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Small Trees and Large Shrubs All of the good attributes of medium sized trees apply to these also, only for even tighter spots and with more windbreak potential because shrubs carry foliage to the ground in most cases.
is a cross between tartarian and amur maple (natives of the Russian Steppe) and has an excellent growth rate with exceptional alkaline soil tolerance! The leaves in summer are dark green and lobed and produce exceptional orange autumn color! The plentiful red samaras (helicopter seeds) come into their own by midsummer giving it a summer time Christmas tree effect! An excellent tree for small areas as an accent or planted en mass for visual screening . Height: 20’ Width: 15’ Zone 2
Crabs have a history of getting a bacterial disease called fireblight. We set out to find a tree with regionally proven resistance to this disease and have chosen this one. It has very attractive rose red flowers in spring, develops 5/8” bright red fruit in late summer that persists on the tree. Great autumn color of yellow to orange. This one is considered medium to small as crabs go. An excellent tree for a small area, planted en mass to create a visual screen or as an accent. Tolerant of many environmental challenges—just not salty soil. Height: 15’ – 20’ Width: 15’ – 20’ Zone 4
Plant Select® 2008 Also called Northern Crepe Myrtle, this fast growing large lush looking shrub or small tree from China blooms from August into September in seven-tiered fragrant panicles of creamy white flowers. The show isn’t over as rosy-red clustered sepals that remain after petal drop in contrast to the dark green leaves that persist late into fall. For winter interest after leaf drop, the exfoliating bark reveals a light brown under bark. This unusual member of the honeysuckle family is upright spreading and multi-stemmed in habit. Culture is full sun to partial shade in sandy or loamy soil with reports of adaptability to heavier soils. Moderate soil moisture requirements indicate a need for a setting much like a watered lawn or garden. Height at maturity will be 12-20’ and Width will be 8-15’. Zones 4-9 (recommend below 7,000’)
Plant Select 2000 What an outstanding hardy small ornamental tree! This upright small plum has dark brown to almost black bark with showy, fragrant double white flowers in May before leaves appear, followed by 1” red fruit ripening in August. Autumn brings a beautiful orange-red foliage display. The dark bark with its prominent lenticels provides excellent winter interest. Height: 12’ – 15’ Width: 8’-10’ Shape: Upright
Zone 2
All that have bought this accent tree loved its unique growth habit -looking rugged and windswept when young. This Hawthorn would do well anywhere in Wyoming. It’s an attractive broad -headed tree, with small 3/8” thorns. Leaves are deeply lobed and medium green in summer. Numerous white flowers emerge in the spring and by late September the whole tree begins to glow as the abundant cherry like fruit ripens. They decorate the branches like ornaments for 2- 3 weeks and make a great bird attractant! This one wants full sun. This tree has done well at the Cheyenne Experiment Station for over 70 years!
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One of our personal favorites, this native performs at its best in central Wyoming! Can be considered a small tree/large shrub with the ability to withstand just about anything Mother Nature can conjure - wind, drought, sun, and difficult soils. Consider planting them in multiples - much like an Aspen grove or for a windbreak. Excellent choice for wildlife (Especially squirrels and turkeys!) because of the acorns it produces. Glossy green leaves turn yellow to an occasional orange or red in autumn.
Fragrant white flowers in pendulous racemes appear in spring, followed by fruit you and the birds will fight over (homemade jelly!) Both the statewide native green leafed form and the maroon leafed Canada Red grow in some very rugged conditions! The yellow fruited is the same except that it was found growing outside Sheridan and the fruit gives the appearance of a bright second bloom in late July and August. (Birds aren’t as tuned in to seek out that color to eat.) All three are excellent choices for a Screen or Windbreak because of fast growth. All sucker so planting in an area that allows for new stemsto spring up only adds to the screening effect! Height: 15’-25’ Width: 15’-20’
Zone 2
Plant Select® 2007 Consistent, breath-taking scarlet red samaras (seeds) appear in summer giving the tree the appearance of being in bloom! Outstanding autumn color as the leaf color migrates from orange-red on the outside to yellow in the middle of the tree. Tolerates a wide range of soils and is drought tolerant to boot! One of our growers developed this tree and has since patented it and soon it will be available around the nation. Be the first to grow this specimen tree!
This variety is a sibling to the Plant Select® 2007 Popcorn Shrub, another name for this small shrubby May-blooming ornamental tree that bears extremely showy elongate clusters of white flowers with yellow eyes that turn maroon. The resulting leathery seed pods persist to provide winter interest. Dark green foliage is pinnately compound resembling that on Mountain Ash. Tolerance of alkalinity and moderate drought tolerance in clay, loam or sand is a welcome attribute! Place this one in semi-protected spots without reflected heat in winter and enjoy the show that usually begins in a 3’ tall plant!
As the name suggests, its ‘columnar’ and an excellent choice for a dense hedge or privacy screen in tight places! (think about those neighbors you want to screen-out!) Surprisingly rugged for our conditions, this handsome shrub with glossy green foliage and in late summer purple fruit and yellow autumn leaf color is even thornless. Great windbreak and screen potential!
a narrow, almost columnar with narrow, dark green foliage which is distinctly dissected and covers densely arranged branches. A plant with a very formal appearance. Useful to flank entries or to place in formal large pots. A larger accent plant in a rock garden, an ideal Japanese garden accent due to branch density—provides a strong winter presence. Thornless. Height: 5—7’ Width: 3—5’ Shape: narrow upright
Zone 3
A low branching vase shaped shrub which lends a lacy, fern like fine texture to the landscape with its linear leaves that have a very undulating margin! This is a standout amongst buckthorns and quite resilient to our conditions! Attractive red summer berries turn black as they mature – a real bird attractant! Removing the lower branches turns this plant into an outstanding small multi-stemmed thornless specimen. Several customers saw this buckthorn as an excellent replacement for Japanese Maples which can’t handle our conditions. Best use is as an accent or specimen plant. Yellow autumn color.
If you like the look of Aspens but just can’t get them to survive, we recommend this as an alternative. “Limbing up” to expose the smooth whitish-blond trunks gives an Aspen-like look. We like it for its own look and high desert-edge heritage. It really performs under hot, dry and windy conditions! Yellow flowers (on female trees) precede leaves in the spring followed by small dark blue fruit in August - a real treat for birds. The leaves are small, light green ovals and wind tolerant. In the six years we’ve been growing this species we’ve seen no deer damage. An excellent choice for a windbreak.
The Cheyenne Horticultural Field Station; a Wyoming treasure. Established in 1928, the mission was to research dry land conditions and to aid horticulture development in the West. For 46 years the Station field-tested thousands of fruits and vegetables as well as ornamental trees and shrubs. The research needs of the USDA changed and in 1974 trials ended having tested 1,300 woody ornamental plants, 200 hundred trees/shrubs for windbreaks, 2,000 fruit varieties and 8,000 vegetables! Afterwards, interested staff volunteered and did what they could but it was not the priority of the station. After twenty years interest in the facility was renewed. Nurseries began to search for new plants that were hardy in the West’s difficult soils and climate. in 1974, 250 species had survived. Many of these trees and shrubs have now been propagated and made available to the nursery trade. The property has now recently been deeded to the city of Cheyenne and their botanic garden and will have a secure future to showcase horticultural possibilities at elevation in the wind, dryness, hail, abrupt temperature changes and alkaline soils. The Wyoming Plant Company is proud to offer a number of these plants, not only as beautiful ornamentals but also as true Wyoming survivors. We applaud the men and women who traveled the globe in those early years to collect such gems, those who tended trials on the open plain, those who weeded and watered in the hiatus years and the new plant finders who championed these selections into the wider western.
Most people don’t know that lilacs come in tree form and this one is spectacular! It blooms in June - after bloom killing frosts - with fragrant, upright panicles of creamy white flowers. Another great feature is that the bark is glossy red to cinnamon brown and exfoliates as the tree ages making for a winter presence in the landscape. Place this one where people gather!
Zone 2 Tip on formal hedge pruning: Whether you choose Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany, Cheyenne Privet or another species for a formal hedge, you must prune so that the base of the plant is wider than the top if you want the plant to carry foliage to the ground and not become leafless and twiggy in its lower parts. The sun must reach all parts of the side of the hedge to keep it in active foliar growth.
Wind is such a constant factor in Wyoming. Whether you live in town or the country windbreak plantings can offer you a sanctuary from its draining effect. Regardless of the size of your yard we can help you create your sheltered outdoor living area. In town, this may mean clustered plantings of trees and shrubs whereas a country property has space for traditional layered rows. Consider these species for the job: Utah Serviceberry, Wichita Blue and Cologreen Juniper, Gambel Oak, Russian Hawthorn, New Mexico Olive, Cheyenne Privet, Columnar Buckthorn, and don’t forget the chokecherries! If trees and shrubs are in your future, consider dormant planting in March and April. There is less heat and water stress associated with planting then for you and your trees! When ever possible we will work with you to secure your woody’s for early spring delivery. When ordering please indicate on the order form you want to plant early.
“Lilacs could very likely be the first plants brought into the High Plains by early settlers. We say this not because they have been mentioned in the literature, but because we see them growing beside long abandoned homesteads. The sturdiness and beauty that inspired the early settlers to bring them west are still good qualities that encourage us to use them today. Even small children can recognize lilacs, responding to their unmistakable blooms and fragrance.”
If you like profuse blooming, fragrant purple lilacs – look no further! But it doesn’t stop there –this one is considered to be one of the best lilacs for hedge or screen planting because it holds its foliage downs to the ground and grows so quickly! The leaves are smaller than on most lilacs and we think more decorative and the flower clusters are more open and airy.
Zone 4
Another great survivor from the Cheyenne Experiment Station! This lilac blooms in profusion in June (like prestoniae lilacs, frosts won’t get these blooms!) with fragrant deep pink to red color ( what a treat for the senses!). The leaves are small and decorative like microphylla lilacs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time this plant has been offered to gardening public!
Zone 2
This lilac was developed in 1943 in tribute to the city of Moscow and today it still is one of the most striking lilacs on the market! It blooms in late may and exhibits an array of small pink buds that open into large white double flowers with a star-like appearance. This stunning combination of pink and white synonymously creates a beautiful bouquet effect. As the flower matures, its exceptional fragrance becomes strikingly stronger. Each year our customers huddle around these lilacs taking turns inhaling — and it’s not illegal!
This may be the common species of lilac but there is nothing common about the purple florets that are tipped in white— the only picotee lilac we are aware of in any species! This one is shorter and more upright in habit than “common purple” but just as healthy and hardy!
Zone 3
This is an outstanding find from the Cheyenne Experiment Station! This is by far the best large honeysuckle on the market, yet rarely used. Drought and poor soils have little effect on this shrub. This is simply one of the best shrubs we’ve seen for use in windbreaks or as a stand alone specimen! This 1999 Plant Select winner has pale pink flowers, which bloom in profusion in early summer. You won’t see witches’ broom or aphids on this one! We have yet to see a deer or rabbit eat this plant! Height: 7 - 9’ Width: 7 - 11’ Shape: Upright
Zone 3
‘07 GreatPlants Introduction Seed collected on a Mongolian Steppe by our grower provided the parentage for this new xeric shrub. Plant form is narrow with upright arching stems covered in sparkling, ferny silver leaves as opposed to traditional caraganna. Large yellow legume-type flowers add interest in spring followed by slender seed pods that turn red in summer. Plant in Sun even in averse soil and weather conditions for a slightly spiny living fence, hedge or low Windbreak. Height: 8-9’ Width: 4-5’
This lilac as well as many others prestoniae lilacs was developed around 1920 by the Canadian plant breeder Isabella Preston. They bloom two weeks later than common lilacs with dark blue lavender clusters of small trumpet shaped florets with spicy oriental fragrance. Growth habit is more upright than common lilacs and the leaves are thick and leathery. Not prone to sucker this variety is the most easily trained lilac for single stem culture.
Height: 10-12’ Width: 10-12’ Shape: Broadly rounded
Zone 2
Upright rapid growing hedge plant with extremely fragrant clusters of small white flowers in early summer. Takes shearing well making it excellent for screening and formal hedge use! The most famous of all the Cheyenne Horticulture Field Station plants. Establishes easily in difficult sites. Originally found near Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Height: 8 - 16’ Width: 4-8’
Rain Gauge Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
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Ventura Maple (Acer x Ventura)
Full sun to partial shade
Indian Summer Crabapple (Malus ‘Indian Summer’)
Princess Kay Plum (Prunus nigra ‘Princess Kay’)
Full sun
Yellowhorn(Xanthoceras sorbifolia)
Cheyenne Lilac (Syringa x ‘Cheyenne’)
Nocturne Lilac (Syringa x prestoniae ‘nocturne’)
Cheyenne Privet (Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’)
These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant death.
Wyoming Plant Company, LLC PO Box 670, Evansville, Wyoming 82636 (307) 247-1190 Copyright ©2010 Wyoming Plant Company. All rights reserved. |