Last week while driving I spotted the beauty above, a White Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) in full bloom. The tree was a sight to behold.
I took this picture the first week of June in Zone 6a. Bloom time is in line with the Kousa Dogwood (Cornus kousa), possibly starting a little earlier.
Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia says the White Fringetree grows 12 to 20 feet high and wide in Zones 4 to 9. Dirr recommends it as a woodland or understory naturalizing plant. I agree. I’d love to see it on the edge of the woods with a high canopy above.
The Missouri Botanical Garden White Fringetree writeup says there are both male and female plants with male plants having showier flowers. This tree is male.
I’ve only planted White Fringetree once in my career and while the flower was beautiful the tree seemed to linger and never thrived. I spotted dead branches on this tree though the branches that are alive seem perfectly healthy.
While some dead branches may be a drawback I recommend White Fringetree. I would relegate it to the edge of the woods and not in a prominent spot in the landscape. Know that you’re going to have to periodically clean the tree out, especially in Connecticut.
If you look at the base of this tree you can see a lot of sucker growth. That’s a sign of a stressed tree. I have to give credit to the person who planted it, you can see the root flare. Nice job!
The White Fringetree is great for collectors, and possibly naturalizing, here in Connecticut.
I started looking for White Fringetrees online and found White Fringetree Seedlings at Garden Hills Nursery. I’m impressed with the variety of trees Garden Hills offers, be careful if you’re a collector and visit their website.
Have you ever grown White Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) ? What do you think of it?
Comments
2 responses to “White Fringetree – Chionanthus virginicus”
Even tho’ we are Zone 4 here some of the time, the White Fringe tree would be a dead stick here! Have never even heard of this tree.
I haven’t seen it enough to know for sure how tough it is. Perhaps it’s a survivor even though it shows some dead wood. I have to say it is a show, and traffic, stopper when in full bloom.