The common, pink, purple and white one is 'Purpurea Tricolor'. It is a tall-growing tree, much larger than 20' where and when able to develop fully.

The white and pink tend to diminish over time. The purple goes bronze during the summer.

Would that be the official cultivar name?

Bronze like some of the purple leaf Malus cultivars look like? How about foilage retention?

Whoa, sorry for all the questions, lol.

I have a an area with plenty of space, just don't know if the foilage will struggle in full sun (meaning 12 hours)

Yes, bronze like some of the older, inferior purple crabs and purple plums. Becomes a copper beech with pink highlights.

I do not live in a hot climate where this tree might burn, have not seen under what conditions that occurs. But even here, it fades. Maybe it sometimes burns here, too, and I didn't pick up on it. With our quite dry conditions starting after 4th of July celebrations get rained out, many broad-leaved trees and other moist climate plants start to deteriorate, show various effects. Even the native red alder does not make it through the summer without stressing out, on many sites.

Recently I read the variegation is encouraged by stronger light levels. So, you need a place with enough light to keep it colorful, but not so much that it burns.

Maybe north of a tall building.

beech = fagus ... so add that in front of what ron said ...

i am a collector.. one of anything is requisite ...

I HAVE TWO OF THESE .... there is plenty in your yard to thrill the bee-gee-bees out of you .. when this one starts getting ratty ...

but i would not be without the two i have for june and july ...

i am sure you have seen the pix.. but for others.. check below.. ignore the dwarf.. they are endemic to my garden ...

ken
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I knew Fagus but wasn't sure if its european or american.

Your images are acutally the first to come up on google image search.

So bottom line, I'm hearing it looks fantastic May - July and if dry/hot weather hits you have a ratty tree for late summer going into fall.

As long as it doesn't defoliate I'm ok with it. I need more "colorful" trees to plant. I have done what I can with habits and textures with other trees. I'm quickly running out of room though with my just over 1/3 acre so I want to make some good decisions with my last few trees.

bboy, I know exactly what you mean with the inferior malus cultivars...but those start to actually defolitate from scab or rust. Are you just making a color comparison?

dont forget that scorch will be worsened from transplant.. until fully established ...

ken

Dumb question, does scorch cause premature defoiliation?

Ken, do your tricolors defoliate prior to fall?

The pictures Ken keeps posting show a very highly colored example, apparently his conditions are excellent for this tree.

Somebody I know out here had a newly planted one lose the white component almost immediately, after planting it out maybe 7 or 8 feet tall.

I don't notice these burning or dropping in my area so much as fading - it amounts to a copper beech with some pink flaming. Larger trees here can be recognized from a bit of a distance by the weird, halo-like effect produced by the variegation - of what would otherwise be another blah copper beech. If you look at multiple internet pictures you will see its parameters.

Does the same thing happen with dawycks purple towards the end of the season? Because Julie of Treegrowersdiary.com wrote that her purple beech died so maybe it was just the end of season bronzing that is common here.

Thanks for all the input...I just got back from the nursery and most the stock was poorly branched.

I ended up finding this goregously branched paperbark maple hiding in the back that was put out to stock....I snatched that thing right up!

European beech is sensitive to less perfect soil drainage, that might be why the one died. Or it got too dry.

The "tri-color" (not the scientific name, thought I saw Rose-Marg????? something once) foliage is pretty darned interesting.

Folks plant Bradford Pears all the time for the 13-20 days worth of flowers they have. Tri-Color is GREAT for a few months out of the year if you like that type of thing, and I do.

Next county over someone in the parks department likes them. I've seen two. Later in the season when the pink whitens out one of them crisps up a little. Its not the most attractive thing. The other just faded to the white edge. My tiny 1 foot grafted one stayed strong all year, the pink did fade but all 30 or so of its leaves stayed attractive, weird. Its on the corner of the dampish part of the yard. I gave it about 1/2 gallon of water every 4 days or so w/o rain. Gets sun probably 10am to 4pm or 5pm over the summer.

i do have pure yellow mineral sand ... very deep ... incredibly fast drainage ... and i rarely water established tree .... so i can 'see' what ron is saying about my z5.. and his PNW

the ONLY thing that caused leaf loss/damage in my 15 years with it.. was a severe hail storm ...

otherwise they hang on ...

otherwise.. this is definitely one that i would buy in person.. rather than mail order ... to see what you are really getting ...

ken

All, great info...I'm still on the lookout. Last year I found one that looked fantastic but didn't know enough about them.

'Tricolor' may be extinct. Anyone other than a specialist trying to track down this now apparently extremely rare cultivar will be dealing with 'Purpurea Tricolor' ('Roseomarginata').

Here is a pic of mine in the summer. Summer time pics of these usually don't make the web sites lol.

I don't find it unattractive, just more run of the mill. Mine probably gets more moisture than most being close the bottom of a long gentle hill. It IS in the sun through the late morning and middle of the afternoon though. Perhaps the two offset.

As a side note, my little fella had very little pink to its leaves this year after a cold wet winter and wet spring but looked much like Ken's last year.

Color isn't perfect off my confusing new Samsung Galaxy cell phone but you get the idea.
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According to Bob Fincham, a well known and respected collector and founder/owner of Coenosium Gardens,

"Fagus sylvatica ÂTricolor is not known to exist in this country. In fact it is only rumored to still be present in France. ÂTricolor is a white-leafed tree, with each leaf possessing a few green spots and a pink margin. It is probably lost to cultivation. The tree sold under that name in this country is really ÂRoseomarginataÂ, a purple-leafed beech with an irregular pink margin, becoming somewhat bronzed by the end of summer with the pink fading. ÂPurpurea Tricolor is an attempt to bridge the incorrect name of ÂTricolor with the correct name of ÂRoseomarginataÂ, which it received in 1888."

So, Fagus sylvatica ÂRoseomarginata is likely the most correct name of the trees you are seeing at nurseries.

Although the color isn't attractive, as long as its not scrotched or defoliating who cares if it loses its purple and pink margins, right? Long as it lasts a couple months.

I have a serviceberry that is struggling...Fagus sylvatica ÂRoseomarginata is waiting in line.

Mine is about twenty feet tall. Here's a branch.

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Color of one at Missouri Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago.

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