It's Spring! Winter is finally over, and the changes in the garden are happening so quickly. Suddenly the days are longer, the buds on the trees are all swelling and unfurling and even though this "arrival of Spring" happens every year... it is still amazing to me.

Garden inspiration is everywhere; while walking in the forest, in your neighbour's garden or as you drive through town and this is a fantastic time for choosing and planting trees. The increasing soil warmth and Spring rains give plants the conditions that help them thrive.

Here are some of our favourite Spring and Summer flowering trees:-

Akebono Flowering Cherry (Prunus × yedoensis ‘Akebono’)
Beautiful soft pink, fluffy semi-double blooms of Akebono Cherry Trees grace our streets right now. These are the beauties planted in front of City Hall. After full bloom when the flower petals begin to fall, they are like pink snowflakes swirling and drifting on the breeze. Mature size 15-25'' tall x 10’-15' wide



Kwanzan Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’)
Fully double flowers of a rich, deep pink cover the branches of Kwanzan Flowering Cherries in Spring. Lining Campbell River's Shoppers Row or Vancouver's Georgia Street most of us have seen and enjoyed their beauty. Mature size 15'-25' tall x 15'-25' wide



Eddies White Wonder Dogwood (Cornus x ‘Eddie's White Wonder’)
A cross of our own Pacific Dogwood, Eddies White Wonder has large white bracts (false petals) in abundance. The branching structure is open, layered and graceful. Choose a space carefully for a dogwood tree as it prefers morning sun and afternoon shade. Mature size 20' tall x 15' wide

Satomi Pink Dogwood (Cornus kousa 'Satomi’)
A lovely small garden tree Satomi Dogwood has delightful pink bracts (false petals) that deepen with the season and with the maturity of the tree. Heavily quilted leaves often turn a beautiful dusty mauve colour in fall. Like Eddies White Wonder Dogwood, Satomi prefers some relief from the hot afternoon sun. Pink dogwood trees are quite delicate and not the easiest tree to establish. Be sure to provide all the requirements and not allow it to be stressed for heat or moisture at all through the first few summers. Still, they are beautiful and worth it! Mature size 12'-18' tall x 10-15' wide



Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata)
Star magnolias are small trees with more of a rounded shrub shape than what we typically think of for trees. Masses of star-shaped white or blush pink flowers, depending on variety, appear on bare branches. Mature size 8'-20' tall x 8'-10' wide



Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia × soulangeana)
Saucer Magnolias have a large globe or saucer-shaped flowers that depending on the variety may be shades of white, pink or mauve. A mature Saucer Magnolia is a truly breathtaking sight.
Mature size 20' tall x 15' wide



Crimson Cloud Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata 'Crimson Cloud')
Large clusters of small red flowers drape beautifully all along the length of the branches giving the tree a somewhat weeping look. Shiny red berries develop for fall and winter interest.
Size 15' tall x 15' wide



Stewartia pseudocamellia (Stewartia pseudocamellia)
Everything about the Stewartia tree is interesting; the lovely white flowers, the orange-red fall colour of the leaves and the exfoliating bark of a mature specimen. Tall and stately the Stewartia pseudocamellia makes an excellent vertical accent in your garden.
Size 20'-30 tall x 15' wide


Japanese Snowbell (Styrax japonica)
Delicate white flowers resembling pearl drop earrings line the underside of the branches of this small garden tree. The flowers have a wonderful fragrance that can fill your whole yard.
Size 15'-30' tall x 10-15'' wide

As you are sitting and pondering nature's beauty or driving through our pretty city, I hope you get a chance to enjoy the blossoms of some of these lovely trees.

Shauna Lambeth ©

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