Tree tours reveal an excellent crop
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Field tours are an important aspect of our twice-yearly sales meetings. In April and September, our nine sales representatives gather with our in-house customer service, sales, marketing and production departments to personally inspect the fields and study the new and interesting plants that we are growing.

There is no substitute for walking the rows, touching the plants, inspecting their growth habits, and comparing them with more familiar plants. These photos taken during our fall sales meeting held in early September will give you a taste of a walk in the fields. All are currently available.
Accolade™ Elm
(Ulmus japonica x wilsoniana’Morton’) is characterized by arching limbs and a graceful vase shape like that of the classic American Elm. Its glossy dark green foliage is resistant to elm leaf beetle feeding as well as Dutch Elm Disease and Phloem Necrosis. Heat and drought resistant, this Chicagoland Grows® introduction also shows good nursery form and appears to be one of the best of the hybrid elms.

Commendation Elm
(Ulmus ‘Morton Stalwart’) is one of eight cultivars of pest and disease resistant elms that are currently available. It is notable for its relatively uniform growth habit as a young tree, thanks to a central leader that appears to be more dominant than those of the more rangy cultivars.

Musashino Zelkova
(Zelkova serrata ‘Musashino’) has a tightly upright growth habit, even at a young age, according to Keith Warren, Director of New Product Development. This new cultivar shows great potential for street use, with plenty of room for vehicle and pedestrian clearance beneath its canopy of fine-textured green foliage.
Sensation Box Elder
(Acer negundo ‘Sensation’) leaves are already turning to bright bronzy-orange. This well-branched, well-mannered male clone is an excellent shade tree for harsh growing conditions.

Bigleaf Maple
(Acer macrophyllum) throws big shade with its dark green, oversized leaves - even at a young age. Generally thought of as an unruly, gangly native tree best suited for natural areas, ours are carefully nurtured and pruned to be well-branched shade trees with good canopy structure. These will mature into handsome trees that are well-suited for formal landscapes where Pacific Northwest native trees are specified.

Oregon Ash
(Fraxinus latifolia) is a familiar native tree in river valleys west of the Cascades. Their compound medium green leaves provide filtered shade and turn a pleasing yellow-brown in the fall. Distinctive alternate branching habit and deeply grooved, scaly bark provide winter interest.
Blue Ash
(Fraxinus quadrangulata) is a handsome North American native shade tree whose broadly oval canopy provides welcome shade. Ours is a budded strain that was selected for particularly symmetrical shape and vigorous growth. Drought resistant and adaptable to alkaline soils, Blue Ash also perform well in poorly drained soils.		 Autumn Blaze® Maple
(Acer x freemanii ‘Jeffersred’ P.P. No. 4864) leaves are dark green now, but will soon turn to the blazing red color that inspired the name of this fast-growing, adaptable, drought tolerant shade tree. Barry Truscott, our sales representative for Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah, stands beside a block of VigorLiner® trees in #5 containers.