We had a heat wave before in Augest and my trees did not make it (tamarack) killed by 37C and humidex 48C. I need a nice heat tolerent tree and wind tolerent and of course rain because were are getting 60 mm from Ernesto. We have alot of rain in the winter.My larch are dead to my white ash lost its leaves and it looks dead. I want a tropical looking tree that will survive my severe winters I mean extremly severe. Not in cold but in storms. We had a zone 6 winter last year. I was thinking about a needle palm but I don't want to take a chance in case something happens in the winter.A mimosa looked great but its not hardy in my area. All the trees in my area don't look that good and they are trash. I wanted to get a african looking tree like baobab but those trees from there will not survive even other than baobab.I can't belive zone 5 has a lack of trees Trachycarpus are hardy to zone 6 or 7 so its just not hardy in my area maybe windsor zone 6/7. Is there a nice tropical looking tree I could try? There is just so little for zone 5. I browse on daves garden and says there is 60.000 trees for zone 5 I. It can't be true I, think 1.000 and says that there is 2 palms for zone 5.. So I need something tropical looking.Please help.
Think about Umbrella Magnolia (Magnolia tripetala)...giant leaves and easily zone 5 hardy. Magnolia fraseri is similar and also hardy in zone 5. Magnolia macrophylla, with the biggest leaves of all, would be iffy for you. They are not however, very wind tolerant, as the big leaves will tear. Your tamarack would not have died because of the heat...drought will do them in and the same goes for White Ash. Sounds like you have a drier site that deep rooted upland trees would thrive on. Simon
Thanks for the advice on the trees. I would go with a Magnolia tripetala or a Magnolia macrophylla. We have alot of wind so it could be in a shelterd spot. The heat caused the grass to go yellow and. These trees were in a drier area in full sun because I had no were else to plant anthing. If I did the big trees would block the pool from the sun so it will not warm up the water. When Ernesto comes We will have 60 or maybe 70 mm of rain. It should help them. My Chinese fan palm had 4 fans left and I had to bring it in and water it. Its recovering now. That heat caused some sort of seedlings growing on dry grass. They kinda look like Chinese tallow trees but will not survive the winter. They seem to go away when it gets wet again.
Magnolias are choice and expensive. Both species suggested grow natively on deep, rich soils in sheltered places mostly far south of your area. With any kind of tree you will usually have to mulch and water new plantings to get them well started, even of kinds adapted to severe situations. It all depends on the specific variables involved, of course, but from your descriptions of results so far it sounds like the ones tried simply have not been getting enough attention to amount to much.
The wind is a concern! Don't worry about the hardiness, there are large specimens of both M. tripetala & M. fraseri at the Dominion arboretum in Ottawa and several M. tripetala at the RBC in Hamilton. The Magnolias are much hardier than their natural range suggests. M. macrophylla will still be iffy though, it's roots are sensitive to the cold. You need to water your new trees though (and trees planted in soils they are not adapted too)! The heat is NOT killing them, the lack of moisture is. There are much hotter places in the Midwest where tamaracks and White Ash grow quite successfully....Southern Ontario may seem hot by our standards but the summers only get warmer further south. Simon
If you want another larch, try European Larch (Larix decidua) or Japanese Larch (L. kaempferi), they are both more heat tolerant than Tamarack Larch
Here are a few suggestions for you to research : Chionanthus virginicus , Nyssa sylvatica , Sassafrass albidum , Asimina triloba , Aralia japonica , Halesia carolina , Acer griseum , Cladrastis kentukea , Cornus mas , Cornus kousa , Magnolia acuminata , Magnolia virginiana , Liriodendron tulipifera , or Pterostyrax hispida . I have grown all of them at least once over the gardening years .
