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Unusual Tree Seeds

Trees not only beautify your home, but they also add value as well. Studies have shown that mature trees can increase the value of a home by ten percent. Distinguish your home from the rest in the neighborhood by planting some unique seeds today.

Important Note: Most of the seeds on this page will benefit greatly from using the CAPE Smoke Seed Germination Primer that we use in our own greenhouses. We find we receive significantly better germination results when we use this primer on these types of seeds.

Photos and cultural info courtesy of Floridata.com

D7861 White Flowering Dogwood ( Cornus Alba )
Flowering dogwood is a small tree, up to 30' in height and 35' across, but the typical size is more like 15' tall and 15-20' across. It has a short trunk and a full, rounded crown with horizontal branches often in layered tiers, spreading wider than its height. The bark on mature trees is broken up into small square blocks. Flowering dogwood has opposite, deciduous midgreen leaves, 3-6" long, which turn red and purple in autumn. Flowering dogwood blooms in the spring, as its new leaves are unfolding, and usually remains showy for 2-3 weeks. The inflorescence consists of four showy petal-like bracts, usually snow white or pink, surrounding a cluster of tiny inconspicuous yellowish flowers. The bracts are 1-2" long and obovate in shape, usually with a cleft at the tip. Clusters of bright red football shaped fruits, about a half inch long, follow the flowers and often persist into winter.

Culture: Light: Partial or broken shade is best, but flowering dogwood can tolerate full sun, too. It does best with some shade in the south and full sun in the north. Moisture: Established specimens are tolerant of normal dry periods, but will need supplemental watering during extreme droughts. Stress of any kind makes dogwoods susceptible to diseases.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 5-9.

Usage: Flowering dogwood is one of the most popular ornamental specimen trees in eastern North America. Use dogwood as a framing tree or as a background tree. They are excellent beneath large oaks or pines. Dogwoods are among the earliest springtime bloomers, brightening the landscape along with azaleas, spireas, forsythias and redbuds. With its dense crown, flowering dogwood provides good shade, and due to its small stature, it is useful in the smallest yards.
The wood of dogwood is very hard and has some value in the forest products trade for such things as commercial loom shuttles and spindles. In colonial (U.S.A.) times, a tea brewed from the bark was said to reduce fevers. Squirrels and birds devour the pretty red fruits.

Features: The graceful yet compact shape and brilliant springtime blooms make this a favorite landscape tree throughout its range. The flowering dogwood is just about the finest flowering tree you can find. It is beautiful in all seasons and even though it is nearly ubiquitous in home landscapes, it never seems to be overplanted.

  Package of 10 seeds $2.50

Photo and cultural info courtesy of Floridata.com

D7865 Japanese Maple ( Acer palmatum )
Japanese maple is a deciduous shrub or small tree with a broad, rounded shape. The canopy is wispy and delicate.
The species usually stays about 15-20' tall and wide, but can get larger under ideal conditions. The palmate leaves are 2-5" long and wide, and deeply dissected with 5-11 lobes. The lobes are lance-shaped, sharply pointed at the tips and doubly toothed on the edges. Japanese maple has slender, glabrous twigs and smooth gray bark. Branches tend to grow in horizontal layers, and often are contorted and twisted.
The leaves turn brilliant shades of scarlet, yellow or orange in autumn.
Location: Native to China, Korea and Japan. This lovely plant is greatly admired and is grown in temperate gardens and landscapes all over the world.
Culture: Needs a fertile, well-drained, acidic soil.
Light: Partial or filtered shade is best in warmer regions. In Florida, full shade is okay. Farther north, more sun is better. The purple-leaved cultivars require full sun or their leaves will be green.
Moisture: Not drought tolerant. Japanese maple does best with regular watering.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 5 - 8. Features: Japanese maple is the most popular garden maple. Its compact size, pretty lacy foliage, brilliant fall color and picturesque branch architecture find favor among gardeners everywhere.

  Package of 10 seeds $2.50

Photo and cultural info courtesy of Floridata.com

D7870 Monterey Cypress ( Cupressus )
Monterey cypress is an evergreen conifer that is columnar or cone shaped when young, but becomes broad and spreading as it ages. Specimens subject to constant sea breezes and salt spray are twisted and contorted. In a grove, away from the seaside, it develops into a tall, straight tree, that can get over 100' tall with a trunk diameter of 8'.
The tiny leaves are scale-like, adpressed to the branchlets, about 1/16th inch long and lemon scented. They grow in erect or spreading feather like plumes. The cones are light tan, nearly spherical, about an inch and a half in diameter, with 8-10 tight fitting scales.

Location: Monterey cypress occurs naturally only in two groves on Monterey Bay on the central coast of California. A survivor from an ancient lineage, Monterey cypress is nearly extinct in the wild. It is, however widely cultivated, and a very popular landscaping and hedge plant in England, western Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Culture: Monterey cypress grows best in areas with mild climates, winter rain and cool ocean breezes. It tolerates acidic to slightly alkaline soils, and does best in sandy soils. It is susceptible to a fatal canker disease in hot, dry regions.
Light: Full sun.
Moisture: Requires regular water.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 7 - 10.

Usage: Monterey cypress is very salt tolerant and an excellent choice for seaside plantings where it becomes wind swept and develops a striking irregular shape. It is often grown in a group to create a wind break or screen, and it can be pruned to form a hedge. Under ideal conditions, Monterey cypress can grow into a dense, 40' tall tree in just ten years. Many cultivars and hybrids have been developed, especially in England and New Zealand, where the plant is very popular.
Monterey cypress is used extensively for bonsai. The twisted and gnarled form that makes bonsai specimens so attractive comes naturally to Monterey cypress.
Features: The Native American Costanoans (Californians who were actually born in California!) used a decoction of Monterey cypress foliage to treat rheumatism. The Miwok, from the Sierra Nevada, used a related species for the same thing; maybe there's something to it? It wouldn't be the first time a very rare plant was found to have medicinal value.

  Package of 15 seeds $1.95

D7872 Oriental Flowering Cherry ( Prunus serrulata )
From Eastern Asia comes one of the most beautiful plants in the world. Also known as "Shimidsu Sakura", the entire plant is enveloped in flowers ranging in color from white to pink in early Spring, followed by attractive foliage and pea size black fruit. Cold hard and fast growing. Zone 5-9.

  Package of 5 seeds $2.50

Photos and cultural info courtesy of Floridata.com

D7874 Giant Sequoia ( Sequoia gigantea )
The "General Sherman" is a giant sequoia growing in Sequoia National Park, California, that happens to be the largest living thing on Earth. This tree is 275' tall and its crown spreads 107'. The trunk is more than 26' in diameter. The General Sherman is believed to be 2,500 years old, and weigh more than 1000 tons.

John Muir called the giant sequoia "the noblest of a noble race." The giant sequoia is a columnar or cone-shaped tree, losing its lower branches and becoming flat-topped with age. Trees more than 100 years old typically are free of branches to a height of 100' or more. In cultivation, giant sequoias usually grow no more than 60-100' tall and retain their lower branches which may droop down to touch the ground and sometimes take root. The reddish brown bark is very thick (up to 20" thick) and deeply fissured.
The bright gray-green leaves are scale-like, sharp-pointed, 1/4" long, overlapping each other, and completely covering the twigs. The egg shaped cones are 3" long, and remain on the tree for up to 20 years. Unlike the related California redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), giant sequoia does not sprout from the roots.

Location: Giant sequoia grows naturally in isolated stands on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range in central California, from 4,000' to 8,500' above sea level. The northernmost grove, consisting of six trees, is in Placer County, and the southernmost grove of 100 trees is in Tulare County, 260 miles to the south. The largest concentrations and best stands are in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, where there are whole groves of giant sequoias with trunk diameters exceeding 20' and heights exceeding 275'. These are truly majestic cathedrals that only God could make!

Culture: Giant sequoias are cultivated in Europe and eastern North America as well as the US West Coast. They do best in a moderately fertile, deep, well drained soil, in full sun to partial shade. They like a cool climate. Giant sequoias grow rapidly for the first few centuries, then slow down as they surpass 150' in height.
Light: Full sun to dappled shade. Seedlings and young saplings do best in partial shade.
Moisture: The average precipitation in the natural range of giant sequoia is 45-60" per year, mostly from snow. Water young specimens deeply and often.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 5 - 9. Has been reported to survive temperatures of -22F in Scandinavia. Should be protected from cold winter winds.
Propagation: Giant sequoia can be grown from seed. Best results come from seed that has been soaked in water for 24 hours, then chilled for 30-60 days before planting in mineral soil. Giant sequoia also can be propagated by rooting soft wood tip cuttings in summer and semi-hard cuttings in late summer.
Usage: The giant sequoia makes a magnificent specimen tree if you have the room. In the eastern US, giant sequoia does much better than California redwood.
Features: Sequoiadendron, like Sequoia, is a monotypic genus in the baldcypress
The genus is named in honor of Sequoiah (1770-1843), the son of a British merchant and a Cherokee woman, who became a Cherokee chief and created an alphabet for his people's language. Dendron is from the Greek for tree.

  Package of 15 seeds $1.95

Photo and cultural info courtesy of Floridata.com

D7875 American Elm ( Ulmus americana )
The American elm is a tall and stately vase-shaped tree. The trunk usually divides near the ground and the separate limbs grow upward, arch outward, and end in slender drooping branches. The deciduous leaves are 3-6" long with prominent veins, well developed marginal teeth and asymmetrical bases. The flowers appear before the leaves in early spring. They are not showy. The fruits, called "samaras", appear a few weeks later. They are flat and papery with hairy wings around the edges. American elms usually get 60-80' tall, but can get as tall as 120'. The elms can be recognized by their leaves which have asymmetrical, uneven bases.

Location: American elm is native to North America from Newfoundland to Florida and west to the Rocky Mountains. It was widely grown as an ornamental, shade and avenue tree, but has been killed out in most areas by Dutch elm disease. American elms can still be found in many areas in North America, but it seems only a matter of time before they all will be dead.
Culture: American elm is highly susceptible to Dutch elm disease. This is a fungus that grows inside living tissue, causing wilting and eventual death. It is incurable. Dutch elm disease is spread by the elm bark beetle, and the only method of control is spraying chemical insecticides to kill the beetles. Dutch elm disease is indigenous to eastern Asia where the elms there are immune or at least resistant. Dutch elm disease was first noticed in North America around 1930, and quickly spread across the continent, killing millions of American elms. It has destroyed most native elms in Europe and North America. Although live elms are still not uncommon, the disease has not run its course, and more elms die every year. It seems that elm death rates in North America have increased since the 1960's. There is considerable research going on to develop American elms or hybrids that are resistant to Dutch elm disease. So far results have been encouraging, but still no truly immune American elm strain has been found.
Light: Full sun
Moisture: American elm likes a moist soil and can even tolerate brief periods of flooding.
Hardiness: USDA Zones 2 - 9.
Usage: American elm was formerly planted as a street or avenue tree, but it was not very tolerant of smoke and air pollution or of urban conditions in general, and was replaced by more tolerant street trees such as London plane (Platanus X acerfolia) and Japanese zelkova (Zelkova serrata). American elm was once extensively planted as a shade tree or large specimen in parks and estates, but Dutch elm disease has killed most of those. Where Dutch elm disease is not prevalent (Australia, New Zealand and South America), American elm, a statue of symmetrical beauty, is still an outstanding large shade tree.
The wood of American elm is strong, split resistant and durable, and has been used for furniture, paneling, boat construction and crates. The fruits are important wildlife food, especially favored by ruffed grouse, quail and partridge. Features

  Package of 10 seeds $1.95

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