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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.
Korean Maple
(Acer psuedosieboldianum) New! Over the years our customers have repeatedly asked for Japanese Maples and we refused to sell them knowing that they were not winter hardy for Wyoming... that is until now! The Korean Maple is so similiar that we can easily fool ourselves with this cold tolerant cousin. Korean Maple is a small tree with attractive palmate 7 - 9 lobed dark green leaves with smooth gray bark. Autumn color is a brilliant combination of orange, scarlet and yellow. Trials from our Colorado grower have shown them to do well in clay, alkaline soils. It can be planted in full sun but does best in partial shade. A great tree that can be planted near the patio, in the perennial bed or clustered much like an Aspen Grove. Truly be the first to grow this speciman tree!
 Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry
(Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance') 
New! This can be considered a large shrub or small tree depending on whether or not the stems are pruned. Like the name suggests, Autumn Brilliance aptly describes the magnificant autmn red leaf color. But just as stunning is its spring-time bloom of white flowers followed by dark edible fruit that you and the birds will fight over! Performs best in well draining soils, but will tolerate clay if kept on the dry side. Its size is perfect for underneath power lines (it'll never grow into them), inclusion into a windbreak or simply as beautiful plant in the landscape.
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! Watch this VIDEO about this premier shrub!
Cheyenne Privet (Ligustrum vulgare ‘Cheyenne’) 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.
Columnar Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula ‘Columnaris’) 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!
Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cerocarpus ledifolius) This drought tolerant Wyoming native is found throughout the foothill country of the Bighorns. This shrub has an upright habit with dark green, leathery leaves with edges that curl under — giving it its name! Most winters the leaves stay green adding interest through out the year. In autumn, attractive, curled, fuzzy seed tails arise adding yet another reason to add this to your western landscape. Very long lived, in fact we believe that some near the ‘Hole in the Wall’ Country are over 2,000 years old! Consider using this for a western formal hedge. As a native plant it is regularly “pruned” by deer without detrimental effect. It will be a while before it needs shearing but when it gets to your chosen size it will tolerate it well.
Fernleaf Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula ‘Asplenifolia') This is 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.
Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelli) 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.
'Gro Low’ Sumac (Rhus aromatica) Its low spreading form and fast growth rate make this plant excellent for mass plantings as a groundcover, or for erosion control. Stunning autumn color turning brilliant scarlet to orange! This one can handle most Wyoming soils and weather!
 Hot Wings Tartarian Maple - Shrub Form (Acer tactaricum 'GarAnn') 
The tree form of this maple developed from our Colorado grower has achieved international acclaim for it's beauty and adaptability to tough sites - including Wyoming ! Now you can get this outstanding tree in shrub form for the first time. Expect the same qualities of the tree with beautiful red samaras (helicopter seeds) in July against a backdrop of it's dark green leaves. In autumn, expect shades of orange, red and yellow leaf color. This is an excellent shrub for screening and windbreaks! Handles a variety of soils, a perfect shrub for in-town or the wind swept prairie.
Beauty of Moscow Lilac (Syringa vulgaris ‘Beauty of Moscow’)
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 lilac 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. It is not prone to sucker, and this variety is the most easily trained lilac for single stem culture.
If you like profuse blooming, fragrant pink 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.
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!
New Mexico Olive (Privet) (Foresteria neo-mexicana) 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 12 years we’ve been growing this species we’ve seen no deer damage. An excellent choice for a windbreak.
Plant Select 2011! Folks who have bought this accent tree love its unique growth habit - it looks rugged and windswept when young. This Hawthorn would do well anywhere in Wyoming. It’s an attractive broad -headed tree, with small 3/8 inch 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, persisting into winter, and make a great bird attractant! This one wants full sun. This tree has done well at the Cheyenne Horticultural Field Station for over 70 years! Click Here to watch our VIDEO about Russian Hawthorn.
Seven Son Flower (Heptacodium miconioides) 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.
Silver Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea) Native tree-like shrub with silvery foliage and thorny branch tips. Yellow flowers in spring are followed by orange-red berries for jelly or birds on female plants. Must have a male plant to pollinate. Outstanding as an accent shrub where slivery foliage is desired, in a windbreak or as wildlife cover and food.
Toba Hawthorn (Crataegus x mordenensis ‘Toba’) This was developed many years ago at the Morden Research Station in Manitoba, Canada. Like the other hawthorns we recommend, it has disease and insect resistance, and has year-round interest in the landscape. In late May, clusters of double white, fragrant flowers appear, aging to showy pale pink. Medium sized dark red fruit ripens in late summer and persists that way through winter. In autumn, the green leaves migrate from yellow to orange. The trunk and branches have a distinctive yellow-orange bark and become ‘muscled and twisted’ with age adding another unique characteristic to this tough tree.
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Blue Velvet Honeysuckle (Lonicera korolkowi var. floribunda) 
Russian Hawthorn (Crataegus ambigua)
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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. |
Rain Gauge
Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
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.
These plants are adapted to intermittent deep watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care.
These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these.
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