'Vanessa' Persian Ironwood was chosen for its upright, columnar form.  Parrotia 'Vanessa' has multi-season appeal, starting in winter and spring when attractive mottled bark is offset by small red spidery flowers.  The oval shaped foliage emerges in spring with burgundy edges to the scalloped leaves.  By summer the foliage is a bright green, taking on stunning shades of red, purple, orange and gold in fall.

'Densata, commonly called Black Hills spruce, is a variety of white spruce that is native to a geographically isolated area in and around the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was originally called Picea glauca var. densata, but many experts now designate it as Picea glauca ‘Densata’ because its differences from the species are judged insufficient to justify classification as a botanical variety. In its small native habitat, it is commonly found growing at around 6000’ in elevation. It typically grows rather slowly in a dense, symmetrical cone to 20-25’ tall, but over time may rise to 40-60’ or more.

It typically grows to 50-60' tall in cultivation, but will rise to as much as 100' tall over time in its native habitat. This is a narrow, pyramidal, spire-like tree with pendant branches that ascend at the tips. Flattened bright green needles have silvery undersides. Brown bark cracks into scaly plates. Pubescent new shoots. Pendant cones (to 2 1/2" long) emerge violet purple but mature to yellowish brown.

Pinus strobus, commonly called Eastern white pine, is a rapid-growing, long-lived, needled evergreen tree that is native to the northeastern United States and Canada (State tree of Maine and Michigan). Although pyramidal in its early years, it matures to a broad oval habit with an irregular crown. Typically grows 50-80' in cultivation, but will grow to 100' tall in the wild, with records existing to over 200'. Landscape size and shape can be controlled through pruning, however, to the extent that white pine may be sheared and grown as a hedge. Bluish green needles (to 5" long) are soft to the touch and appear in bundles of five. Cylindrical, brown cones ( 4-8" long) are usually not produced until 5-10 years. An important timber tree (perhaps more so in the 18th and 19th centuries than now) which was and is valued for its lightweight, straight-grained wood (orange heartwood and white sapwood).

Prunus cerasifera, commonly called cherry plum or Myrobalan plum, is native to western Asia and the Caucasus. Today, it only exists in cultivation except for the many situations where it has escaped gardens and naturalized. Naturalization has occurred in the U.S., primarily in the northeast and far west. This is a small, sometimes spiny, deciduous tree typically growing to 15-30’ tall with a shrubby, spreading, rounded habit. Very fragrant, mostly solitary, 5-petaled, white flowers (to 1” across) bloom in early spring. Flowers are followed by small edible fruits (to 1” diameter) that are sweet but somewhat tasteless. Ovate, elliptic or obovate, thin, serrate leaves (to 2.5” long). No fall color. Species plants are uncommonly sold in commerce, but a number of purple-leaved cultivars have become quite popular. Species is sometimes used as a rootstock for other stone fruits. Myrobalan is derived from the Greek words myron (plant juice) and balanos (nut).

Weeping Higan Cherry is a weeping flowering cherry tree from Japan. It is deciduous, grafted, and grows up to 40 feet tall and wide with pendulous branches that are ascending, slender, pendulous, scabrate, and have double pink flowers in umbrels of 2-5 blooms in spring.