Colorado Trees

There are many varieties of oak trees that grow in nearly every temperate part of the world. The bur oak (sometimes spelled burr) is part of the white oak group and is native to much of eastern North America.

The swamp white oak is a North American native that grows naturally in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley areas of the U.S. and Canada,as well as in isolated pockets as far west as Kansas and as far south as Alabama.

If you want to add a little drama to your landscape, you won’t go wrong with a saucer magnolia. This French hybrid blooms profusely in the spring with large fragrant pink and white flowers prior to the emergence of thick, smooth deep 3-6” green leaves.

Also known as the Netleaf Hackberry, Sugarberry or Paloblanco, the Western Hackberry is a large shade tree that’s well suited for urban areas. It’s deep-rooted when mature making it wind-resistant, drought-tolerant and tolerant of alkaline soils.

Crabapple trees provoke all sorts of emotions—people love their riotous blossom of thousands of white or pink flowers in early spring and sometimes hate the equally large number of small red fruit that fall onto lawns and sidewalks in late summer.

If you want a medium-sized, lush feature tree to plant on a lawn, the Golden Raintree (also known as the Goldenrain) may be the tree for you. This East Asian native grows to about 30 feet with a spread roughly equal to its height.

When East met West somewhere in Spain or England (no one knows for sure) in the mid-1600s, a new tree was born, the London planetree, as it’s commonly called.

The Horse Chestnut is a medium-growing deciduous tree that’s excellent for shade or as an accent in large yards or open spaces.

The Crimson King is one of a number of maples that adapt well to the high plains environment of Colorado’s Front Range. As its name implies, its leaves are red/burgundy in summer, changing to yellow or brown in late fall making it a popular ornamental tree in landscapes.

If you’re looking for a compact tree with lots of character and style, you won’t do better than a Bigtooth Maple.