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White Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) is a small native tree to North America with long white fringe flowers. It was the delicate fragrance that caught my attention.
One day while searching at a wholesale nursery for a specific plant, a wonderful fragrance drifted by. I totally forgot what I was looking for and took off in search of the source. More beautiful than the fragrance were the flowers of the small tree in bloom. I found a tag and on it was a botanical name unknown to me, Chionanthus virginicus. Although I had no idea what the tree was, I was sure that some day one would be in my garden.
Today, planted on the northwest corner of my house is a Chionanthus, white fringetree. Every spring I look forward to the long fringe flowers that hang from the branches and the gentle scent. Since it is slow to get going, behind the fringetree is an earlier flowering Persian lilac. Their flowering sequence works well. Around the base of them are spring bulbs, grape hyacinths, and columbine. To give the garden year round structure, I have green velvet boxwoods in the front of the fringetree and to the side an arbor leading the way to a garden path.
Don't be fooled by the delicate appearance of a flowering fringetree. When the roofers dropped a box of shingles on mine, the top broke out and I was in a panic. Fortunately, the damage didn't seem to phase the tree. White fringetree is native to North America and although it prefers moist acidic soil, it is very adaptable. As long as my new roof doesn't leak and the roofers stay away, the fringetree should mature at 12'. Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs lists the mature size as 12-20'. Since I don't offer ideal growing conditions to my plants, I'm not too concerned about the size getting out of control. If so, it will be time for a new roof!
Do you have a favorite fragrant plant? In a future column, I'll write about a group of fragrant shrubs that everyone seems to love but 100's of them flowering at once at the nursery gives me a headache.
© Susan Mertz, March 2006. All rights reserved.
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Comments
Mar 21, 2006 8:32 AM
Barbara Nicholson Bell :
Susan, is there a limit to the zone range in which this tree will grow? Will it do well in a Zone 4-5? Does it drop fruit or leave any other messes around? I'm looking for a smallish fragrant tree for my front yard, which faces east.
Mar 22, 2006 10:55 AM
Susan Mertz :
White fringetree grows in zones 4-9 and can handle full sun to part shade. The female trees will fruit - egg shape dark blue - and it is quite pretty. I had fruit the first year I planted mine but haven't had any since. Probably, because there is not a male polinator in the neighborhood. A great website for more details on White Fringetree is http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C120
I absolutely love mine.
Susan
Mar 22, 2006 6:34 PM
Georgene A. Bramlage :
Barb, There a is an Asian species of the fringe tree <i>Chionanthus retusus</i> as well as the American native <i>Chionanthus virginicus</I>. There are excellent pictures of both species at <a href="http://www.waverlyfarm.com/catalog-plant.html?code=CHTVR">the Waverly Farms site</a>. This is a whole sale concern, but the pictures are excellent :) I have the native species growing on my south-facing, but shaded hillside...got it as a rooted cutting from the Arnold Arboretum. Not reason why you should not be able to grow it provided your soil is prepared well. The male tree is showier than the female...because of the long anthers (male parts). There are lovely specimens at Longwood Gardens, if you ever have a chance to visit down near Philadelphia. If you decide this is the tree for you and need help finding a source, I'm sure your dedicated plant people in H & G can help find one :) It is a great tree! Very underused.
Mar 24, 2006 11:20 AM
Susan Mertz :
The nursery I work for also stocks Chinese Fringetree (Chionanthus retusus). It is a wild looking tree. I have seen them in sizes ranging from 1.5" to 3" caliper, about 12' tall. The bark of Chinese Fringetree is much more interesting to look at than the Chionanthus virginicus; however, the branching is just all over the place.
Susan
Apr 2, 2006 8:24 AM
Barbara Nicholson Bell :
Thank you, ladies! Both of you gave me excellent advice. My yard will be torn up this spring when a very old clay sewer pipe will be replaced, so I will be waiting until that's finished before re-landscaping. Budget will be an issue, of course, but this tree sounds like a winner so it goes on my list.
Apr 2, 2006 8:50 PM
Georgene A. Bramlage :
Barb,
Way to go...:) This is a neat-looking tree...and if I remember correctly, the flowers are also sweet-smelling. The native species will probably do better for you in your zone than the Asian.
If you begin to train the tree early on, you should have no trouble keeping it to the size and shape you want.
Jul 31, 2006 11:48 AM
Reed Dillon :
I live in the same area as Susan, and have planted both varieties. The blossoms on my Chinese Fringe are much showier, bloom about two weeks later, and last quite a bit longer- 2-3 weeks. THe blossoms on my native fringe seem to get covered up by newly emerging leaves pretty quickly. The native fringe trees haven't grown much height wise- 18" in 8 years. The Chinese fringe trees were tall to begin with, and haven't grown much taller, but have only been in two years.We are Zone 5, but the past few winters have been very mild, more like Zone 6, so I can't really speak to cold hardiness.
Jul 31, 2006 1:35 PM
Susan Mertz :
RDA, Since you have found my articles on Suite101, you might want to read <a href="http://plantsbulbs.suite101.com/article.cfm/ManagingBamboo">Managing Bamboo</a>. This is the bamboo article I was working on when you stopped by the nursery one day. With my native fringetree, I have decided to keep the height at 4-5'. I want to always be able to see the flowers of the Persian Lilac, it is 6-8', behind it and I like the contrasting foliage. It's interesting that the Chinese Fringetree flowers last longer and are showier. I'm just not sure what I think about the wild looking tops. Susan
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