Trees | The Amazing Winter To Summer Transformation

I’m always amazed at the dramatic transformation of trees from winter to summer. This post examines several of my favorite varieties for Zones 3 and 4, how they look dormant during the long cold winters, and the amazing transition that takes place through the growing season.

I think you'll enjoy the live tour in the video below, but for this blog post, I've also included several photos of the trees covered in the video.

Northern Acclaim Honeylocust - Gleditsia triacanthos, var. inermis ‘Harve,’ Zone 3-6

Northern Acclaim is a medium to large tree with a spreading habit with age reaching 40-50 feet in height and a 30-35 foot spread. It’s one of the hardiest thornless Honeylocust, introduced by North Dakota State University. The Honeylocust’s have pinnately compound leaves with a bright green color, producing a dappled shade during the summer months, a great quality of this tree. It has a greenish-yellow flower that’s not showy and can be considered a little messy in the spring as it begins to drop.

I'm pretty sure all the Honeylocust varieties now sold in the nursery trade are seedless and thornless, but occasionally, I come across some older ones that have the seed pods you see here, and I’m sure thorns as well. Northern Acclaim is well adapted to higher pH soils and quite drought tolerant. Look at the golden yellow fall color; it is very nice.

Northern Empress Japanese Elm, Ulmus davidiana, var. japonica ‘Burgundy Glow’, Zone 3-6

This Elm has really started to push out some growth since I planted it back in 2021. It’s a very hardy medium-sized tree that can reach about 30 feet tall by 25 feet wide. My tree has a more upright habit but eventually will have a rounded crown with the summer green foliage, changing over to an apricot-orange to burgundy red leaf color in the fall.

One of the drawbacks to many elm varieties is that they can eventually produce massive seeds. But this Elm will produce minimal seeds, even at maturity, which is definitely a plus if you’ve ever witnessed the number of seeds elms can produce. The tree is also resistant to Elm Leaf Beetles and Dutch Elm Disease.

Royal Frost Birch, Betula ‘Royal Frost’, Zone 3-6

This is one of my favorite trees on the property. A couple of years back, I thought I had lost it after a harsh winter. But it has come back with the multiple trunks shown here since cutting it back.

Royal Frost is a cold, hardy hybrid of Crimson Frost and Whitespire Birch, so we get the purple bronze foliage with a more upright growth habit. Mature height will be about 40 feet tall by 25’ wide. This tree prefers cooler summer temperatures, making it great for northern gardens. And it’s best to have consistent soil moisture but not saturated conditions.

It’s often said that when Birch trees are grown in too dry areas, they will be more susceptible to the Bronze Birch Borer damage, which can eventually kill trees. Here’s a look at some nice fall colors of our young tree. I’m always looking for trees with winter interest, and the Royal Frost has that covered with its bright and changing bark color and the catkins which are persistent and hang on throughout the winter.

Autumn Gold Ginkgo, Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’, Zone 3

This Ginkgo is one of the slowest-growing trees I have on our property. It’s named for its striking golden-yellow fall color, but you’ll have to take my word for it. I was surprised I did not have a picture of it, but I think it has been freezing off green more often than not. After doing some quick research, I was also surprised to realize that this Ginkgo can get 45 feet tall by 35 feet wide. So I’m not sure why this one is growing so slowly, but isn’t that an interesting leaf? One of a kind, for sure.

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Snowdance Japanese Tree Lilac, Syringa reticulata ‘Bailnce’, Zone 3-7

I look forward to these blooms every spring, wow! Snowdance tends to flower at an earlier age than the species and, without a doubt, has a flurry of blooms that are also fragrant.

The Snowdance also has little to no seeds if that is important to you. It has a rounded form reaching around 20 feet by 20 feet and is hardy to zone 3. As the flowers are finishing up, I still really like how this new combination of colors looks together. If you like Japanese Tree Lilacs, here is another video highlighting several additional varieties.

Showy Mountain Ash, Sorbus decora, Zone 2-6

I love this tree mostly for its showy attributes in the fall. But it also has showy white flowers in the spring. I’ve included stages of the fruit that form after flowering from green to red. And that’s one of the main reasons to plant this tree, due to that showy red fruit that will start to color up (in my area) in August. And then, by the time October rolls around, you can enjoy the nice combination of fall leaf colors and bright red fruit.

This is also a great tree to plant if you want to attract birds, as they’ll be attracted to the fruit clusters. I really like the summer leaves on this tree as well—another compound leaf with a soft green color. Showy is hardy to Zone 2 and matures at 25-30 feet tall by 15-20 feet wide.

Hot Wings Maple, Acer tataricum ‘GarAnn,’ Zone 3

Hot Wings is one of the toughest Maples you’ll find. It’s a medium-sized tree but may be considered invasive in some areas, so make sure you check for your region before planting.

The Hot Wings Maple is sold for the showy red Samaras, which provide a bright contrast to the summer green foliage. This is a great tree for cold, windy climates that experience dramatic temperature changes. It’s more oval when young but will broaden and become rounded at maturity with a 20 to 25-foot height and spread. A similar-looking tree is the Amur Maple group, which has a less showy samara but gets brilliant red fall colors, compared to the Hot Wings with orangish yellow colors.

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MaacNificent Maackia, Maackia amurensis ‘JFS-Schichtel1’ (Zone 3)

This Maackia is a focal point in bed that I expanded in an earlier video with this decorative rock and rock edging that you see here. I love the name on this one, MaacNificent Maackia. I didn’t know much about this tree when I planted it, but I have enjoyed watching the stages it goes through each season.

Maacnificent will maintain a nice upright vase shape as it matures to about a 30-foot height and 25-foot spread, but I have not seen my tree flower yet. Eventually, though, it will, and it will be a white spike-like flower that emerges in early summer and is said to be a major pollinator attractor.

Trost’s Dwarf Cutleaf Birch, Betula pendula ‘Trosts Dwarf’ (Zone 2-9)

And last but not least a look at a dwarf birch. This Trost's Dwarf is currently in shrub form and has a semi-weeping habit. I love the finely textured unique green leaf color that changes to a golden yellow in the fall. The mature height will be around five feet tall and wide. Eventually, I would like to train this into a small tree exposing some of the bark colors unique to birch trees.

Thanks for stopping by Garden Hike!

Kevin

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