Four years ago I planted a little Carolina silverbell tree\u2014Halesia Carolina, sometimes known as Halesia tetraptera–in front of my house.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t much of a tree then.\u00a0 Rescued from potential oblivion after failing to sell at a charity plant sale, it was only about four feet tall.\u00a0 I had a space that needed a tree and since all I had to invest was the time and exertion required to plant it; the silverbell looked like a good deal.\u00a0 It had leaves, took up water readily and responded to my tender ministrations by putting out some new growth.<\/p>\n
The silverbell\u2019s first winter was harrowing.\u00a0 Besieged by heavy snowfall from the day after Christmas through March, the sapling spent most of the winter encased in an iceberg created over the many weeks when successive layers of snow were thrown up by the town plows.\u00a0 I was convinced that it was doomed. By the time spring finally arrived, I had resigned myself to that fact.\u00a0 The silverbell was less resigned, however, and sprouted a few dangling, bell-like white flowers in a triumphant demonstration of horticultural resurrection.\u00a0 After that, there was no turning back, despite two years of horrendous October storms, including Hurricane Sandy.\u00a0 Now the tree is about eight feet tall with a good, strong central trunk.\u00a0 This spring it produced so many silver bells that even the local dog walkers gave it high praise.\u00a0 It has the potential to grow between twenty-five and forty feet tall, but will probably finish on the shorter end of that range because of its streetside location.<\/p>\n
Like many inhabitants of the New York metropolitan area, the silverbell is not<\/p>\n
native to these parts.\u00a0 It grows wild in the southeastern quarter of the country, including the state referenced in its common and Latin names.\u00a0 English botanist, Martyn Rix, writing in his wonderful book, The Botanical Garden<\/em>, describes Carolina silverbell and its relatives with faint praise, saying only, \u201cThe American species are hardy and attractive small garden trees.\u201d \u00a0The same might be said of the common redbud\u2014Cercis canadensis\u2014which is much more widely planted.\u00a0 The Carolina silverbell obviously needs a better publicist.<\/p>\n There are only five Halesia species in existence, one of which is native to Asia.\u00a0 Mountain silverbell\u2014Halesia monticola\u2014is the closest in appearance to the Carolina species.\u00a0 Both bear the distinctive drooping \u201cbells,\u201d each composed of four petals fused at the base.\u00a0 The mountain species grows a bit taller and is somewhat more tolerant of hot climates, but would work in most of the same landscape situations as its Carolina cousin.<\/p>\n Carolina silverbell, which is also available in a pink-flowered form, makes an excellent specimen tree, but begs to be included in gardens.\u00a0 It would be lovely underplanted with spring bulbs, including little species tulips.\u00a0 One of the tree\u2019s alternate common names is \u201clily-of-the-valley tree,\u201d and it would be equally appropriate to surround the tree with true lilies-of-the-valley\u2014Convallaria majalis–to underscore the theme.\u00a0 The lily-of-the-valley would also provide fragrance, something the silverbell blooms lack.\u00a0 For fragrance later in the season, plant some August lilies\u2014Hosta plantaginea\u2014nearby.\u00a0 They are my favorite among the millions of hosta species and varieties because their flowers are large, white and intensely scented.<\/p>\n I have always wanted to have an estate-type driveway with rows of trees planted on either side, forming a European-style all\u00e9e.\u00a0 Silverbell would be perfect for this and the fallen flower petals would form a romantic snowy carpet in the spring.\u00a0 Of course, in order to make this particular landscaping dream come true, I have to acquire the estate first.\u00a0 I will close my eyes and think of silverbells every time I buy Power Ball lottery tickets.<\/p>\n As you go through the upcoming rounds of graduation parties, wedding receptions and other late spring and early summer social frolics, spread the word about the Carolina silverbell.\u00a0 The trees deserve to be better known and planted far and wide.<\/p>\n Rush out now and order your silverbell\u2014listed under its newest taxonomic moniker, Halesia tetraptera, from ForestFarm, PO Box 1, Wiliams, OR 97544, (541) 846-7269, www.forestfarm.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Free print catalog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four years ago I planted a little Carolina silverbell tree\u2014Halesia Carolina, sometimes known as Halesia tetraptera–in front of my house.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t much of a tree then.\u00a0 Rescued from potential oblivion after failing to sell at a charity plant sale, it was only about four feet tall.\u00a0 I had a space that needed a tree … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,3],"tags":[573,572,575,574,577,576],"class_list":["post-822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-carolina-silverbell","tag-halesia-carolina","tag-halesia-monticola","tag-halesia-tetraptera","tag-mountain-silverbell","tag-small-flowering-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}