I don't think there's many soils that are too alkaline to affect most plants, unless you're in a limestone soil area, or soil that contractors have dumped concrete debris into during construction. I've tried & never had good luck w/serviceberries of any kind, tho strangely they grow in the nearby forest quite well. OTOH, spicebushes grow well for me.

The research I did on magnolias suggests that I'd be pushing my luck in soil that tested 6.6. Both the Amelanchier and Cotinus would be fine with that. Or so the research said. And at my age, I don't think I have time for trial and error with trees.

I see that a nursery called Direct Native Plants has C. obovatus but Garden Watchdog has no reviews. Anyone know anything about them? I haven't found any other source yet.

https://www.directnativeplants.com/ 

Check out ForestFarms, Whitman Farms and Broken Arrow nursery. All list Cotinus obovatus in their availabilities (although may not be in stock at this moment).

Lovely pics! I hope mine does as well.

I did see that Broken Arrow is out of them now but will contact them as well as Forest Farm. Thanks, gardengal.

I'm not sure I'd write off sweetbay magnolia as one of your options, around here they seem to be more pH adaptable than one would expect. I haven't encountered very many at all with noticeable chlorosis in this area, as well as parts of Ohio with relatively high pH soils.

This article: Dr. Michael Dirr's Latest Findings, Magnolia virginiana - Sweetbay Magnolia says, "I observed chlorosis on plants in the Midwest [however} A pH range of 5.5 to, shouldering on 7, is suitable." Which would indicate your pH (6.6) should probably be OK.

Get a native American smokebush from Fedcoseeds.com. I've ordered a numbe of trees from Fedco and they are good and reasonably priced.

Thanks. I get most of my veggie seeds from Fedco, but they appear to be sold out of the Cotinus obovatus.

I worked in Nashville TN for 22 years and did a lot of tree looking during that time. The city proper and parts of the county are considered to have a 7ish pH. I saw lots of PLANTED chlorotic red maples, river birches, sweetgums, baldcypress and foster hollies. Never saw a chlorotic magnolia of any flavor, evergreen or deciduous.

I haven't done a soil test, but M virginiana is just fine in my yard and I'm much farther west (and likely a bit more alkaline). Worth a try for sure, love it.

I would advise you to look into local native plant nurseries, there almost have to be some. You can get a larger pot-grown tree than you can order if you do.

Well, that comment, Kenns, is going to make me rethink at least one of my choices. And I need to finalize my orders pretty soon.

Hah, dbarron, there are no local native plant nurseries--and only two nurseries at all about an hour's drive away. (The big box stores are in the same general area--and I never buy plants from them.) At my old place, 4 miles down the road, I mail ordered some 98% of all my plants and I'll have to do the same here. Since I'm landscaping the entire new build, all the plants will be in the same size range. I had a lovely M. virginiana there and I'd really like one here.

Wow Lacey, how did you get lost in no-man's land ? :) I have about seven native plant nurseries (that I know of) within a 2 hour drive. I have another 3 or 4 that make occassional area deliveries of pre-orders or setup a booth for a day. And people talk about (fiction, but maybe had truth to it back seventy-five or more years ago) how backwards Arkansas is.

Hmmm, a 2 hour drive would take me deep into VA, where there very well might be bigger nurseries. But I have never liked driving and as I've gotten older, my dislike has turned more into some fear of driving. So....I'll stick with mail order. Leave the driving to them. Looks as though some of the shipping cost is going to be horrendous. But, then the cost of my 955 sq ft house was horrendous, built since last July.

laceyvail, I understand the driving thing. Trucks close to side-swipe me/run me off the road every time I'm on the interstates.

I'm fine on country back roads, I can manoeuvre the car just fine, and my reflexes are very good, but I detest trying to drive in traffic/highways and figure out where I'm going at the same time. I just tend to fall apart.

You probably already thought of it, but email any nursery that shows your tree even if the site lists them out of stock. You never know if they have a few extra tucked away and it doesn't hurt to ask.

Two sources I always check are: Schott Nurseries (wholesale but open for retail 2 days per week) and Izelplants.com (consolidates a bunch of native plant specialists, for easy mail ordering).

Good luck and let us know how it goes, please :-)

I have found all the trees I'm looking for and per Kenns' comment, I'm going to try (and hope for the success of) Magnolia virginiana 'Moonglow'.

That's the one I have (and enjoy greatly). (also known as 'Jim Wilson'). For me, it's semi-evergreen (or maybe more tardily deciduous, as it pretty much loses last years leaves slightly after the new growth begins).

nickel, thanks for the links. I checked out Izelplants, an interesting concept to help small specialty nurseries. But I was quite surprised to see Pachysandra procumbens, Allegheny spurge, listed as evergreen. I grew it for many years at my place down the road into quite a large patch and it most certainly is not evergreen. Not even in a winter that never drops below 12 degrees.

dbarron, I had the straight species down the road at my old place. Decided to go for Moonglow (Jim Wilson) because it looked to be a little narrower, which would work better at the new house. Such a lovely, lovely small tree.

Dbarron, the beauty of WV is heightened by the lack of commercial development and ugly subdivisions. I am currently looking for property there and love the natural beauty and quiet. So you need to drive an hour to go to the store - it’s a gorgeous drive. Laceyvail, I’ve purchased plants and trees from big box stores since much of my young adult life I was on strict budgets, and they all did very well. I’m glad I planted those trees a decade or two ago. I splurged on landscaping a few years ago for the front of my house and used a local nursery/landscape business. Unfortunately several shrubs died and they did not stand by their warranty.

Someone once asked me what was the worst thing about where I live here in WV. "It's a long way from anywhere," I replied. Then they asked me the best thing about it. "It's a long way from anywhere," I replied.

You know I used to value that when younger, now it's just more convenient that I live in an urban area and can get anything that I typically would want in 15 minutes or less.

I think where I am now is about as urban as I could handle--two streets, maybe 20 houses total in town.

Immediate town, 89k, metro area....I dunno 1/2 a million? (edit I checked: 589k)