Black Hills Spruce – potted
Size: 15″-18″
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3-8
Price: $10.00

Black Hills Spruce is noted for its dark green foliage and conical form. It is a truly cold adapted tree and is very resistant to winter injury. Young Black Hills Spruce are dense with stout ¾ to 1¼ inch needles.

Black Hills Spruce – potted
Size: 24″-30″
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3-8
Price: $18.00

Black Hills Spruce is noted for its dark green foliage and conical form. It is a truly cold adapted tree and is very resistant to winter injury. Young Black Hills Spruce are dense with stout ¾ to 1¼ inch needles.

Eastern Red Cedar – potted
Size: 15″-18″
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-9
Price: $10.00

A common medium-sized tree of old fields and other open areas. The dark green leaves, glaucous blue berry-like cones, and red heartwood are very fragrant. Open0grown trees normally have a distinctive dense columnar or conical shape.

Arborvitae, Techny – potted
Size: 15″-18″
Light: Full-Partial Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3-8
Price: $10.00

Although the species is a native American needled evergreen tree which grows 40′-60′ tall, “Techny” is a compact, broad-based, upright, conical-pyramidal, dwarf cultivar that typically matures to 10′-15′ tall. It is noted for its rich dark green foliage that does not yellow in winter. Foliage is scale-like and appears in flat, fan-shaped clusters. This cultivar is synonymous with “Mission”. An excellent hedge plant also used for windbreaks and as an ornamental.

Black Hills Spruce – bare root
Size: 7″-15″
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3-8
Price: $3.00

Black Hills Spruce is noted for its dark green foliage and conical form. It is a truly cold adapted tree and is very resistant to winter injury. Young Black Hills Spruce are dense with stout ¾ to 1¼ inch needles.

Eastern Red Cedar – bare root
Size: 15″-18″
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-9
Price: $3.00

A common medium-sized tree of old fields and other open areas. The dark green leaves, glaucous blue berry-like cones, and red heartwood are very fragrant. Open-grown trees normally have a distinctive dense columnar or conical shape.

American Linden
Size: 3′-4′ & 4′-5′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 4
Price: $6.00 & $8.00

American basswood (usually called American linden in the horticultural business) is a stately and well-formed deciduous tree with large heart-shaped leaves, a clean, straight trunk, and a broad, rounded crown. Basswood gets 60-80 ft (18.3-24 m) and occasionally over 100 ft (30.5 m) tall with a spread of about half its height. Young trees are columnar; mature trees develop a broad, spreading crown. The trunk is straight, free of branches for a considerable height, and the bark is light brown and smooth, becoming darker and deeply furrowed on older trees. The leaves are 4-8 in (10-29 cm) long and 3-5 in (7.6-13 cm) wide, broadest near the base and pointed at their tips. The leaves have coarsely toothed margins and may or may not be white and fuzzy on the underside. Plants with downy-white leaf undersides may be referable to var. heterophylla, usually called “white basswood.” Basswood has peculiar and very distinctive straplike leafy bracts from which are suspended clusters of sweetly fragrant (but not very showy) flowers. The bracts are the color and texture of leaves, and are 4-5 in (10-13 cm) long and about an inch wide. The flowers are about 1/3 in (0.8 cm) across, and borne in clusters of 10-20 which are suspended from the bracts on slender stalks. The flowers are pollinated by bees. Basswood fruits are round and woody, about 1/3″ in diameter. Several cultivars have been selected. ‘Fastigiata’ is narrow and conical with ascending branches. ‘Redmond’ is pyramidal in form and has larger leaves.

Black Walnut
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 4-8
Price: $2.50

Black Walnut is a large, moderately growing, majestic tree. Prized for its wood veneer at maturity; used in fine cabinets, gunstocks, and furniture. Makes a wonderful shade tree, and when planted for a wood plantation, a long-term investment. Has moderate water requirements and shows a moderate tolerance to salt and alkali soils. The Juglans Nigra will grow slower if exposed to droughty periods but is tolerant to drought.

Bur Oak
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-8
Price: $2.50

Bur Oak has several unique traits among large shade trees: fiddle-shaped foliage that is thick and large, bark on lower trunks that has thick, vertical flattened ridges with very deep furrows, large-fringed acorns, and stout semi-corky twigs; in addition, the tree often stands alone in fields in the wild, displaying its bold texture of a massive trunk and huge spreading limbs from a distance, and being very drought tolerant due to its very deep taproot system.

Male Cottonwood (Seedless)
Size: 4′-5′
Light: Sun
Hardiness: All Zones
Price: $3.50

Cottonwood is a rapid growing tree and becomes very large with age. Sexes are separate. Male catkins show colorful red stamens in the spring. The small, light seeds are attached to a white cottony substance which aids in wind dispersal of the seeds. Female trees produce tremendous amounts of the seed which can literally make the ground white. Tree form is upright spreading with an oval to rounded crown. The glossy medium green leaves are 3-5″ long and equally wide. Fall color is yellow. Because of the tree’s large size and tendency for branches to break in wind and ice storms, Cottonwood is usually not recommended for residential landscapes or other small properties. It is a good tree for highway and park plantings where little maintenance is possible. Cottonwood is native throughout the upper Midwest.

Norway Poplar
Size: 3′-4′
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3
Price: $2.50

Fast growing tree used for windbreaks and riparian plantings. Requires moist soil but can tolerate dry soil.

Hackberry
Size: 3′-4′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3
Price: $2.50

This tree can attain very large proportions, but usually grows 40′-60′ in height and 1′-1½’ in diameter. When grown in the open, it develops a short bole and a large, rounded crown. It has simple, elm-like leaves and can be identified by its many corky warts and ridges of bark on the trunk. It produces fruit in the form of ½”-1″ purple drupes.

Hybrid Willow
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-9
Price: $2.50

Willow Hybrid, on average, and under normal conditions, will grow six feet per year. Under ideal conditions and on good sites the growth rate is even faster. Planted as a hedge, screen, windbreak, or to line a road or drive, you can expect this tree to be over 20’ tall and 15’ wide in just three years.

Silver Maple
Size: 3′-4′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3-9
Price: $2.50

This medium-sized maple attains heights of 60-80 ft (18.3-24.4 m) and diameters from 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m). It has deciduous, opposite, lobed leaves that are pale green above and silvery below. The leaves often turn yellow or red in the fall. As the tree matures its smooth, silvery bark breaks into long scaly plates.

Ninebark
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun/Partial Shade
Hardiness: Zone 2-8
Price: $2.50

This ninebark cultivar is a spreading, somewhat coarse, densely branched, deciduous shrub which typically grows to 6-10′ tall and is closely related to the genus Spiraea. Noted for its exfoliating bark (on mature branches) which peels in strips to reveal several layers of reddish to light brown inner bark (hence the common name of ninebark). Bark provides winter interest, but is usually hidden by the foliage during the growing season. Features small pink or white, five-petaled flowers appearing in dense, flat, rounded, 1-2″ diameter, spirea-like clusters (corymbs) in late spring. Flowers give way to drooping clusters of reddish fruit (inflated seed capsules). Ovate to rounded, usually shallow-lobed leaves (to 3″ long) are dark green in summer changing to an undistinguished yellow in fall.

Amur Maple
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun/Partial Shade
Hardiness: Zone 2-8
Price: $2.50

Clusters of fragrant, yellowish-white flowers in spring; fruit red on certain cultivars; autumn color is a mix of yellow and red (varies from tree to tree).

Common Lilac
Size: 2′-3′ TR*
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-8
Price: $3.50

This common lilac cultivar is an upright, deciduous shrub which grows 8-15′ tall. Deep purple to wine red, sweetly fragrant, single flowers with white edges are arranged in dense, pyramidal, terminal clusters (panicles) which cover this shrub in late April to early May (St. Louis). Ovate to cordate, dark green leaves (to 5″ long). Excellent fresh cut flower. Lilacs have been a garden favorite for years and often evoke nostalgic feelings of home and childhood. Walt Whitman lyrically extolled the lilac as “tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love, With every leaf a miracle…” in his 1865 poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”.

* These plants are well branched and well rooted

Redosier Dogwood
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Hardiness: Zone 3-8
Price: $2.50

This redtwig dogwood cultivar is a rapid-growing, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub which grows to a maximum size of 4-5′ tall with a rounded, spreading (stoloniferous) habit. Denser and more compact than the species due in large part to its shorter internodes. The outstanding ornamental feature of this plant is its bright red winter stems which are particularly showy against a snowy backdrop. Tiny white flowers appear in flat-topped clusters (to 2.5″ diameter) in late spring, with sparse, intermittent, additional flowering sometimes continuing into summer. Flowers give way to clusters of whitish (sometimes with a bluish tinge) drupes in late summer. Fruit is quite attractive to birds and is generally considered to have as much if not more ornamental interest than the flowers. Ovate to lanceolate, dark green leaves (2-4″ long) turn an attractive reddish purple in autumn.

Sandbar Willow
Size: 18″-24″
Light: Full Sun, Partial Shade
Hardiness: Zone 2
Price: $2.50

This small tree is often shrub like and forms dense thickets on newly formed sand bars. It is common throughout Iowa. The sandbar willow is the pioneer tree on newly formed soils along streams and has a dense, fibrous root system valuable for protecting soil against water cutting.

Staghorn Sumac
Size: 18″-24″
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3a
Price: $2.50

Staghorn Sumac is a native species in the upper Midwest. It is a large shrub that spreads by root suckers to form large thickets from a single plant. It is a coarse, sparsely branched plant with attractive pinnately compound leaves. Current year stems are very fuzzy on Staghorn Sumac. When root suckers are eliminated, the plant can be grown as a loose, round headed, small tree with a single trunk. Upright panicles of reddish-brown fruit are formed at the tips of branches of pistillate plants and remain on all winter, providing interest. Foliage develops excellent fall coloration, ranging from orange, bright red to maroon. Can be used for holding steep slopes, or massing in areas where other plants will not grow.

American Highbush Cranberry
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun to Partial Sun
Hardiness: Hardy to Zone 2
Price: $2.50

Viburnum Trilobum is unusually beautiful with its soft maple-like leaves, producing white lacecap flowers mid-May to mid-June, followed by bunches of shiny bright red berries by August, which can be harvested in autumn.

American Plum
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Zone 2-9
Price: $2.50

American Plum can be a small tree or a large shrub. As a tree, it typically grows to 15-25′ tall with a broad, spreading crown. As a shrub, it suckers freely and can form large colonies. 2-5 flowered clusters (umbels) of 5-petaled white flowers (1″ diameter) appear in March before the foliage. Flowers are followed by edible, round, red plums (1″ diameter) with bright yellow pulp which ripen in early summer. Although the plums can be eaten raw, the quality is somewhat poor. The fruits are perhaps better used for preserves and jellies. Toothed, oblong to ovate leaves are 3-4″ long and turn yellow to red in autumn. Branches and twigs are an attractive dark reddish-brown and sometimes have thorny lateral branchlets. American Plum is very hardy and drought resistant. Excellent for wildlife plantings.

Common Chokecherry
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Full Sun to Partial Sun
Hardiness: All Zones
Price: $2.50

Chokecherry is a small suckering hardy tree or large shrub. Distinguished from the Pin Cherry by the leaves. The Chokecherry has broader, egg-shaped leaves and dense, elongated, terminal white flower clusters. May also be mistaken for the Mountain Juneberry. Identification can be made by observing the leafstalks; the Chokecherry leaves have glandular leafstalks while Mountain Juneberry leaves do not. Chokecherry fruits turn dark purple and are edible in July and August.

Elderberry
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Sun
Hardiness: Hardy Zone 4, Warmer Parts of 3
Price: $2.50

A shrub or rarely a small tree spreading by stolons. Occurs in rich soil and is scattered in bottomlands and uplands along streams, fence rows and low places. Stems have a thin woody layer and large white pith. Older stems are reddish to gray with small warty protuberances. Various parts of the plant have many domestic uses. The fruit is eaten by several bird and mammal species. The fruit also makes excellent wine and jelly.

Red Splendor Crabapple
Size: 2′-3′
Light: Full Sun
Hardiness: Zone 3
Price: $2.50

An upright, more or less open headed tree. Flowers are a rosy, red bloom. Outstanding features are the tree’s almost complete disease resistance and its small red fruit, 1cm in diameter, that cling to the trees all winter. The flowering crabapple are a durable and highly useful ornamental trees that are strikingly beautiful in bloom.