At 8ft, you want to consider some large shrubs in addition to trees. You have many choices either way. Some of them would be:

A dwarf crabapple (e.g. Sargent, Tina)

Any fruit tree on a dwarf rootstock (check with Stark Bros online)

A flowering peach (e.g. Bonfire)

A rose standard (aka a rose bush on a stick; a tree-form rose bush)

I couldn't tell from your post if you want it to flower in May. If not then you might consider:

A deciduous azalea (several cultivars from Westin Nurseries grow into small trees)

A Korean azalea (early bloomer with beautiful!!! flowers)

A tree form Rose-of-Sharon (blooms in summer, can be pruned to keep it in bounds; grows slow enough that you will not have to prune every time you turn around).

A viburnum is another possibility (many choices available)

I wouldn't consider a camellia. Even the new cold-hardy varieties are not reliably hardy in your zone.

I second Stewartia choice, but S.pseudocamellia will grow to 20-25'.
As a decent substitute you may want to look for Stewartia sinensis which grow only to 12-15' and has all visual attributes of S. pseudocamellia.

Cornus kousa in shrub form will stay in 8-10' range with once in a while judicial pruning.

Also, there are many VERY different jap.maples that could grow to only 8-10' and yours not necessary should be the same cultivar as your neighbor's.

Anyway, I'll be a third to say to look for a shrub, not a tree.

There are some beautiful Cornus mas at Haskell's that are blooming now, and it's just about the right size. They have tiny yellow flowers. Some witch hazel can also top out at around 10', and blooms in winter but it tends to be a fairly wide little tree. Arnold Promise tends to be taller, I think Diane is about right and has red flowers.

If you go with Stewartia, please don't try to dwarf a S pseudocamellia - go with a shorter type so you won't have to butcher it. The natural form is one of the best attributes of this tree.

You might try one of the web sites that let you search on plant characteristics; there's a good one on the "mobot" site (Missouri Botanic Garden).

I agree that 8 feet is more shrub size than tree, even small tree. That being said, you could do a weeping redbud. They only get as tall as you want them to get, then they twist around and hang down. I have one and love it, and it does flower in May I believe (can't remember at the moment).

A standard redbud would get a bit bigger than 8 feet, but not much more than 15-20 feet, and it isn't a very dense tree.

I also think a magnolia would be a great choice. If you choose a columnar form, it will get tall but not too wide. There are varieties that don't get more than 5-6 feet wide I think.

"...That being said, you could do a weeping redbud. They only get as tall as you want them to get..."

Umm, how? LOL! Can you explain this paige? Do you need to prune? Can you just yell at them to stop growing? Do they listen better than my kids? :)

I'm very interested in this thread as I am thinking about a small tree for my front yard also.

Thanks!
:)
Dee

I'm sure Paige was refering to grafted weeping Cercis canadensis where height of the tree will be determined by the height of the graft.
It's a standard practice to graft Cc on 6' trunk of the species and total height of the tree in such case will be in 8-9' range.

Thanks all for the great suggestions. I talked to my husband today and he thinks that maybe we can probably have ~12ft tree in the space that I was considering. But I agree with everyone that I should consider a large shrub too.

I am interested in Stewartia sinensis. I love Stewartia. It's so elegant.
Cornus mas looks very pretty too. How long does its bloom last? Does it have a short blooming period?

Lots of good suggestions. I am going to be busy looking at webksites now.

Thanks!

In the name of full disclosure: the flowers on Cornus mas are not especially showy, being individually very small. The overall effect is really sweet, though. I can't tell you how long they last, because mine is blooming for the first time this year, after being moved a couple of times; I bought it when it was a short stick with roots. Maybe google or one of the arboretum sites would have this info.

Just remember to check widths as well as heights. Some short trees and many large shrubs are wide-spreading. For shrubs, you also have to consider whether they sucker - which can create a very nice, wide clump over time but may not be what you're envisioning. I'd rather have a tree planted in my honor, personally.

hahahaha..DiggerDee just made me laugh outloud.