Flowering Trees in Pennsylvania

Flowering trees in Pennsylvania signal the end of winter with floral bursts of color and the end of summer with reds and orange foliage. Many flowering tree species grow wild in Pennsylvania, making them easy to find in nurseries and gardening stores. In turn, the trees need little help growing as everything the trees need to flourish already exists in the soil. Flowering trees makes an excellent addition to any garden and lawn.

The hardy, cold tolerant flowering dogwood grow wherever the temperatures do no drop below -15 degrees F including Pennsylvania and much of the eastern the United States. The fissured, thick bark appears red-brown to gray. The flowers bloom white with a greenish or yellow hue. The four-petal flower develops in small clusters at the edge of the branches. In autumn, red seeds clusters throughout the tree and drop after the leaves turn red and fall to the ground. The flowering dogwood grows to 12 to 15 feet tall in full sunlight. Diseases affecting dogwood trees in Pennsylvania include scales, leafhoppers, dogwood twig borers, trunk canker, twig dieback and powdery mildew.

The crabapple tree produces round apple like fruit that wildlife and humans can eat. Native to North America, this small tree blooms with purple, red, white, and pink flowers, depending on the species, in April to May. The crabapple tree comes in several varieties--over 1,000--though the majority belong to one of 100 species used heavily as ornamentals. Pennsylvania crabapple species include snowdrift, spring snow, Madonna, harvest gold, Adams, sentinel, centurion, red Barron, and prairifire.

Both Pennsylvania can host both the European and American Mountain-ash. This showy tree grows over 35 feet tall. Both the seed and flower adds spice to ornamental gardens. The little white flower cluster throughout the tree in May and June In the same cluster pattern, seeds develop into small, round orange berries. Native birds may eat the seeds, particularly during winter after the berries breeze. The residents of Europe make jams and jellies from the berries of European Mountain-ash.

The deciduous sweetbay magnolia grow between 30and 90 feet tall. The flowers develop into smaller versions of the more well-known Magnolia grandfloria. In particular, the sweetbay magnolia favors wets soils near swamps, streams and ponds. In the fall, red seed form from within a brown cone, adding more interest to the ornamental and drawing in native birds. The sweetbay magnolia ranges from Florida to New York and west to Texas with a higher concretion of wild trees in the souther states.