Heptacodium miconoides

This is one of my favorite trees, commonly called Seven Sons Tree. It has only been grown in this country for about the last 15 or so years, or at least in general commerce. It has wonderful peeling bark after a few years, which is a nice asset in the winter, but the best part is what comes after the white flowers you see in the picture. The flowers come in August or September, and after they are done, there are hot, shocking pink calyxes which will remain on the tree, sometimes until November. They will rival any fall color on anything, except for maybe Aesculus obovatus. It isn't a huge tree. Our oldest one is approaching 15 years old and is probably 20 feet tall. It is rather fast growing. It will want to be a multistemmed tree, sometimes many multi stems, but it is easy to keep that down to 2 or 3. Full sun or light shade seems to suit it best, probably similar to what a dogwood might like. It's gotten a lot easier to find and would be a nice addition to anyone's garden.