HORTICULTURE: Tried and True

Joy Ceballos, owner of Color Concepts Landscaping in West Palm Beach, Fla., usually chooses drought-tolerant, low maintenance plant material that can withstand the area’s tropical conditions. Some of her favorites include ‘Mexican sage’ (Salvia leucantha), ‘Green Island’ (Ficus microcarpa) and ‘Shrubby Whitevein’ (Sanchezia speciosa).
 
“I mostly use plants I know will be successful if they are being installed for the long term,” she says.
 
To keep things interesting, Ceballos makes it a point to incorporate new plants, but does so with caution. “I am trying to branch out, but it’s risky if you don’t know what a plant will do,” she says. “I recently installed some ‘Double Knockout’ roses – in small quantities – and they seem to be doing great.”
 
To help make educated decisions, Ceballos collects information from nursery experts, research books and old-fashioned trial and error. “I learn more and more as I go,” she says.
 
Below are four tried-and-true trees landscape contractors can incorporate in their landscapes.

1. Northeast
Name: Alberta blue dwarf spruce
Genus: Picea glauca
USDA Zones: 2 to 8
Plant Type: evergreen tree

• Grows 5 to 7 feet tall, spreads 18 inches to 2 feet wide
• Grows best in full sun
• Extremely cold hardy
• Silvery–blue evergreen that does not revert to green

2. Northwest
Name: ‘Stellar Pink’ dogwood
Genus: Cornus x ‘Rutgan’
USDA Zones: 5 to 8
Plant Type: deciduous tree

• Grows 25 feet tall and wide
• Grows best in full sun to partial shade
• Disease and borer resistant
• Bears soft, shell pink flowers in early spring followed by a show of autumn foliage

3. Southeast
Name: ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud
Genus: Cercis canadensis
USDA Zones: 5 to 9
Plant Type: deciduous tree

• Grows 20 feet tall, 25 feet wide
• Grows best in full sun
• Regular watering schedule during first growing season helps establish deep, extensive root systems
• Has scarlet–purple foliage that matures to maroon – pink flowers bloom on bare branches between winter and spring

4. Southwest
Name: ‘Palo Alto’ sweetgum
Genus: Liquidambar styraciflua
USDA Zones: 6 to 9
Plant Type: deciduous tree

• Grows 40 feet or more in height, 15 to 20 feet wide
• Grows best in full sun
• Provides reliable fall color, even in warm winter areas
• Has maple–like leaves that turn brilliant orange-red or bright red in fall