Fringe trees bring color and fragrance to your garden

Once in a while you meet a shrub that just knocks you off your feet. And so it is with the fringe tree especially right now as it begins showing off. This deciduous shrub is spectacular in full bloom with an airy lightness. It is the softness of the 4-to-6-inch long clusters of fringe-like creamy white petals that make it look like it is glowing. The delicate drooping clouds which cover the small tree are slightly fragrant.

The appeal of these plants make them superior landscape choices. They are winter hardy, pest resistant and low maintenance. As they mature they can become quite wide, so I have pruned it each year. Ours are growing in a partially shady location early in the day which becomes sunnier in the afternoon. The soil is somewhat moist and well-drained, a condition which encourages good health.

Its botanical name chionanthus virginicus may not roll off your tongue, but it is native to North Carolina. Its slow growth habit results in strong dense wood which stands well against strong winds and the stress of bending. They stand strong against air pollution and are being selected for urban landscapes where they thrive along streets and highways.

There is a curiosity with the pair here in our yard. One seems loaded with longer petaled blooms, showier blossoming. The other produces less powerful white blooms. Later in the season some dark bluish fruit forms. That fruit has never appeared on the larger shrub. In the horticulture world there are plants termed dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female versions. That must be what is going on because in the vinca ground cover I have found numerous young seedlings where some of the fruit likely dropped. Apparently birds will eat some berries but others make it to the earth and tucked safely under the groundcover will germinate.

In a couple of weeks these powerful white clusters of softness will fade and fall upon the ground suggesting a snowfall. It seems sad that they don't bloom longer. But I can happily say that the shape and color of the foliage is handsome. The green glossy leaves remain throughout the growing season. Often branches find their way into flower arrangements. After being cut they remain perky and turgid, another virtue.

Our gratitude for the presence of the fringe tree shrubbery is given to George and Carol Iiams, the former owners. It is likely that they made the choice. It fulfills a silent wish made long ago "to one day own a house where someone else planted lovely shrubbery for me to enjoy in my old age."

Life is good.

Mary Lee Minor is a member of the Earth, Wind and Flowers Garden Club, an accredited master gardener, a flower show judge for the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs and a former sixth grade teacher.