Help me pick a tree!

The Portland nursery carries all of the trees I posted.

Maybe to get the type of tree I want in the place I want it means I'll have to pot it. I just want something that will have some color and interest during the winter, but not an evergreen.

I have a sequoia growing in a pot so a smaller tree shouldn't be a problem.

You can grow the smoke tree as a shrub. I might have a good place to put it and just keep it lowish. The dark leaves would make a great backdrop to something very acid green.

We planted a FOREST PANSY REDBUD in front of our house a couple of years ago, boomer. It sounds like just what you're looking for, and it should do well in your zone. Google it for photos.

Dark purple/green heart-shaped leaves, arching branches, tiny pink flowers in the spring before it leafs out...probably won't get to 20' tall. My landscape architect friend recommended it for foundation plantings, as a good alternative to overused red Japanese maples. We're loving it.

Edit: I didn't see your comment about wanting color during the winter. This tree is deciduous.

Deciduous is fine but I want something with "winter interest" like an unusual color of trunk or branch pattern.

Things tend to get rioutous around here in the spring/summer so I want some knockouts for the winter.

I have a corkscrew hazelnut:



And a flying dragon citrus:



But those are the only two interesting winter plants I have.

I did look at the western redbud but it isn't a good winter option.

Our two Crepe Myrtles are dwarf species not growing more than four feet tall. That's why I put them close at each end of the front windows.

BBB

http://www.naturehills.com/product/thundercloud_plum.aspx

3-4 feet from the house means that the spacing shouldn't be much more than 8'. That's a tree which is 8 feet wide, at most. Some trees are happy to be up against a house, but some aren't (and will lean away).

The corkscrew hazelnut is lovely when it works, but they seem to need a lot of TLC. How is yours working for you, Boomer?

And, as a naturalistic gardener I have to say that many euonymous are invasive.

Why not an evergreen?

I LOVE redbuds (Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' - zones 1-24!).... might be too tall??

Boom, here's a good coral bark maple link -
http://www.nurserytrees.com/Coral%20Bark%20Maple.htm


I think it is best to pick a tree for its mature height and not try to prune down. I'm wildly against topping trees.. but that's me. Re closeness to the house, besides the foundation question, there is the matter of space for the tree to grow to its natural shape.

Prunus' (flowering cherries and plums) come in all sorts of shapes and heights and widths and leaf colors, and zone preferences.. for those, I'd drag out a sunset western garden book..
Look at Prunus cerasifera 'Krauter Vesuvius'. It gets to eighteen feet x twelve feet at maturity, has the darkest foliage of any flowering plum, zones 3-22.

I was just looking at Thundercloud, but Sunset says it gets to twenty feet high and wide.

Boomer, have you considered a tall shrub instead of a tree? I have some in my back yard that will meet your requirements. A shrub can be shaped to resemble a tree without damaging the shrub. You might want to look at shrubs in the garden book and see if you find one with color enough to satisfy you.

For example, I found this one that you might consider. This is a good site to look for the varieties that are available.

http://www.naturehills.com/product/grey_twig_dogwood.aspx

BBB

Aha, I remembered the smaller Redbud - Cercis occidentalis. It also grows in your zone, 2 - 24, from ten to eighteen feet tall.

I also like pomegranate trees (Punica granatum), and mine was nice and twisty. Sunset says it likes a warm dry climate, so even though your nursery has them, I'm thinking not such a great idea. You could ask them though. I like interesting form in a shrub or tree, and pomegranates are quite prunable as shrubs but it might turn out to be an undesired hobby.

I thought I posted this earlier, but it was hidden behind some other stuff on my computer screen -



I just found their very small tree list..

http://www.portlandnursery.com/plants/docs/trees/Trees_Under_15_Feet.pdf

I like smoke trees (Cotinus coggygria) myself.. There's one that has blue green foliage shaded purple with large deep pink puffs, orange and purple red fall foliage - that's Cotinus 'Grace'.

It's neat that Fall is upon us soon - me, I'd go to the nursery and lurk until I figure out what I'd like best. Bring a Sunset Western Garden book with you, or the Nursery probably has one for use at the desk. It sounds from here (far away) like they know their trees there...

I had seven washington hawthorns in front of my last house - they are pretty elegant, have good form when pruned, have fall color and shiny red fruit - but I think they are too tall re what you are looking for.

I had two nifty trees I'm wracking my brain to remember the name of - I'd never heard of them before moving to humboldt county, so unless I just trip over the name, I guess it's lost in the universe.

I loved my Cornus capitata, but it's a no for your zone, and probably too tall in any case.. but Cornus kousa could be a go. C.k. 'bonfire has bright red fall foliage

Ask at your nursery about tea tree (Leptospermum). There are several cultivars widly available. definitly suitable for high rainfall.
An alternative Might be melaluca (bottle brush flowers in several different colours). again ask at your nursery to see whats availble.
I'll let you google them to see what they look like.

I am keen on both of those. Leptospermum and most Melaleuca are way out of Boomerang's zone. (At my house, the new owners took out my perhaps, oh, seventy year old Leptospermum. And planted tropicals. I seem quietly jesting but it about killed me to see.)

Oh, and they took out my healthy red acer palmatum and put in a f'king concrete circle in front of a california bungalow. (Watch me spit..)

Sunset zones (1-24) are pretty interesting but they haven't worked it out across an earth-range. There's enough trouble re working out the 24 so called zones. Still, the plants you are interested in, dadpad, and that I am, tend to match, but maybe not just right for boomerang.

hmmm.

I have a ficus that summers outdoors and comes in for the prairie blizzards.

it would be happy 4 foot from the house, and has cool leaves.

not real flashy though...

also, a butterfly bush might work in that spot.

Ficus is the perfect house lifter.

Just ask the city of LA.

I know you like to ask questions here, boom, but sometimes you could look at what has been learned in your area instead of around the wide world. I trust there is a building department and probably local planting advisories.

IF YOU PLANT A FICUS BY YOUR HOUSE, I'LL COME AND KILL YOU. Or at least annoy you.

Ummmmm...... I asked a question about three trees that are known to do well in my area. I listed my Sunset zone. I listed my planting requirements. I listed the direction my house faces and the light the area recieved.

Yes, I did ask for suggestions -- listing criteria of "interesting bark", "dark leaves", "not so much flowers", "small", "zone 6".

I'm not really sure how much more I could have narrowed it down.

I'm not nattering at you. Will go back and natter at myself, back in a bit.
I said I liked the smoke tree.
I forget the third one.

Really, Boom, just talk to the people at your local good nursery and don't try to pull in possible trees from around the whole world of a2k.
What we have is me trying to bat against Ficus, not rockhead's fault, but he doesn't know the zone, nor does dadpad.

On flowering cherries, I gave links.

Go to the nursery.

You are looking for free expertise. Get a grip and look at your local resources. A lot of people know a lot.

Ask Danon5 - he spent years in your area where he and associates bought/sold/renovated many houses with large gardens, he's an expert on all kinds of trees, and an all-around great guy; tell him you're a friend of mine and join his ongoing thread on, you guessed it, "...another tree asmiling":
http://able2know.org/topic/139617-61