Still recommending pyrus there, eh?

Yawn.
Congrats on the list tho. It's a start.

Hmmm, that does look a little hinky. Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford' gets the worst rating, but the other cultivars get the best rating?? What's that about? Sounds like raw input from two different sources that wasn't even compared.

Consider that the nursery trade was on the committee, 1/4 of the members.

Nonetheless, far better than the previous incarnation we had hereabouts (albeit the how-tos and background in previous are good).

Dan

you know.. from the king of .. not enough facts provided ..

whats the point dan??? ... can you whittle down why you posted this for us???

i am not seeing the blinding brilliance of it all ... just another bunch of bureaucrats forcing down a list on us ...

[oops.. were you on the panel .. if so .. its the best list i have ever seen in my life]

turn off the computer and go for a walk in an arboretum.. to choose trees you like ... IMHO ...

lol

ken

I took a cursory look at this list this morning and my reaction is that the Colorado "green industry" continues to plod along unperturbed by the confines of The Box. As someone above commented, "yawn."

It's disappointing to see them still recommending any North American Fraxinus species even if it's in the categories "conditionally recommended" or "offered for sale locally and has the potential to do well here." Yes it may be true that, as they note, "EAB not yet detected here," but really, what world are they living in? As Dan has pointed out, EAB was recently found in a cargo of wood at the CA border! Do the listmakers have stock in the companies that manufacture Merit or Tree-Age, LOL?

A couple of other things the list shouts out:

--the number of listed plants that are noted as having "limited availability," which in effect means "no availability," especially in the sizes most people would like to buy. That's even true for a good number of the plants they give their highest (A) recommendation.

--the number of plants listed as unproven even when they've been grown here for quite a few years, such as Liriodendron, Phellodendron, Corylus colurna, Cladrastis, Acer griseum, Yellow Buckeye, etc.

--the number of plants that didn't even make the list--just off the top Parrotia, Ostrya, Carpinus caroliniana, Mag stellata, etc.

I'm not going to brave looking at the earlier list this group produced.

Fortunately there are a few nurseries in the region that aren't as hidebound as this list. And they and many others no longer offer ash.

C'mon Dan, you've lived in more horticulturally-conscious parts of the country, let us know what you really think about this list other than that it's better than what went before...

I like the coloring and format of the document listing. Looks good. Style counts.

Only one of the birches, and none of the redbuds, are checked as short-lived trees?

Japanese maple is listed as short-lived; I wonder just what the longevity of Japanese maples tends to be? It is listed that way because they're not optimal for zone 5, or how long would they live elsewhere? (I'm in Zone 6b, for example).

One Poplar gets a D, but all the rest get A's or B's? Wow. I was under the impression Poplars were only modestly less despised for yard use than Bradford Pear & Royal Empress Trees. Remember Michael Dirr's famous quote, "...I have never recommended, at least when conscious, a poplar." A's & B's? At least some are listed as short-lived, and some as weak-wooded, and the comments section lays out some problems, including that some are too large for residential use.

Which raises a question; just what all does the term 'Front Range' cover? Trees for pastures or something?

No list will include every tree that somebody somewhere likes. That said, I don't see any of the false cypress group, genus Chamaecyparis, and it's become a rather popular genus with a range of ornamental cultivars in a variety of sizes. Might be nice see see a few including; perhaps Boulevard, Golden Hinoki, etc...

Summing it up, I'd like to know what's the approximate time limit for 'short-lived,' how large is too large for residential use, why no false cypress and what all does 'Front Range' cover in terms of target usage?

Despite all that it's a good looking list and I think it'll be useful to a lot of people.

Richard.

I think "front range" is the media market nickname for greater denver. That flat treeless and brown area in front of the range of mountains known as the rockies.

Lots of little microclimates and soils in there though. Looks tricky.