Not much comes to mind. We really do have a shortage of proven medium sized trees that grow at a moderate+ growth rate that are tolerant to your climate. You might look for Pepperidge, Nyssa Sylvatica. A newer cultivar called wildfire appears to grow a little faster and have some intersting ornamental attributes. Otherwise they grow kinda slow.

Flowering cherry is a rapidly growing small-medium tree. They have a number of issues but in the right setting they can be worthwhile.

If you are in the right climate in your state, you might find yellowwood.

Lacebark elm is another one that grows rapidly and is problem free but gets a little bigger than you want perhaps.

Emerald Sunshine elm is the size and growth rate you're looking for but a newer cultivar that you could have a difficult time sourcing.

thanks,
Does the emerald sunshine elm have aggressive shallow roots like other elms? The height and growth rate of this tree sounds ideal for the spot. Not to mention, the yellow fall color would contrast nicely with the scarlet oaks that I have in the back.
Are there any cultivars of flowering cherry that are know for their fall color? I would like an ornamental that puts on a show in the fall as well.

you may be able to get information on Daves Garden

Does the Wildfire grow at a more moderate rate than the species? I know the Black Gum has a reputation for very slow growth.

Here is a closeup of the leaves on my Wildfire

{{gwi:448307}}

It has only been in the ground a month so I have no experience with its growth rate. Red leaf stems on it the whole time. Don't know if that's just a fall and spring thing.

RE wildfire pepperidge, The new growth is red. There's supposed to be 2 flushes per year. It eventually turns green.

The same grower that I know of that sells both seedling pepperidge and wildfire classifies wildfire as fast and seelding as moderate. The wildfires are a lot cheaper though leading me to believe the claims they grow fast.

I don't have any first hand experience with emerald sunshine elms. They do look promising. My guess is that they probably do produce surface roots. You can probably keep it at a minimum through proper watering practices.

Pepper Ridge is a regional name for Nyssa Sylvatica I believe. My Wildfire Nyssa is a grafted plant so it was more labor intensive to produce than 'generic' Nyssas are.

Really I like my little fella but just from lack of long term observation / experience dont want anyone to think I am saying its the best thing since Camaros were invented lol.

The leaves look bigger too maybe.

I wish I could grow that var of Nyssa around here. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides underneath and allowed to spread would be a dynamite display, with some sort of red-orange Viburnum nearby. Yum!

Dan

Does anyone have a recommendation for a particular flowering cherry tree?? Anyone have experience with the snow goose cherry? I am looking at the yoshino, kwanzan, or snow goose for the backyard ornamental. Any particular cultivar more disease resistant??

They all stink.

I use them for mass flowering effect. BEHIND a fence, wall, in some kind of grouping. I would not use as a specimen. They come in different growth habits. Wide spreading, more like an upright oval etc. There's some ones that flower in the autumn too.

Thanks,
What is the problem with them?? There is one growing across the street that is gorgeous all year???

Short-lived, pesty, buggy, attracts seemingly every pest ever catalogued in temperate climes.

Dan

A lot of the understock sprouts suckers that pop up all over the place. Also difficult to prune properly in a lot of cases. Very seldom are they planted with enough room to spread without drastic pruning. I have ten acres and can't find room for one cherry, ornamental or otherwise. I enjoy them in other people's yards though. Just don't want one myself.
Mike

Well that's great. I just can't seem to find the right ornamental. Cherries are maybe more trouble than they are worth I guess. Any other suggestions? I've got the back corners of the lot closed in with cryptomeria and magnolia, just need something to put in the center along the back lot line. Are there any other flowering trees (other than dogwood), that might would work? How about non-flowering trees like paperbark maple?

My advice is if you want showy flowers, plant flowering shrubs.
IMO, shrubs do a better job with that than trees do and when you don't have a lot of space to work with, you get more 'wow' with more plants and more flowers per square yard with a hedge or grouping of azalea, rhododendron, roses, hygrangea and so on than you will with a tree.
The smaller flowering trees are just prone to issues and the larger you go, it would seem as though the less reliably they flower.

Shrubs my dear, shrubs.
And stick some lacebark elms along your property line there or something and surround them with groupings of flowering shrubs. Voila. A tree and flowers.

And... if you pick the right shrubs, you can very easily have flowers just about all year round. Except for winter of course. Ranging from early spring to late fall.

I would second Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentuckea) which is a fabulous rare native tree, spectacular when it blooms profusely, which seems to be about every other year. Blooms are fragrant. Fall color is usually a decent yellow. The bark is smooth and grey, like a beech and quite attractive. They have a naturally spreading habit when space allows and grow a bit wider than tall. My Yellowwood tree was planted by the previous owner and is about 50 years old, and about 50 feet tall, so it is not a small tree. However, it grew tall more so than wide because it wasn't allowed to spread due to the aggressive canopies of adjacent trees.

I also love my Linden trees/Tilia americana. Ornamental features include heart shaped leaves, and the dangly blooms and seedpods. Very fragrant especially on a mild June evening when the fragrance wafts into an open window.

Nice trees but yellowwood also has some vulnerabilities that make it a little higher maintenance, esp in the pruning department. Lindens attract loads of bees and might be more coarse textured than OP is looking for.

I like the yellowwood, but I think that I have decided on the wildfire black gum if I can tolerate the slow to moderate growth rate. It seems to fit best into the overall plan.

Crash, that looks like a nice tree (although flowers not showy).

Gardningrandma, the "pruning vulnerabilities" of Cladrastis kentuckea are bantied around, but I wonder if those speaking of them have actually had any experience with the tree? The only pruning issue I can think of is the fact that it bleeds sap profusely if it is pruned at the wrong time of year, and probably even the right time of year. (It is a very sappy tree.)

Otherwise, the idea that it is weak-wooded does not seem to be true. My tree has barely ever lost a branch (maybe one small dead branch came down once?). Very sturdy. Despite not having the greatest form and a few narrow crotches on large branches. Hope I'm not jinxing myself here and it loses a limb this winter!

american fringetree (chionanthus virginicus) is quite showy and fragrant for a couple of weeks in spring. i have not seen a 40-footer but mine is probably close to 20' tall and wide. the chinese fringetree (no fragrance but nice bark) is also pretty and might get taller but not sure. these two would be slow to moderate growers.
another nice native is oxydendrum arboreum or sourwood. bees will be attracted to the flowers if that is an issue but the fall color is great and early summer floral display is also nice. slow-growing, though.

have you considered crape myrtle or perhaps they are too common in your area? some of them will grow quite tall. long-bloom period, exfoliating bark and some fall color are desirable traits of many cultivars.
these plants are an obvious favorite in my area and have been planted extensively. i noticed that a few were still flowering earlier this week, albeit they were small clusters. they begin to bloom in mid-summer here.

Here is a link that might be useful: crape myrtle varieties

I've got some crape myrtle on the property already (muskogee and natchez). I think I'm going with a combination of the Black Gum for the ornamental and flowering shrubbery. Any ideas what might go well with the Black Gum? The area will all be tied in together with a fire pit and sitting area.

Terrene, I was referring to their tendency to have tight crotch angles. The mature yellowwood that I have seen were in an arboretum, pruned carefully for optimal branch structure.
Included bark probably causes some limbs to break, this might be attributed more to the crotch angles than weak wood.

crcash2, a photo of the site will get my creative juices flowing. I just completed a picnic area surrounded by pepperidge trees.

How about a gingko for an ornamental? I have always been fascinated with this tree, but have not been a big fan of the branching habit and structure...always thought they looked kinda twiggy. That being said, I have come upon some in recent days that have a full crown...almost like a maple. Can anyone offer any advice on an appropriate cultivar that will have this type of full crown? A moderate growth rate would be great!

Having grown up attending the cherry blossom festivals in D.C. I've always loved those cherry trees! I planted two in my yard, an "Akebono" yoshino (which is the whisper-pink color) and a white one. I knew they were short-lived trees, but they've grown super-sonic fast and I've cherished every fleeting moment of their blooms!! My only regret is planting where all the other trees & shrubs are leafless when they bloom, so just two of them look a bit desolate. If I could do it over, I would've planted them in front of evergreens for a more cheerful look & so the color would "pop", or in a larger grove of 5 or more yoshinos.
I don't care if they die in 10 years, I'll enjoy every year of bloom & just replant with something else, no big deal to me.

I haven't read every post in this thread (whoops!), but could I suggest Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)? They have the potential for getting pretty large, but most specimens I've seen are around 40' tall or so with about 20-30' spread...

Another one that I absolutely love is Evodia daniellii (always forget the common name). Its gorgeous and might fit the bill as well.

I'd also second(or third, or fourth..like I said didn't read every post) the Cladrastis.

~Mike

Ginkgo have a long awkward period, crash. Not much you can do to avoid it. But once they get past that stage, they are just lovely. When shopping for a Ginkgo, be sure to purchase from a reputable dealer who's labeling you can trust. You only want a NAMED MALE cultivar, and never an unnamed seedling or a female cultivar.

There are hundreds of great cultivars. Do some reading at several sites and you will soon see what I mean. If you plan on purchasing a tree locally, do your research carefully on the kinds of Ginkgo they carry, so that you can avoid the columnar or fastigiate forms you wish to avoid.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kick start your ginkgo research!