter as they are getting ready to bloom, but then they appreciate a little shade during the heat of summer.
Moisture: Redbud likes a moist soil but established specimens are quite drought tolerant.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 4-9. Plants from northern parts of the range are more cold hardy than those from farther south.
Description: Fringetree is a large shrub or small tree that grows to about 20 ft. tall, with one or a few short trunks and a rounded crown. In spring the fringetree produces very showy, white flowers with narrow straplike petals that appear at the same time as the foliage. This tree is famous for its lovely sweet fragrance that is potent but never overpowering.
Location: Fringetree occurs in moist, rich woodlands often near streams.
Light: Full sun to partial shade. Fringetree does well in the filtered shade under large trees.
Moisture: Prefers moist, well drained situations but is also tolerant of droughty conditions.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 6-10.
Description: The silverbells are wide-spreading shrub or small tree with rounded crown, rarely exceeding 30 ft. in height. The leaves turn yellow in fall. But it's the dainty white bell shaped flowers that hang from leafless branches in early spring that make this native stand out.
Location: Silverbells grow in rich mesic woods in floodplains and on the lower slopes of forested ravines.
Light: Full sun to shade.
Moisture: Both species like well drained, but moist soils.
Hardiness: Two-winged silverbells: Zones 6-9.