Some plants are meant to stay in the background. Their size, shape or color are used to create a subtle stage for the prima donnas of the garden. Then there are the stars who demand adulation and attention. Currently enjoying a star turn in my garden is this new tree that I put in a pot to enjoy up close before I plant it out in the garden.
This is Carpinus betulus 'Columnar Nana,' a dwarf cultivar of Fastigiate Hornbeam that will get 6-8 feet tall. Small enough to easily fit into the garden but big enough from the get-go to make a statement.
I won this Fagus sylvatica 'Aurea pendula' in a raffle at a garden writers conference in 2012. I was already growing a purple weeping beech and really wasn't interested in a second one, least of all yellow. But Klehm's Song Sparrow nursery, which had donated it, had the tree priced at $75.00 so I felt like I should find it a home.
I hate to admit it, but I bet I've moved it at least three times in the garden trying to find a spot where it has some room and will work with the surrounding plants. I finally gave it a permanent location at the back edge of the driveway border. It is next to a golden-tipped Hemlock and a gold Dawn Redwood making this border a bright spring treat.
