Very nice, healthy looking trees, toronado! I like your green mixed lawn as well, and I encourage diversity in my own.

Below is a shot of my profusion crabapple, planted about 15 years ago in front of our house. It is semi-weeping, and mowing under the lower branches is a real chore, but it's worth it. If I had it to do over though, I would have planted a more upright crabapple here, and planted this one in our back pasture where I wouldn't feel the need to mow underneath it.

Your work has paid off. Where is the m. Ogon?

The Ogon isn't the most obvious thing in the picture. Its ~190 feet uphill and east of the regular Metasequoia.

spedigrees, I share your pain mowing. One of my neighbors has a zero turn with a deck which sticks out in front I am very envious of. Its pretty high maintenance but saves much the push mower work.

Dax, how much land are you on up there? I always think of Illinois as flat but you have some nice topography.

crepe myrtle 'carolina beauty' (it has grafted top)

Tropical Hibiscus:

Oddly, this tree came already "crepe murdered" something I will have to fix this winter.

Abutilion 'Biltmore Ballgown' flowering maple:

Caldwell, I like your Crepes. I have two small black diamonds one of which will probably flower in a week or two.

Here is my Dynamite. It actually did not die back this year And has been blooming for sometime. My phone does the red no justice.

just planted my black diamond last week, walmart had 2 pink (blooming) and one red (not blooming, color by tag) that had powdery mildew. I chose the red (sprayed with fungicide) and now is doing good. My Carolina Beauty was butchered by the power company (shocker) and I will have to train it back into it's natural shape. I would say about 30' tall. btw it was butchered in full bloom with a trunk removed improperly, which caused the bark not to shed last year.

here are some overall pictures:

Thanks for sharing these photos. It's nice to see the garden behind the gardener...well, at least the user name. ;) I take it Crepe Myrtle is a popular ornamental in the warmer parts. Are there any downsides with this tree?

It is one of the most widely used landscape trees. They have no downsides that I know of, and I have 3. The only problem is people mistreat them, one of the most frequently topped/butchered trees. They do produce suckers at the base that must be removed routinely.

==>>>> ARTICLE ON CREPE MURDER

==>>>> LANDSCAPE TREE EX

==>>>> MY CM CARE ARTICLE

==>>>> CM SELECTION ARTICLE (this may bring some disagreement)

What are the more popular ornamentals in z4? I would think things like russian olive but maybe I am wrong.

My area had the "black diamond" Crepe Myrtle this spring, I didn't buy it, Caldwell, hope to see an update next spring. Caldwell, sorry what zone are you? By your pix of other crapes you are at least zone 7?

I picked up 3 black diamond crapes last week from Lowes. 2 red and 1 pink. The red is stunning against the blackish colored leaves.

Hi Tornado, six acres. I'm 15 miles from the Mississippi River and the topography is mixed. Where I live however, these valleys have some hills so tall it's a dwarfing feeling. There's a ski resort north of me 15 miles and about as far from the old Miss, too. You'd be surprised actually how decent it is.

Dax

poaky, I am in zone 7a (north carolina, right below the mountains). Did anybody else notice that the black diamond crepes came butchered? I really didn't expect that, thought a grower of crepe myrtles would know better.

Caldwell and Toronado, I'm seriously envious of your crape myrtles. They are just gorgeous, but unfortunately I'm too far north for them to thrive.

My inspiration, next door. Swamp White Oak (that's a 5 ft chain link fence)

Standing underneath, looking up:

Love that tree in the above pic, i am happy I have 7-8 of them planted. mine are about 8 ft tall now, but, if i stick around another 25 years, mine will be nice. Anyhoo, caldwell, I didn't notice many details about the Black D Crapes. I was thinking unless they can take a zone 6 winter, at it's worst, I could just find a substitute. I'll baby a Live oak with lights in winter (the kind that give off some heat) but, Crapes aren't so great that I'll baby them. There are some crapes that are short, and can be covered in the worse of winter, but, I don't care for small plants, unless they are perennials. Unless the small Crepes bloom so nice they are worth the trouble, in say a raised bed? Love that Q. Bicolor's bark, nice almost like a Q. Alba. Indianagarden girl, any idea of the tree's age? Mine are growing pretty fast, but as they age, the growth usually slows a bit with big oaks.

Yes - that's a lovely oak. I don't have enough space at home to grow any trees to speak of so I'm posting a photo of August on the allotments. The tree on the left is Cupressus macrocarpa, Monterey Cypress.

This view shows the row of Copper Beeches along the Southern edge of the allotments site.

Copper Beeches are an underplanted dark colored tree around here.

poaky, I don't think crepes would be reliable in your climate, the first leaves always freeze here and it takes them an extra month to leaf out. I really like the copper beeches, I don't see why these aren't used more commonly. Everybody is stuck on those purple leaf plums, copper beech is a nicer tree in my opinion- and has less disease issues.

Poaky,

I can't say for sure. Years ago, we had a guy from Army Corps of Engineers to talk about our woods behind us, and wetland designation of it. He was admiring this tree, and said he thought it was at least 300 years old. I've no idea if he knew what he was talking about. The silhouette of this tree in winter, with sunrise through the branches, is a sight to behold.

Lisa

So I am guessing the Copper beech is a Fagus Sylvatica or European Beech? There is a big one in town here, and another near it. I have it in my photobucket, but, it is leafless, I liked the bark. Lisa, wow 300 years old, the guy likely was close in guessing if they measured it and all that. Nice tree. Caldwell, I know there are smaller Crapes that are listed as zone 5-6, I have never tried them. I really want a large one, if I tried one, so I may as well just forget about them.

The most you will get out of crepe myrtle in zones 5 and 6 are die-back perennials

Caldwell, they do have some very short ones that are rated zone 5, they likely do die back anyway.

Of course I will be unconventional.

I believe these are seeds forming on my 'Phelan Bright'. I assume these need cross pollination, I've never seen it set seed before by itself or the other deciduous magnolias I have. There is a plain old M. X soulangeana about 100' away in a neighborhood's yard, that was in bloom at the same time. I might try growing them out even though it will take ages for them to bloom.

Yes you see a bit of pokeweed, it was well hidden in there and I will remove it soon. They are a scourge but I think I have gotten ahead of them this year and hopefully the seedling count will be smaller next year.

Poaky, some people especially in the more packed in suburbs here can take advantage of urban heat islands and get crape myrtle bushes up to 10 to 15 feet tall. Maybe because I have am acre to mow, I can not.

Either way, I grow a few. When they die back you cut the dead down to 6 inches or whatever and use the sticks tonstart the bonfires. Then they regrow to 5 or 6 feet over the summer.

They are pretty affordable. Its only a 5 jack n coke experiment to plant one.

Think it is this one's 2nd year in the ground. It died back the even in last year's easy winter though a more established one did not and still grew back 3 foot or so even though it was only maybe 18 inches at planting.

The Dynamite is the one that didn't die back then from your post above. Nice shrub. I may go to Rarefind nursery website and see what they have to offer. I THINK they have several crapes. I have to find space. My neighbor has a volunteer sassafras seedling for me, I may plant the tree before the Crape. I'm running out of room for things. Thanks for your input.

That Dynamite crepe myrtel has a really nice color. Not often you see that deep red flowers on a tree.

Just saw your post, poaky1. Yes, Copper Beeech is Fagus sylvatica Purpurea group. There are various versions but I don't know sufficient about them to name them. I have seen weeping and cut leaved forms. I've shown this photo before but you might like it. It shows another Copper Beech near my house, a bit older than the ones next to the allotments. Probably planted about 1830 when the park was laid out. Top right there are some leaves of a neighbouring regular green F sylvatica. Photo taken May 1st 2015 so I'm cheating for this post.

Beautiful tree floral, If I wasn't running out of space, I would plant one. I still have some space, but, I am trying to find room for some others. I have an american Beech, well, I have lots of oaks, but, 1 beech will be enough. Um... Do Copper beech grow in full shade like American beech? I have a full shade area, I may put a Sassafras there. It's under a tree that I think will be dead in 20-25 years. I should stick to the sassafras maybe. There's one growing in my neighbors driveway it would be free for me. The Beech would likely take longer to produce shade than the Sassafras. Decisions decisions.....

Keep in mind, we had a very warm winter. If you want it, plant it and expect it to die back. I think the perennial would be nice behind foundation plantings (I have seen some DULL yews on this forum).

We only have 1 area planted near the foundation, a raised bed I made. My dad always wanted the area clear. Maybe some day I'll add something. We did have some Yews in the back and front years ago, seriously. I'm not in any hurry to plant anything there though.

Well, Caldwell, and anyone else, I saw a "Black Dynamite" Crape Myrtle today at Lowes for $12.?? and the tag said zone 6 hardy, and 10-15 ft at maturity. They had several sizes, the smallest was the $12.?? I didn't buy. I am still buying trees for the yard. This next winter is supposed to be cold for SW Pa. So I'll be babying my Live oak tree with lights. I won't be babying a Crape Myrtle. I have a Seven sons flower anyways.